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Stable isotopes are alternative forms of elements with different molecular weights that are found naturally and do not decay radioactively. Stable isotope analysis of elements such as carbon, nitrogen and sulphur is used in ecology to trace the flow of nutrients through food webs and assess trophic levels.
Comparisons of 87Sr/86Sr data from the tusk and molar enamel of a zoo elephant suggest that a microsampling-modeling workflow is the best practice strategy for geospatial reconstructions of seasonal migrations in large mammals.
Blooms of pigmented microalgae accelerate glacier and ice sheet melting by reducing the surface albedo. Here, Halbach et al. use single-cell measurements of elemental composition and nutrient assimilation rates of glacier ice algae, showing that the algae are well adapted to the ice’s oligotrophic conditions and exhibit no significant changes in productivity in response to nutrient additions.
Plant litter-derived mineral-associated organic matter that formed in the first year and pyrogenic organic inputs both persist on a decadal scale in grassland soil via distinct mechanisms, according to a soil organic matter decomposition experiment.
A warming climate can alter the food sources that support animals in Arctic ecosystems. Now, research provides empirical evidence of such a shift, with widespread implications for global carbon cycling.
An innovative isotopic labelling strategy shows that malaria mosquitoes in the West-African Sahel region survive in dormancy over the prolonged dry season. These results have implications for efforts to suppress malaria transmission in Africa.
Dissolved iron is mysteriously pervasive in deep ocean hydrothermal plumes. An analysis of gas, metals and particles from a 4,000 km plume transect suggests that dissolved iron is maintained by rapid and reversible exchanges with sinking particles.
Carbon dioxide can stimulate photosynthesis in trees and increase their growth rates. A study of tree rings from three seasonal tropical forests shows no evidence of faster growth during 150 years of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
