Current Zoology (Jun 2009)
Patterns of δ13C and δ15N in wolverine Gulo gulo tissues from the Brooks Range, Alaska
Abstract
Knowledge of carnivore diets is essential to understand how carnivore populations respond demographically to variations in prey abundance. Analysis of stable isotopes is a useful complement to traditional methods of analyzing carnivore diets. We used data on d13C and d15N in wolverine tissues to investigate patterns of seasonal and annual diet variation in a wolverine Gulo gulo population in the western Brooks Range, Alaska, USA. The stable isotope ratios in wolverine tissues generally reflected that of terrestrial carnivores, corroborating previous diet studies on wolverines. We also found variation in d13C and d15N both between muscle samples collected over several years and between tissues with different assimilation rates, even after correcting for isotopic fractionation. This suggests both annual and seasonal diet variation. Our results indicate that data on d13C and d15N holds promise for qualitative assessments of wolverine diet changes over time. Such temporal variation may be important indicators of ecological responses to environmental perturbations, and we suggest that more refined studies of stable isotopes may be an important tool when studying temporal change in diets of wolverines and similar carnivores [Current Zoology 55(3): 188–192, 2009].
