Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Workflow Based on the Combination of Isotopic Tracer Experiments to Investigate Microbial Metabolism of Multiple Nutrient Sources
Published on: January 22, 2018
Bird population changes reconstructed from isotopic signals of peat developed in a nutrient enriched tundra
Michał Gąsiorowski1, Elwira Sienkiewicz1
1Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda St. 51/55, PL-00818 Warszawa, Poland.
Abstract:
Five peat sequences were studied to identify the time the little auk Alle alle colonies originated in the Hornsund area (Spitsbergen). Elemental and stable isotope analysis of nitrogen and carbon was applied as markers for bird activity. The peat sequences were dated with 210Pb and radiocarbon methods. The results showed that peat development related to seabird activity is significantly older (at least 300 years old) in localities closer to the fjord's mouth (west) than those located deeper in the fjord (east), which are ~100 years old. Isotopic signals indicated that bird activity in the western localities decreased simultaneously with the growth of the eastern colonies. Colonization by birds of new localities correlated with the termination of the Little Ice Age and the meaningful decrease in the glacier area of the region. Hence, we suggest that the availability of new localities for nesting in talus cones, nival moraines and lateral moraines on gentle mountain slopes with south-eastern exposition attracted the little auk due to better thermal conditions, isolation from strong westerly winds and better protection from predation by gull Larus hyperboreus. The expansion of little auks to the new localities was fast (20-30 yrs), and there are no records of changes in bird impacts on the tundra environment after 1920.
Related Concept Videos
Reconstruction of Signal using Interpolation
Isotopes
An element's atomic mass, or weight,...
Elements: Chemical Symbols and Isotopes
Some symbols are derived from the common English name of the element; others are abbreviations of the name in another language — Latin, Greek or German. For example, the symbol for aluminum (common name)...
Absorption of Nutrients
Enterocytes, which are specialized polar epithelial cells, line the mucosa of the small intestinal walls. These cells...
Conservation of Small Populations
What is Population Genetics?

