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Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter
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Decomposition-Induced Change in Stranded Megafauna: Decoupling Postmortem Impacts from the Isotopic Niche.

Philip M Riekenberg1, Lonneke L IJsseldijk2, Mardik Leopold3

  • 1Department of Marine Microbiology & Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, University of Georgia Center for Applied Isotope Studies, PO Box 59, Den Hoorn 1790AB, The Netherlands.

Environmental Science & Technology
|July 10, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Stable isotope analysis of animal tissues can reveal diet, but decomposition alters results. This study found carbon isotope values consistently decrease during early decomposition, impacting dietary reconstructions.

Keywords:
amino acidcarbondecompositionnitrogenstable isotope

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Area of Science:

  • Paleoecology
  • Marine Mammal Ecology
  • Biogeochemistry

Background:

  • Stable isotope analysis of animal tissues is crucial for reconstructing lifetime diets.
  • Postmortem decomposition effects on stable isotope measurements are not well understood.
  • Different tissue turnover rates influence dietary reconstructions over time.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of decomposition on stable isotope values (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) in various harbor porpoise tissues.
  • To assess changes in both bulk and amino acid stable isotope measurements during early decomposition.
  • To understand how decomposition affects the reliability of stable isotope-based dietary studies.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of bulk δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S values from multiple harbor porpoise tissues.
  • Analysis of amino acid δ13C and δ15N values from the same tissues.
  • Comparison of isotopic values across samples with varying states of decomposition.

Main Results:

  • Decomposition led to a consistent decline in δ13C values across all tissues and amino acids, indicating microbial fermentation.
  • δ15N and δ34S values remained largely stable during early decomposition.
  • Tissue-specific isotopic differences were significant, influenced by metabolism and elemental turnover.

Conclusions:

  • Early decomposition causes predictable shifts in carbon stable isotope values, necessitating caution in interpreting data from degraded samples.
  • Nitrogen and sulfur isotope values are more resilient to early decomposition.
  • Accurate dietary reconstructions from moderately decomposed marine mammal tissues require tissue-specific discrimination factors and careful amino acid selection.