MARMAM Members,
On behalf of my co-authors and myself, I am pleased to share our new paper,
titled “Lipid normalization and stable isotope discrimination in Pacific walrus
tissues”, recently published in Scientific Reports.
Clark, C.T., L. Horstmann, and N. Misarti. 2019. Lipid normalization and stable
isotope discrimination in Pacific walrus tissues. Scientific Reports. 9:5843.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42095-z
Abstract:
Analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values (δ13C and δ15N) of animal
tissues can provide important information about diet, physiology, and
movements. Interpretation of δ13C and δ15N values, however, is influenced by
factors such as sample lipid content, tissue-specific isotope discrimination,
and tissue turnover rates, which are typically species- and tissue-specific. In
this study, we generated lipid normalization models for δ13C and investigated
the effects of chemical lipid extractions on δ13C and δ15N in Pacific walrus
(Odobenus rosmarus divergens) muscle, liver, and skin. We also evaluated
tissue-specific isotope discrimination in walrus muscle, liver, skin, and bone
collagen. Mean δ13Clipid-free of skin and bone collagen were similar, as were
mean δ15N of muscle and liver. All other tissues differed significantly for
both isotopes. Differences in δ13Clipid-free and δ15N among tissues agreed with
published estimates of marine mammal tissue-specific isotope discrimination
factors, with the exception of skin. The results of this work will allow
researchers to gain a clearer understanding of walrus diet and the structure of
Arctic food webs, while also making it possible to directly compare the results
of contemporary walrus isotope research with those of historic and
paleoecological studies.
This article is open access and can be found using the following link:
www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-42095-z
<http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-42095-z>. Please feel free to
contact me at ctcl...@alaska.edu <mailto:ctcl...@alaska.edu> if you have any
questions, or if you have difficulty accessing the paper.
Best regards,
Casey Clark
CFOS/WERC
University of Alaska Fairbanks
ctcl...@alaska.edu <mailto:ctcl...@alaska.edu>
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