We investigated the food web structure of the Salses-Leucate Lagoon (northwestern Mediterranean) through δ13C and δ15N analysis of its benthic macrofauna and potential food sources. This lagoon was heavily human-modified during the 1970s, allowing permanent exchange with the open sea and an increase in salinity from that time. As a result, it exhibits a much less marked salinity gradient than t...

Temporary ponds are highly variable systems where resource availability and community structure change extensively over time, and consequently the food web is highly dynamic. Amphibians play a critical role both as consumers and prey in aquatic communities and yet there is still little information on the trophic status of most amphibians. More importantly, little is known about the extent to wh...

The origin of carbon substrates used by in situ sedimentary bacterial communities was investigated in an intertidal mangrove ecosystem and in adjacent seagrass beds in Gazi bay (Kenya) by δ13C analysis of bacteria-specific PLFA (phospholipid fatty acids) and bulk organic carbon. Export of mangrove-derived organic matter to the adjacent seagrasscovered bay was evident from sedimentary total orga...

Factors influencing the hominoid life histories are poorly understood, and little is known about how ecological conditions modulate the pace of their development. Yet our limited understanding of these interactions underpins life history interpretations in extinct hominins. Here we determined the synchronisation of dental mineralization/eruption with brain size in a 20th century museum collecti...

There are ongoing efforts to manage mercury and nutrient pollution in San Francisco Bay (California, USA), but historical data on biological responses are limited. We used bivalves preserved in formalin or ethanol from museum collections to investigate long-term trends in methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations and carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures. In the southern reach of the estuary, South...

The aim of the present study was to test whether the dietary non-essential/conditionally essential amino acid composition has an effect on growth and protein utilisation and on δ13C of individual amino acids in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Trout were reared on six purified diets containing only synthetic amino acids in place of protein. Diet 1 mimicked the amino acid composition of fish...

While sexual segregation is expected in highly dimorphic species, the local environment is a major factor driving the degree of resource partitioning within a population. Sexual and individual niche segregation was investigated in the Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus), which is a benthic foraging species restricted to the shallow continental shelf region of south-eastern Au...

We develop a recycling model using 13C/12C mass balance for net growth/loss of the sedimentary organic carbon (Corg) reservoir, and apply it to the Neogene bulk marine carbonate δ13C record. The model allows for variations in photosynthetic fractionation factors, carbon cycling rates, and the isotopic composition of riverine carbon inputs to the oceans. The sign of the net flux term is controll...

Stable isotope analysis in mysticete skin and baleen plates has been repeatedly used to assess diet and movement patterns. Accurate interpretation of isotope data depends on understanding isotopic incorporation rates for metabolically active tissues and growth rates for metabolically inert tissues. The aim of this research was to estimate isotopic incorporation rates in blue whale skin and bale...

Naturally occurring stable isotopes in foodwebs can be used to determine the relative contributions of endogenous and exogenous nutrients to avian eggs in cases where birds move between isotopically distinct biomes or habitats to breed. We measured δ13C and δ15N values in somatic muscle tissues and eggs of Barrow’s goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) together with those isotope values in amphipods ...