Applications: Nitrogen Isotopes in Animals

APPLICATIONS: NITROGEN ISOTOPES IN ANIMALS

Here, we won’t focus on ecological applications, but rather on what might be learned about animal physiology from studying N isotopes, which might be useful ecologically. All these papers are pretty short, with lots of figures, and the Fuller et al. papers are part of a sequence.

Applications:

Oelbermann K, Scheu S (2002) Stable isotope enrichment (δ15N and δ13C) in a generalist predator (Pardosa lugubris, Araneae: Lycosidae): effects of prey quality. Oecologia 130: 337-344.

A foodweb study involving spiders with some cool twists related to diet composition.

Gaye-Siessegger J, Focken U, Abel H, Becker K (2004) Individual protein balance strongly influences δ15N and δ13C values in Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Naturwissenschaften 91:90–93.

A short one confirming that animals in positive N balance have lower diet-to-tissue fractionations. Many interesting follow-up papers by this group on all things fishy and physiological, including one in the supplemental.

Fuller BT, Fuller JL, Sage NE, Harris DA, O’Connell TC, Hedges REM (2004) Nitrogen balance and δ15N: why you’re not what you eat during pregnancy. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 18: 2889-2896

Ben Fuller and his dad (an obstetrician) take a look at patterns in some of his dad’s patients who are having normal pregnancies (i.e., who are in positive N balance.

Fuller BT, Fuller JL, Sage NE, Harris DA, O’Connell TC, Hedges REM (2005) Nitrogen balance and δ15N: why you’re not what you eat during nutritional stress. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 19: 2497-2506

More from Ben, his dad on what happens to humans when they are pregnant, this time in negative N balance.

Newsome SD, Etnier MA, Aurioles-Gamboa D, Koch PL (2006) Using carbon and nitrogen isotopes to investigate reproductive strategies in northeast Pacific otariids. Marine Mammal Science 22: 556-572.

Something from my lab on monitoring weaning age in pinnipeds. Probably a clearer result than Polischuk et al. (2001).

Further Reading

Polischuk SC, Hobson KA, Ramsay MA (2001) Use of stable-carbon and -nitrogen isotopes to assess weaning and fasting in female polar bears and their cubs. Canadian Journal of Zoology 79: 499-511

Here’s one for Jack that pulls it all together. Weaning, lactation, and fasting in polar bears.

Gaye-Siessegger J, Focken U, Abel H, Becker K (2007) Starvation and low feeding levels result in an enrichment of 13C in lipids and 15N in protein of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus L. Journal of Fish Biology 71: 90–100

More from our tilapia loving friends, this time looking at starvation, rather than rapid growth. Results similar to Fuller et al. (2005).

Hatch KA, Crawford MA, KunzAW, ThomsenSR, EggettDL, NelsonST,Roeder BL (2006)An objective means of diagnosing anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa using 15N/14N and 13C/12C ratios in hair. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 20: 3367–3373

You knew this one was coming.