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Studying animal niches using bulk stable isotope ratios: an updated synthesis

  • Concepts, Reviews and Syntheses
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Abstract

The development of the isotopic niche, an n-dimensional hypervolume (with n being the number of isotopes) occupied by a population in delta space, has revolutionized the study of animal interactions in wild populations. While the isotopic niche offers a useful means to understand interactions at many ecological resolutions (e.g., individual, population, community, ecosystem), a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors drive isotopic variability and influence the ultimate geometry of observed niche dimensions. Here, we provide an updated synthesis to guide the application of bulk stable isotope ratios to study ecological niches. We summarize progress in the application of bulk stable isotope ratios for evaluating niches to synthesize a formal definition of the isotopic niche. We identify six broad categories to describe drivers of isotopic variance introduced by the animal, its environment, and the researcher, and provide recommendations to account for such variations before, during, and after sample collection and data analyses. Our synthesis illustrates the considerations that should be made before employing the isotopic niche to broader ecological contexts, and offers guidance for the use and interpretation of isotopic niche dynamics in future studies.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Stony Brook University and Texas A&M University at Galveston for support, and comments from J. Bizzarro and anonymous reviewers that greatly strengthened this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Oliver N. Shipley

  2. Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX, 77553, USA

    Philip Matich

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  1. Oliver N. Shipley
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  2. Philip Matich
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ONS and PM devised project concept, conducted literature synthesis, and wrote the manuscript. Both authors approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Oliver N. Shipley.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Communicated by Joel Trexler.

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Shipley, O.N., Matich, P. Studying animal niches using bulk stable isotope ratios: an updated synthesis. Oecologia 193, 27–51 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04654-4

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