Stable isotopes as one of nature's ecological recorders

Analyses of the natural variation in stable isotopes of components of ecological systems have provided new insights into how these systems function across paleoecological to modern timescales and across a wide range of spatial scales. Isotope abundances of the molecules in biological materials and g...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in ecology & evolution (Amsterdam) 2006-07, Vol.21 (7), p.408-414
Main Authors: West, Jason B., Bowen, Gabriel J., Cerling, Thure E., Ehleringer, James R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Americas
Animal and plant ecology
Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Carbon - metabolism
Carbon Isotopes - analysis
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Evolution, Molecular
Food Chain
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
General aspects. Techniques
Isotopes - analysis
Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...)
Models, Theoretical
Nature
Photosynthesis - physiology
Water - chemistry
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Summary:Analyses of the natural variation in stable isotopes of components of ecological systems have provided new insights into how these systems function across paleoecological to modern timescales and across a wide range of spatial scales. Isotope abundances of the molecules in biological materials and geochemical profiles are viewed as recorders that can be used to reconstruct ecological processes or to trace ecological activities. Here, we review key short-, medium- and long-term recording capacities of stable isotopes that are currently being applied to ecological questions. The melding of advances in genetics, biochemical profiling and spatial analysis with those in isotope analyses and modeling sophistication opens the door to an exciting future in ecological research.
ISSN:0169-5347
1872-8383
DOI:10.1016/j.tree.2006.04.002