Use of isotopic sulfur to determine whitebark pine consumption by Yellowstone bears: A reassessment
ABSTRACT Use of naturally occurring stable isotopes to estimate assimilated diet of bears is one of the single greatest breakthroughs in nutritional ecology during the past 20 years. Previous research in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), USA, established a positive relationship between the st...
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Wiley
2014-09-01
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| Series: | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.426 |
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| author | Charles C. Schwartz Justin E. Teisberg Jennifer K. Fortin Mark A. Haroldson Christopher Servheen Charles T. Robbins Frank T. van Manen |
| author_facet | Charles C. Schwartz Justin E. Teisberg Jennifer K. Fortin Mark A. Haroldson Christopher Servheen Charles T. Robbins Frank T. van Manen |
| author_sort | Charles C. Schwartz |
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| description | ABSTRACT Use of naturally occurring stable isotopes to estimate assimilated diet of bears is one of the single greatest breakthroughs in nutritional ecology during the past 20 years. Previous research in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), USA, established a positive relationship between the stable isotope of sulfur (δ34S) and consumption of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) seeds. That work combined a limited sample of hair, blood clots, and serum. Here we use a much larger sample to reassess those findings. We contrasted δ34S values in spring hair and serum with abundance of seeds of whitebark pine in samples collected from grizzly (Ursus arctos) and American black bears (U. americanus) in the GYE during 2000–2010. Although we found a positive relationship between δ34S values in spring hair and pine seed abundance for grizzly bears, the coefficients of determination were small (R2 ≤ 0.097); we failed to find a similar relationship with black bears. Values of δ34S in spring hair were larger in black bears and δ34S values in serum of grizzly bears were lowest in September and October, a time when we expect δ34S to peak if whitebark pine seeds were the sole source of high δ34S. The relationship between δ34S in bear tissue and the consumption of whitebark pine seeds, as originally reported, may not be as clean a method as proposed. Data we present here suggest other foods have high values of δ34S, and there is spatial heterogeneity affecting the δ34S values in whitebark pine, which must be addressed. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0776c7e7b33f4636aa3e4a08d4053642 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2328-5540 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2014-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
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| series | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
| spelling | doaj-art-0776c7e7b33f4636aa3e4a08d40536422025-08-20T02:49:19ZengWileyWildlife Society Bulletin2328-55402014-09-0138366467010.1002/wsb.426Use of isotopic sulfur to determine whitebark pine consumption by Yellowstone bears: A reassessmentCharles C. Schwartz0Justin E. Teisberg1Jennifer K. Fortin2Mark A. Haroldson3Christopher Servheen4Charles T. Robbins5Frank T. van Manen6United States Geological SurveyNorthern Rocky Mountain Science CenterInteragency Grizzly Bear Study Team2327 University WaySuite 2BozemanMT59715USASchool of Biological SciencesWashington State UniversityP.O. Box 644236PullmanWA99164USASchool of Biological SciencesWashington State UniversityP.O. Box 644236PullmanWA99164USAUnited States Geological SurveyNorthern Rocky Mountain Science CenterInteragency Grizzly Bear Study Team2327 University WaySuite 2BozemanMT59715USAUnited States Fish and Wildlife ServiceUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMT59812USASchools of the Environment and Biological SciencesWashington State UniversityP.O. Box 644236PullmanWA99164USAUnited States Geological SurveyNorthern Rocky Mountain Science CenterInteragency Grizzly Bear Study Team2327 University WaySuite 2BozemanMT59715USAABSTRACT Use of naturally occurring stable isotopes to estimate assimilated diet of bears is one of the single greatest breakthroughs in nutritional ecology during the past 20 years. Previous research in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), USA, established a positive relationship between the stable isotope of sulfur (δ34S) and consumption of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) seeds. That work combined a limited sample of hair, blood clots, and serum. Here we use a much larger sample to reassess those findings. We contrasted δ34S values in spring hair and serum with abundance of seeds of whitebark pine in samples collected from grizzly (Ursus arctos) and American black bears (U. americanus) in the GYE during 2000–2010. Although we found a positive relationship between δ34S values in spring hair and pine seed abundance for grizzly bears, the coefficients of determination were small (R2 ≤ 0.097); we failed to find a similar relationship with black bears. Values of δ34S in spring hair were larger in black bears and δ34S values in serum of grizzly bears were lowest in September and October, a time when we expect δ34S to peak if whitebark pine seeds were the sole source of high δ34S. The relationship between δ34S in bear tissue and the consumption of whitebark pine seeds, as originally reported, may not be as clean a method as proposed. Data we present here suggest other foods have high values of δ34S, and there is spatial heterogeneity affecting the δ34S values in whitebark pine, which must be addressed. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.426American black beargrizzly bearstable isotopesUrsus americanusUrsus arctosYellowstone |
| spellingShingle | Charles C. Schwartz Justin E. Teisberg Jennifer K. Fortin Mark A. Haroldson Christopher Servheen Charles T. Robbins Frank T. van Manen Use of isotopic sulfur to determine whitebark pine consumption by Yellowstone bears: A reassessment Wildlife Society Bulletin American black bear grizzly bear stable isotopes Ursus americanus Ursus arctos Yellowstone |
| title | Use of isotopic sulfur to determine whitebark pine consumption by Yellowstone bears: A reassessment |
| title_full | Use of isotopic sulfur to determine whitebark pine consumption by Yellowstone bears: A reassessment |
| title_fullStr | Use of isotopic sulfur to determine whitebark pine consumption by Yellowstone bears: A reassessment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Use of isotopic sulfur to determine whitebark pine consumption by Yellowstone bears: A reassessment |
| title_short | Use of isotopic sulfur to determine whitebark pine consumption by Yellowstone bears: A reassessment |
| title_sort | use of isotopic sulfur to determine whitebark pine consumption by yellowstone bears a reassessment |
| topic | American black bear grizzly bear stable isotopes Ursus americanus Ursus arctos Yellowstone |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.426 |
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