ArticleJournal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology2013
The isotopic composition and insect content of diet predict tissue isotopic values in a South American passerine assemblage.
Article in Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trophic position structures physiological trade-offs between metabolic and detoxification pathways in sympatric passerines.Royal Society open science · 2026Article
- Isotopic niches do not follow the expectations of niche conservatism in the bird genus Cinclodes.Journal of evolutionary biology · 2023Article
- Tissue-specific Isotopic Incorporation Turnover Rates and Trophic Discrimination Factors in the Freshwater ShrimpZoological studies · 2021Article
- Energetic costs and implications of the intake of plant secondary metabolites on digestive and renal morphology in two austral passerines.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2016Article
- Feeding and digestive responses to fatty acid intake in two South American passerines with different food habits.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2014Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
We analyzed the carbon and nitrogen isotopic values of the muscle, liver, and crop contents ("diet") of 132 individuals of 16 species of Chilean birds. The nitrogen content of diet was tightly correlated with the fraction of gut contents represented by insects relative to plant material. The carbon and nitrogen isotopic values of diet, liver, and muscle were all linearly correlated, implying high temporal consistency in the isotopic value of the diet of these birds. However, δ(15)N was not significantly related with the percentage of insects in diet. These results cast doubt on the applicability of the use of (15)N enrichment to diagnose trophic level in, at least some, terrestrial ecosystems. However, the residuals of the relationship relating the isotopic value of bird tissues with those of their diet were weakly negatively correlated with insect intake. We hypothesize that this negative correlation stems from the higher quality of protein found in insects relative to that of plant materials. Finally, our data corroborated a perplexing and controversial negative relationship between tissue to diet isotopic discrimination and the isotopic value of diet. We suggest that this relationship is an example of the commonly observed regression to the mean effect that plagues many scientific studies.
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