Investigating Foraging Niches for Tenrecs, Bats, and Rodents at Betampona Réserve Naturelle Intégrale (Central Eastern Madagascar) Using Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes in Fur and Bone.

We used stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values in plants, fur, and bone to establish baseline isotopic variability and investigate food web dynamics for small mammals at Betampona Réserve Naturelle Intégrale (BRNI), which protects an isolated parcel of tropical lowland moist evergreen forest in central eastern Madagascar. We included foliage from four understory plant genera, 13 endemic mammal species (5 bats, 5 tenrecs, and 3 nesomyine rodents), and introduced and that were collected along a gradient of degraded to intact forest from the southern boundary to the interior of BRNI as well as nearby villages. Isotopic data indicate niche partitioning among mammal groups, as well as among species within each of the groups.

Integrated behavioral and metabolically flexible responses of wild orangutans to ecologically driven dietary variation.

Diet and nutrition are critical factors influencing energetics and health. Laboratory studies show that organisms adjust to changes in nutrient intake through flexible metabolic responses such as fuel switching. While the physiological effects of nutrient balance in humans have been studied, data from closely related species living in nature are lacking.

Patterns of late Holocene and historical extinctions on Madagascar.

Around 1000 years ago, Madagascar experienced the collapse of populations of large vertebrates that ultimately resulted in many species going extinct. The factors that led to this collapse appear to have differed regionally, but in some ways, key processes were similar across the island. This review evaluates four hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the loss of large vertebrates on Madagascar: Overkill, aridification, synergy, and subsistence shift.

Is What Comes out the Same as What Goes in? A Preliminary Investigation of the Isotopic Impacts of Digestion by Red-Tailed Hawks () and Eurasian Eagle Owls ().

We investigated isotopic diet-excreta offset (Δ) for predatory birds, and the isotopic influence of bird digestion on consumed prey tissues. Foraging ecology of predatory birds can be non-invasively monitored using excreta or regurgitated prey. However, one must account for Δ and any influence of digestion on prey tissues.

Enamel carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotopes reveal limited mobility in an extinct rhinoceros at Ashfall Fossil Beds, Nebraska, USA.

Ashfall Fossil Beds in Nebraska, USA, was a mid-Miocene (11.86 ± 0.13 Ma) watering-hole that preserved hundreds of herbivores in volcanic ash.

Introducing IsoMad, a compilation of isotopic datasets for Madagascar.

We present the first open-access, island-wide isotopic database (IsoMad) for modern biologically relevant materials collected on Madagascar within the past 150 years from both terrestrial and nearshore marine environments. Isotopic research on the island has increasingly helped with biological studies of endemic organisms, including evaluating foraging niches and investigating factors that affect the spatial distribution and abundance of species. The IsoMad database should facilitate future work by making it easy for researchers to access existing data (even for those who are relatively unfamiliar with the literature) and identify both research gaps and opportunities for using various isotope systems to answer research questions.

The prospects of poop: a review of past achievements and future possibilities in faecal isotope analysis.

What can the stable isotope values of human and animal faeces tell us? This often under-appreciated waste product is gaining recognition across a variety of disciplines. Faecal isotopes provide a means of monitoring diet, resource partitioning, landscape use, tracking nutrient inputs and cycling, and reconstructing past climate and environment. Here, we review what faeces are composed of, their temporal resolution, and how these factors may be impacted by digestive physiology and efficiency.

Male mastodon landscape use changed with maturation (late Pleistocene, North America).

Under harsh Pleistocene climates, migration and other forms of seasonally patterned landscape use were likely critical for reproductive success of mastodons () and other megafauna. However, little is known about how their geographic ranges and mobility fluctuated seasonally or changed with sexual maturity. We used a spatially explicit movement model that coupled strontium and oxygen isotopes from two serially sampled intervals (5+ adolescent years and 3+ adult years) in a male mastodon tusk to test for changes in landscape use associated with maturation and reproductive phenology.

Late Holocene spread of pastoralism coincides with endemic megafaunal extinction on Madagascar.

Recently expanded estimates for when humans arrived on Madagascar (up to approximately 10 000 years ago) highlight questions about the causes of the island's relatively late megafaunal extinctions (approximately 2000-500 years ago). Introduced domesticated animals could have contributed to extinctions, but the arrival times and past diets of exotic animals are poorly known. To conduct the first explicit test of the potential for competition between introduced livestock and extinct endemic megafauna in southern and western Madagascar, we generated new radiocarbon and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data from the bone collagen of introduced ungulates (zebu cattle, ovicaprids and bushpigs, = 66) and endemic megafauna (pygmy hippopotamuses, giant tortoises and elephant birds, = 68), and combined these data with existing data from endemic megafauna ( = 282, including giant lemurs).

Evolutionary and phylogenetic insights from a nuclear genome sequence of the extinct, giant, "subfossil" koala lemur .

No endemic Madagascar animal with body mass >10 kg survived a relatively recent wave of extinction on the island. From morphological and isotopic analyses of skeletal "subfossil" remains we can reconstruct some of the biology and behavioral ecology of giant lemurs (primates; up to ∼160 kg) and other extraordinary Malagasy megafauna that survived into the past millennium. Yet, much about the evolutionary biology of these now-extinct species remains unknown, along with persistent phylogenetic uncertainty in some cases.

Captive Dwarf and Mouse Lemurs Have Variable Fur Growth.

Researchers typically assume constant fur and hair growth for primates, but the few studies that have investigated growth explicitly suggest this may not be the case. Instead, growth may vary considerably among individuals and across seasons. One might expect this variability to be most pronounced for species that have seasonally variable activity patterns (e.

Does faecal matter reflect location? An initial assessment of isotopic variability between consumed prey remains and faecal matter for wild jaguars.

Faecal isotopic analysis may complement other non-invasive wildlife survey tools for monitoring landscape use by carnivores, such as motion-detecting cameras and non-invasive genetic sampling. We analysed carbon, nitrogen, and strontium isotopes in faecal matter produced by jaguars () as well as bones from consumed prey at the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve (MPR) in Belize, Central America. The MPR is ideally suited for a spatial isotope study as vegetation and geology both vary considerably.

A new interpretation of Madagascar's megafaunal decline: The "Subsistence Shift Hypothesis".

Fundamental disagreements remain regarding the relative importance of climate change and human activities as triggers for Madagascar's Holocene megafaunal extinction. We use stable isotope data from stalagmites from northwest Madagascar coupled with radiocarbon and butchery records from subfossil bones across the island to investigate relationships between megafaunal decline, climate change, and habitat modification. Archaeological and genetic evidence support human presence by 2000 years Before Common Era (BCE).

Isotopic evidence for oligotrophication of terrestrial ecosystems.

Human societies depend on an Earth system that operates within a constrained range of nutrient availability, yet the recent trajectory of terrestrial nitrogen (N) availability is uncertain. Examining patterns of foliar N concentrations and isotope ratios (δN) from more than 43,000 samples acquired over 37 years, here we show that foliar N concentration declined by 9% and foliar δN declined by 0.6-1.

Isotopic evidence for niche partitioning and the influence of anthropogenic disturbance on endemic and introduced rodents in central Madagascar.

We applied a multi-isotope approach to examine aspects of niche partitioning, competition, and mobility for rodents in the Central Highlands of Madagascar. Specifically, we used carbon (δC), nitrogen (δN), and strontium (Sr/Sr) isotope ratios in bone to investigate diet and mobility for endemic tufted tail rats (Eliurus spp.), and introduced black rats (Rattus rattus) and house mice (Mus musculus) within and outside a fragment of montane humid forest in the Ambohitantely Special Reserve.

Soil analysis in discussions of agricultural feasibility for ancient civilizations: A critical review and reanalysis of the data and debate from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.

Questions about how archaeological populations obtained basic food supplies are often difficult to answer. The application of specialist techniques from non-archaeological fields typically expands our knowledge base, but can be detrimental to cultural interpretations if employed incorrectly, resulting in problematic datasets and erroneous conclusions not easily caught by the recipient archaeological community. One area where this problem has failed to find resolution is Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, the center of one of the New World's most vibrant ancient civilizations.

Organic and Inorganic Pollutant Concentrations Suggest Anthropogenic Contamination of Soils Along the Manali-Leh Highway, Northwestern Himalaya, India.

Most studies on roadside soil pollution have been performed in areas where petrol is the main fuel. Very little work has been conducted in regions where diesel predominates. We collected soil samples from four sites that span a precipitation gradient along the Manali-Leh Highway in northwestern Himalaya, India.

Variation in carbon isotope values among chimpanzee foods at Ngogo, Kibale National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda.

Stable isotope values in primate tissues can be used to reconstruct diet in the absence of direct observation. However, in order to make dietary inferences, one must first establish isotopic variability for potential food sources. In this study we examine stable carbon isotope (δ(13) C) values for chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) food resources from two Ugandan forests: Ngogo (Kibale National Park), and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Advances in primate stable isotope ecology-Achievements and future prospects.

Stable isotope biogeochemistry has been used to investigate foraging ecology in non-human primates for nearly 30 years. Whereas early studies focused on diet, more recently, isotopic analysis has been used to address a diversity of ecological questions ranging from niche partitioning to nutritional status to variability in life history traits. With this increasing array of applications, stable isotope analysis stands to make major contributions to our understanding of primate behavior and biology.

What did Hadropithecus eat, and why should paleoanthropologists care?

Over 40 years ago, Clifford Jolly noted different ways in which Hadropithecus stenognathus converged in its craniodental anatomy with basal hominins and with geladas. The Malagasy subfossil lemur Hadropithecus departs from its sister taxon, Archaeolemur, in that it displays comparatively large molars, reduced incisors and canines, a shortened rostrum, and thickened mandibular corpus. Its molars, however, look nothing like those of basal hominins; rather, they much more closely resemble molars of grazers such as Theropithecus.

Strontium isotopes ( Sr/ Sr) in terrestrial ecological and palaeoecological research: empirical efforts and recent advances in continental-scale models.

Strontium (Sr) isotope analysis can provide detailed biogeographical and ecological information about modern and ancient organisms. Because Sr isotope ratios ( Sr/ Sr) in biologically relevant materials such as water, soil, vegetation, and animal tissues predominantly reflect local geology, they can be used to distinguish geologically distinct regions as well as identify highly mobile individuals or populations. While the application of Sr isotope analysis to biological research has been steadily increasing, high analytical costs have prohibited more widespread use.

Comparative and population mitogenomic analyses of Madagascar's extinct, giant 'subfossil' lemurs.

Humans first arrived on Madagascar only a few thousand years ago. Subsequent habitat destruction and hunting activities have had significant impacts on the island's biodiversity, including the extinction of megafauna. For example, we know of 17 recently extinct 'subfossil' lemur species, all of which were substantially larger (body mass ∼11-160 kg) than any living population of the ∼100 extant lemur species (largest body mass ∼6.

Oxygen isotope values in bone carbonate and collagen are consistently offset for New World monkeys.

Stable oxygen isotopes are increasingly used in ecological research. Here, I present oxygen isotope (δ(18)O) values for bone carbonate and collagen from howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata), spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) and capuchins (Cebus capucinus) from three localities in Costa Rica. There are apparent differences in δ(18)Ocarbonate and δ(18)Ocollagen among species.

Quantifying inter-laboratory variability in stable isotope analysis of ancient skeletal remains.

Over the past forty years, stable isotope analysis of bone (and tooth) collagen and hydroxyapatite has become a mainstay of archaeological and paleoanthropological reconstructions of paleodiet and paleoenvironment. Despite this method's frequent use across anthropological subdisciplines (and beyond), the present work represents the first attempt at gauging the effects of inter-laboratory variability engendered by differences in a) sample preparation, and b) analysis (instrumentation, working standards, and data calibration). Replicate analyses of a 14C-dated ancient human bone by twenty-one archaeological and paleoecological stable isotope laboratories revealed significant inter-laboratory isotopic variation for both collagen and carbonate.