Stable isotopic analysis of human bones from Jiahu site, Henan, China: implications for the transition to agriculture

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
pp. 1319-1330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaowu Hu ◽  
Stanley H. Ambrose ◽  
Changsui Wang
Keyword(s):  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Stable Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Stable Isotopic ◽  
Transition To Agriculture ◽  
Jiahu Site

Detecting predation of a burrow-nesting seabird by two introduced predators, using stable isotopes, dietary analysis and experimental removals

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant A. Harper
Keyword(s):  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Diet Analysis ◽  
Passerine Birds ◽  
Dietary Analysis ◽  
Stable Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Introduced Predators ◽  
Ship Rat ◽  
Stable Isotopic ◽  
Burrowing Seabirds

Burrowing seabirds are vulnerable to extirpation by introduced predators such as rats, but much evidence of predation is circumstantial. On Taukihepa, an island off southern New Zealand, two possible predators exist with sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus): the weka (Gallirallus australis), a large rail, and the ship rat (Rattus rattus), both introduced to the island. It was expected that chick predation would be principally by weka, the much larger of the two predators. To measure losses of sooty shearwater chicks to weka or rats, nests were monitored with burrow-scopes at six sites in the summers of 2003–04 and 2004–05. In three of the sites rats were removed on 4-ha grids by trapping. In the other three sites rats were not trapped. In addition, weka were removed from all six sites in 2005. Concurrent diet analysis of weka and rat stomachs was undertaken as well as stable isotopic analysis (δ13C, δ15N) of samples from rats and weka. These were compared with possible prey items including sooty shearwaters. Additional stable isotope samples were taken from Pacific rats (Rattus exulans), a small rat species present with weka and sooty shearwaters on nearby Moginui Island. Weka diet comprised ~40% of bird remains by volume and calculations using Isosource, an isotopic source portioning model, estimated sooty shearwaters contributed 59% (range: 15–71%) of weka diet during the sooty shearwater chick-raising period. Ship rats, in contrast, had very depleted δ13C isotope signatures compared with sooty shearwaters and bird remains contributed <9% of diet by volume, with Isosource calculations suggesting that ship rats consumed more passerine birds (mean: 30%; range 5–51%) than sooty shearwaters (mean 24%; range: 0–44%). In both summers, more chicks were lost on sites from which rats had been removed than on control sites. When weka were removed in 2005, fewer chicks were lost than in 2004 and significantly fewer weka-killed chicks were found on weka-removal sites than on non-removal sites. Weka were the principal predator of sooty shearwater chicks, depredating an estimated 9.9% of nests. Combining several techniques quantified the loss and identified the principal predator of a seabird in decline.

scholarly journals PALAEOCLIMATIC EVOLUTION IN LOUTRA ARIDEAS CAVE (ALMOPIA SPELEOPARK, MACEDONIA, N. GREECE) BY STABLE ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS OF FOSSIL BEAR BONES AND TEETH

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 958
Author(s):  
N. Zisi ◽  
E. Dotsika ◽  
E. Tsoukala ◽  
A. Giannakopoulos ◽  
D. Psomiadis
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Climatic Variations ◽  
Stable Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Diagenetic Processes ◽  
Stable Isotopic ◽  
Oxygen Stable Isotope ◽  
Carbonate Matrix ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Palaeoclimatic Reconstruction

Carbon and oxygen stable isotope values (δ13C, δ18O) were obtained from structural carbonate in the bioapatite of bear bones (Ursus ingressus) from Loutra Arideas cave, Almopia Speleopark, Macedonia, N. Greece. Samples of Late Pleistocene bear bones were studied for palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the area. The age range of the fossil layers is from 32ka BP to a maximum of 38ka BP. Generally, the palaeoclimatic proxy is correlated with literature data for climatic variations in the area during Late Pleistocene, whereas dietary behavior was investigated taking into account possible diagenetic processes that may have affected the carbonate matrix of the bones.

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