Stable isotopes in tree rings could provide palaeoclimate reconstructions with perfect annual resolution and statistically defined confidence limits. Recent advances make the approach viable for non-specialist laboratories. The relevant literature is, however, spread across several disciplines, with common problems approached in different ways. Here we provide the first overview of isotope dend...

Chemical, biological, and physical processes lead to distinctive "isotopic signatures" in biological materials that allow tracing of the origins of organic substances. Isotopic variation has been extensively used by plant physiological ecologists and by paleontologists, and recently ecologists have adopted the use of stable isotopes to measure ecosystem patterns and processes. To date, animal p...

Introduction Conclusions References