Diet-tissue discrimination factors and turnover of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in tissues of an adult predatory coral reef fish, Plectropomus leopardus

摘要

RationaleStable isotope ratios (C-13 and N-15 values) provide a unique perspective into the ecology of animals because the isotope ratio values of consumers reflect the values in food. Despite the value of stable isotopes in ecological studies, the lack of species-specific experimentally derived diet-tissue discrimination factors (DTDFs) and turnover rates limits their application at a broad scale. Furthermore, most aquatic feeding experiments use temperate, fast-growing fish species and few have considered medium- to large-sized adults with low growth rates from tropical ecosystems.