Stable carbon isotope ratios in Periplaneta americana L., the American cockroach

1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 584-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Miller ◽  
G. L. Orr ◽  
P. Fritz ◽  
R. G. H. Downer ◽  
A. V. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Periplaneta Americana ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotopes ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotope ◽  
Isotope Ratios ◽  
American Cockroach ◽  
The Other ◽  
Stable Carbon ◽  
Corpus Cardiacum ◽  
Low Carbohydrate Diet ◽  
General Decline

The distribution of stable carbon isotopes in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein of Periplaneta americana was studied in insects raised on two different diets. Cockroaches that received a sucrose supplement in their diet had chitin and lipids enriched in 13C compared with those insects not given sucrose. Sucrose has a high 13C content relative to the other dietary constituents and enrichment was due to the incorporation of sucrose carbon into these body fractions. The isotope ratios of protein and glycogen from insects raised on a low carbohydrate diet differed significantly from those fed sucrose. Respiratory CO2 collected from insects receiving sucrose was more enriched in 13C than that from insects on the other diet, reflecting the source of metabolic fuel. Starved insects showed a general decline in the heavier isotope in respired carbon dioxide, as lipids were used as an energy source. Cockroaches that were injected with corpus cardiacum extract responded by respiring CO2 depleted in 13C, a result similar to those induced by starvation. This result is consistent with experiments demonstrating a switch from carbohydrate to lipid oxidation caused by corpus cardiacum extract.

Drought signals inferred from ring-width and stable carbon isotope chronologies from Thuja occidentalis trees growing at their northwestern distribution limit, central Canada

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Au ◽  
Jacques C. Tardif
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Tree Rings ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotopes ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotope ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Ring Formation ◽  
Moisture Regime ◽  
Stable Carbon ◽  
Thuja Occidentalis ◽  
Central Canada

Stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) fixed in tree rings are dependent upon environmental conditions. Old northern white-cedar ( Thuja occidentalis L.) trees were sampled at their northwestern limit of distribution in central Canada. The objectives of the study were (i) to investigate the association between tree-ring δ13C values and radial growth in addition to the response of these variables to climate, (ii) to assess site differences between two sites varying in moisture regime, and (iii) to compare tree-ring δ13C of T. occidentalis with that of other boreal tree species growing at the northern limit of their distribution in central Canada. Over 2500 tree rings comprised of 15 T. occidentalis trees were analyzed for δ13C. Annually resolved δ13C (1650–2006) and ring-width (1542–2006) chronologies were developed. During the year of ring formation, ring width was associated with spring and early-summer conditions, whereas δ13C was more indicative of overall summer conditions. However, compared with δ13C values, ring width was more often associated with climate conditions in the year prior to ring formation. Conditions conducive to moisture stress were important for both parameters. Although ring width and δ13C corresponded to the drought intervals of the 1790s, 1840s, 1890s, 1930s, and 1960–1970, ring width may be more responsive to prolonged drought than δ13C. Tree-ring δ13C could, however, provide important information regarding physiological adaptations to drought.

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