An examination of stable hydrogen isotope (δD) variation in adult and juvenile feathers from a migratory songbird
| Autor: | Elizabeth A. Gow, Bridget J.M. Stutchbury, T. Done, T.K. Kyser |
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| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Canadian Journal of Zoology. 90:585-594 |
| ISSN: | 1480-3283 0008-4301 |
| DOI: | 10.1139/z2012-024 |
| Popis: | Stable hydrogen isotopes (δD) can help predict geographic origin of tissue growth but within-site variation of feather δD (δDf) exists. Multiple hypotheses explain δDf variation: moult timing, physiology, and spatio-temporal differences in source deuterium, but there have been few direct tests of these factors. We assessed δDf variation within a breeding population of Wood Thrush ( Hylocichla mustelina (Gmelin, 1789)), by sampling feathers from hatch-year birds, returning adults (after migration), and to eliminate confounding variables from newly grown adult primary feathers during moult. We evaluated potential mechanisms explaining δDf variation by examining intraindividual variation (different feather types), precipitation δD, prey δD, corticosterone (CORT), and breeding productivity. In addition, we directly compared δDf of newly grown primary feathers to δD blood hematocrit (δDb). We found significant differences in δDf between years and age classes and observed no significant intraindividual variation. δDf and δDb were not significantly correlated. CORT weakly contributed to δDf, but there are other factors influencing δDf. Ten percent of all feather samples had outlying δDf values, and were likely grown away from the breeding grounds. Our results document intrapopulation and intraindividual variation of δDf at a single location and indicated that age class and year-to-year differences contributed to high δDf variance. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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