Stable isotopes reveal seasonal competition for resources between late Pleistocene bison ( Bison) and horse ( Equus) from Rancho La Brea, southern California

Determining how organisms partition or compete for resources within ecosystems can reveal how communities are assembled. The Late Pleistocene deposits at Rancho La Brea are exceptionally diverse in large mammalian carnivores and herbivores, and afford a unique opportunity to study resource use and p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, 2009, Vol.271 (1), p.153-160
Main Authors: Feranec, Robert S., Hadly, Elizabeth A., Paytan, Adina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bison
Bison bison
C-13
Competition
Diet
Enamel
Equus
Migration
O-18
Population
Resource partitioning
Species coexistence
Stable isotopes
Ungulata
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Summary:Determining how organisms partition or compete for resources within ecosystems can reveal how communities are assembled. The Late Pleistocene deposits at Rancho La Brea are exceptionally diverse in large mammalian carnivores and herbivores, and afford a unique opportunity to study resource use and partitioning among these megafauna. Resource use was examined in bison and horses by serially sampling the stable carbon and oxygen isotope values found within tooth enamel of individual teeth of seven bison and five horses. Oxygen isotope results for both species reveal a pattern of seasonal enamel growth, while carbon isotope values reveal a more subtle seasonal pattern of dietary preferences. Both species ate a diet dominated by C 3 plants, but bison regularly incorporated C 4 plants into their diets, while horses ate C 4 plants only occasionally. Bison had greater total variation in carbon isotope values than did horses implying migration away from Rancho La Brea. Bison appear to incorporate more C 4 plants into their diets during winter, which corresponds to previous studies suggesting that Rancho La Brea, primarily surrounded by C 3 plants, was used by bison only during late spring. The examination of intra-tooth isotopic variation which reveals intra-seasonal resource use among bison and horse at Rancho La Brea highlights the utility of isotopic techniques for understanding the intricacies of ecology within and between ancient mammals.
ISSN:0031-0182
1872-616X
DOI:10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.10.005