The use of stable isotopes (the non-radioactive form of an element) has become increasingly prevalent in a wide variety of scientific research fields. The fact that many elements...
Biology & Life Sciences
Stable Isotopes
The use of stable isotopes as an analytical tool has been invaluable for a wide variety of scientific disciplines. Researchers in fields ranging from palaeooceanography to anthropology have utilized isotopic “fingerprints” to improve our understanding of spatial and temporal changes in a vast array of parameters.
In this PLOS ONE curated collection, we present notable discoveries from studies using stable isotopes.
Image Credit: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229715 CC BY 4.0
From the Blog
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Image creditIsotope Hydrology (05910203) by IAEA Imagebank, CC BY 2.0PLOS ONE IsoBank – Stable Isotope Research + Open Data
PLOS ONE Collection
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PLOS ONE Multi-isotopes in human hair: A tool to initiate cross-border collaboration in international cold-cases
Unidentified human remains have historically been investigated nationally by law enforcement authorities. However, this approach is…
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PLOS ONE A 3-D groundwater isoscape of the contiguous USA for forensic and water resource science
A wide range of hydrological, ecological, environmental, and forensic science applications rely on predictive “isoscape” maps to provide…
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PLOS ONE Triple sulfur-oxygen-strontium isotopes probabilistic geographic assignment of archaeological remains using a novel sulfur isoscape of western Europe
Sulfur isotope composition of organic tissues is a commonly used tool for gathering information about provenance and diet in archaeology…
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PLOS ONE Stable isotope (C, N, O, and H) study of a comprehensive set of feathers from two Setophaga citrina
Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes were measured on a comprehensive sampling of feathers from two spring Hooded…
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PLOS ONE N uptake, assimilation and isotopic fractioning control δ 15N dynamics in plant DNA: A heavy labelling experiment on Brassica napus L.
In last decades, a large body of evidence clarified nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N) patterns in plant leaves, roots and metabolites,…
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PLOS ONE Blow fly stable isotopes reveal larval diet: A case study in community level anthropogenic effects
Response to human impacts on the environment are typically initiated too late to remediate negative consequences. We present the novel use…
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PLOS ONE Bacterial and abiogenic carbonates formed in caves–no vital effect on clumped isotope compositions
Speleothems (dominated by cave-hosted carbonate deposits) are valuable archives of paleoclimate conditions. As such, they are potential…
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PLOS ONE Methodology and validation of a new tandem mass spectrometer method for the quantification of inorganic and organic 18O-phosphate species
Phosphorus (P) fertilizers are crucial to achieve peak productivity in agricultural systems. However, the fate of P fertilizers via…
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PLOS ONE Using oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes to track the migratory movement of Sharp-shinned Hawks (Accipiter striatus) along Western Flyways of North America
The large-scale patterns of movement for the Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus), a small forest hawk found throughout western North…
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PLOS ONE Tracing mobility patterns through the 6th-5th millennia BC in the Carpathian Basin with strontium and oxygen stable isotope analyses
The complexity of Neolithic population movements and their interpretation through material culture have been the subject of archaeological…
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PLOS ONE Red maple (Acer rubrum L.) trees demonstrate acclimation to urban conditions in deciduous forests embedded in cities
The impacts of urbanization, such as urban heat island (UHI) and nutrient loads, can influence tree function through altered physiology…
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PLOS ONE Growing up in Ancient Sardinia: Infant-toddler dietary changes revealed by the novel use of hydrogen isotopes (δ2H)
Detailed information about the lives and deaths of children in antiquity is often in short supply. Childhood dietary histories are,…
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PLOS ONE Fox dietary ecology as a tracer of human impact on Pleistocene ecosystems
Nowadays, opportunistic small predators, such as foxes (Vulpes vulpes and Vulpes lagopus), are well known to be very adaptable to human…
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PLOS ONE Fossil leaf wax hydrogen isotopes reveal variability of Atlantic and Mediterranean climate forcing on the southeast Iberian Peninsula between 6000 to 3000 cal. BP
Many recently published papers have investigated the spatial and temporal manifestation of the 4.2 ka BP climate event at regional and…
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PLOS ONE Differentiating salmonid migratory ecotypes through stable isotope analysis of collagen: Archaeological and ecological applications
The ability to distinguish between different migratory behaviours (e.g., anadromy and potamodromy) in fish can provide important insights…
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PLOS ONE Composition of nitrogen in urban residential stormwater runoff: Concentrations, loads, and source characterization of nitrate and organic nitrogen
Stormwater runoff is a leading cause of nitrogen (N) transport to water bodies and hence one means of water quality deterioration.…
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PLOS ONE Camelid husbandry in the Atacama Desert? A stable isotope study of camelid bone collagen and textiles from the Lluta and Camarones Valleys, northern Chile
Management of camelids in the coastal valleys of the Andes has generated much debate in recent years. Zooarchaeological and isotopic…
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PLOS ONE Paleoceanography of the Late Cretaceous northwestern Tethys Ocean: Seasonal upwelling or steady thermocline?
In this study we attempted to assess whether seasonal upwelling or a steady thermocline persisted at the western margin of the Tethys…
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PLOS ONE Assessing geographic controls of hair isotopic variability in human populations: A case-study in Canada
Studying the isotope variability in fast-growing human tissues (e.g., hair, nails) is a powerful tool to investigate human nutrition.…
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PLOS ONE “The dead shall be raised”: Multidisciplinary analysis of human skeletons reveals complexity in 19th century immigrant socioeconomic history and identity in New Haven, Connecticut
In July 2011, renovations to Yale-New Haven Hospital inadvertently exposed the cemetery of Christ Church, New Haven, Connecticut’s first…
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PLOS ONE Stable carbon isotope diagnostics of mammalian metabolism, a high-resolution isotomics approach using amino acid carboxyl groups
The carbon isotopic compositions of amino acids are increasingly measured to characterize diets and metabolic response to diets. We report…
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PLOS ONE Resource polymorphism in European whitefish: Analysis of fatty acid profiles provides more detailed evidence than traditional methods alone
Resource polymorphism—whereby ancestral generalist populations give rise to several specialised morphs along a resource gradient—is common…
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PLOS ONE Shift in trophic niches of soil microarthropods with conversion of tropical rainforest into plantations as indicated by stable isotopes (15N, 13C)
Land-use change is threatening biodiversity worldwide, affecting above and below ground animal communities by altering their trophic…
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PLOS ONE Methane and nitrous oxide emission from different treatment units of municipal wastewater treatment plants in Southwest Germany
We measured the atmospheric emission rates of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) in two wastewater treatment plants in Southwest…
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PLOS ONE Isotopic compositions of ground ice in near-surface permafrost in relation to vegetation and microtopography at the Taiga–Tundra boundary in the Indigirka River lowlands, northeastern Siberia
The warming trend in the Arctic region is expected to cause drastic changes including permafrost degradation and vegetation shifts. We…
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PLOS ONE Flows of people in villages and large centres in Bronze Age Italy through strontium and oxygen isotopes
This study investigates to what extent Bronze Age societies in Northern Italy were permeable accepting and integrating non-local…
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PLOS ONE Combining stable isotope analysis with DNA metabarcoding improves inferences of trophic ecology
Knowing what animals eat is fundamental to our ability to understand and manage biodiversity and ecosystems, but researchers often must…
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PLOS ONE A matter of taste: Spatial and ontogenetic variations on the trophic ecology of the tiger shark at the Galapagos Marine Reserve
Sharks are top predators across ocean food webs and have a major ecological role in marine ecosystems. Investigating the trophic ecology…