Abstract
To test the hypothesis that stable isotope ratios from marine organisms vary, the δ15N and δ13C values from fish and squid collected in Alaskan waters were measured across years (1997, 2000, and 2005), seasons, geographic locations, and different size/age classes, and between muscle tissue and whole animals. Temporal, geographic, and ontogenetic differences in stable isotope ratios ranged from 0.5–2.5‰ (δ15N) to 0.5–2.0‰ (δ13C). Twenty-one comparisons of stable isotope values between whole organisms and muscle tissue revealed only four small differences each for δ15N and δ13C, making costly and space prohibitive collection of whole animals unnecessary. The data from this study indicate that significant variations of stable isotope values from animals in marine systems necessitates collection of prey and predator tissues from the same time and place for best interpretation of stable isotope analysis in foraging ecology studies.
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) for collecting fish and squid on FOCI and RACE Division cruises in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and Shelikof Strait in 2000. We also greatly appreciate the vessel and scientific crews on the AFSC eastern Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska bottom trawl surveys for their efforts to provide tissue samples from 2005. Thank you to D. Brown, J. Buzitis, K. Call, D. Ernest, and K. Shearer for access to equipment for sample preparation. Thanks to T. Loughlin and T. Gelatt for support. Thank you to G. Duker, T. Gelatt, J. Lee, O. Ormseth, and three anonymous reviewers for comments that greatly improved this manuscript.
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Kurle, C.M., Sinclair, E.H., Edwards, A.E. et al. Temporal and spatial variation in the δ15N and δ13C values of fish and squid from Alaskan waters. Mar Biol 158, 2389–2404 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1741-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1741-4