Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis
Published on: August 15, 2018
Stable isotopes as one of nature's ecological recorders
Jason B West1, Gabriel J Bowen, Thure E Cerling
1Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84115, USA. jwest@biology.utah.edu
Abstract:
Analyses of the natural variation in stable isotopes of components of ecological systems have provided new insights into how these systems function across paleoecological to modern timescales and across a wide range of spatial scales. Isotope abundances of the molecules in biological materials and geochemical profiles are viewed as recorders that can be used to reconstruct ecological processes or to trace ecological activities. Here, we review key short-, medium- and long-term recording capacities of stable isotopes that are currently being applied to ecological questions. The melding of advances in genetics, biochemical profiling and spatial analysis with those in isotope analyses and modeling sophistication opens the door to an exciting future in ecological research.
Related Concept Videos
Isotopes
Radioactive Decay and Radiometric Dating
Isotopes and Radioisotopes
An isotope containing more...
The Fossil Record
Nuclear Stability
To hold positively charged protons together in the...
Mass Spectrometry: Isotope Effect

