@article{49303437d8d045f185a3e3b62dd240b7,
title = "Effects of diet, climate and physiology on nitrogen isotope abundances in terrestrial foodwebs",
abstract = "Variations in nitrogen isotope ratios in terrestrial foodwebs are described, and alternative models for variation in the enrichment between trophic levels are evaluated. Nitrogen isotope ratios in bone collagen have been used to determine trophic levels and differentiate marine from terrestrial resource consumption among prehistoric humans. However, recent research in terrestrial ecosystems has revealed significant variation in nitrogen isotope ratios between habitats, and within trophic levels in the same environment. Foodwebs in hot, arid environments tend to have higher nitrogen isotope ratios than cool, wet ones. Within ecosystems, the stepwise enrichment between trophic levels is often greater in hot, arid environments. Within ecosystems, herbivore species with physiological adaptations to water conservation have higher nitrogen isotope ratios than water-dependent species. The nitrogen isotope ratios of human bones may be affected by climate and physiology and thus cannot be directly compared between different types of ecosystems without first determining the isotopic composition of the local foodweb and the stepwise enrichment between trophic levels.",
keywords = "Africa, Archaeology, Ecology, Herbivores, Human paleodiet, Nitrogen isotopes, Nitrogen metabolism, Paleoecology, Plants, Soils, Water metabolism",
author = "Ambrose, {Stanley H.}",
note = "Funding Information: I am grateful to Andrew Sillen for inviting me to the Seminar and suggesting the topic of this paper. I take full responsibility for any errors it may contain. I also thank the Office of the President, Kenya, for permission to conduct field research; Richard Leakey and Issa Aggundey, National Museums of Kenya, for providing facilities, animal samples and staff assistance; Nina Mudida, Charles Kibiy, John K. Mengich and Richard Klein for identifying macrofauna, Christine Kabuye and Jean Hayes for plant identifications, Nicki Ambrose, Sarah Eitzman, Bernard Kanunga and Mutete Nume for fieldwork assistance; and Charles Nelson for logistical support in the field and the opportunity to conduct archaeological research in Kenya. Most collagen samples were prepared at Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, with the assistance of N. J. van der Merwe. A post-doctoral fellowship from the Foundation for Research into the Origin of Man supported the bulk of the laboratory analysis at UCLA. Henry Ajie and Carol Goldberg assisted with sample preparation and Dave Winter performed mass spectrometry. Soil and plant samples were prepared for analysis by Nancy Sikes and Byron Prest, and mass spectrometry was performed by Richard Mulvaney at the Department of Agronomy, University of Illinois. Research was supported by grants from L. S. B. Leakey Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and National Science Foundation grants BNS-7924756, BNS-8 118026, BNS-8418280 and BNS-8707150, and the University of Illinois Research Board.",
year = "1991",
month = may,
doi = "10.1016/0305-4403(91)90067-Y",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "18",
pages = "293--317",
journal = "Journal of Archaeological Science",
issn = "0305-4403",
publisher = "Elsevier Inc.",
number = "3",
}