Lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats

Introduction: Tidal marsh systems along the Pacific coast of the United States have experienced substantial stress and loss of area and ecosystem function, which we examined by using the endangered California Ridgway’s Rail, Rallus obsoletus obsoletus (‘rail’) as an indicator of its tidal marsh habi...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Angela M Merritt, Michael L Casazza, Cory T Overton, John Y Takekawa, Thomas P Hahn, Joshua M Hull
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Taylor & Francis Group 2017
Materias:	Historical change estuary food webs isoscapes isotopes Ridgway’s rail tidal marsh Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a24f3b8520454553be142cd2f04f5542
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:a24f3b8520454553be142cd2f04f5542
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a24f3b8520454553be142cd2f04f55422021-12-02T14:12:21ZLessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats2096-41292332-887810.1080/20964129.2017.1410451https://doaj.org/article/a24f3b8520454553be142cd2f04f55422017-11-01T00:00:00Zhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1410451https://doaj.org/toc/2096-4129https://doaj.org/toc/2332-8878Introduction: Tidal marsh systems along the Pacific coast of the United States have experienced substantial stress and loss of area and ecosystem function, which we examined by using the endangered California Ridgway’s Rail, Rallus obsoletus obsoletus (‘rail’) as an indicator of its tidal marsh habitat in the San Francisco Estuary. We organized a collection of historical (1885-1940) and modern (2005-2014) rail feathers and analyzed the feather isotope means for delta carbon (δ13C), sulfur (δ34S), and nitrogen (δ15N) by region and time period. Outcomes: Feather isotopes represented the primary foraging habitat during historical then modern time periods. Neither individual nor regional rail feather isotopes suggested freshwater or terrestrial foraging by the rail. Three regions with both historic and modern feather isotopes revealed non-uniform spatial shifts in isotope levels consistent with a marine based food web and significant δ15N enrichment. Discussion: Our results supported the rail’s status as a generalist forager and obligate tidal marsh species throughout the historic record. The variable isoscape trends generated from feather isotope means illustrated a modern loss of the isotopic homogeneity between regions of historical tidal marsh, which correlated with spatially-explicit habitat alterations such as increasing biological invasions and sewage effluent over time. Conclusion: These findings have reinforced the importance of tidal marsh conservation in the face of ongoing underlying changes to these important ecosystems.Angela M MerrittMichael L CasazzaCory T OvertonJohn Y TakekawaThomas P HahnJoshua M HullTaylor & Francis GrouparticleHistorical changeestuaryfood websisoscapesisotopesRidgway’s railtidal marshEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcosystem Health and Sustainability, Vol 3, Iss 11 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Historical change estuary food webs isoscapes isotopes Ridgway’s rail tidal marsh Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Historical change estuary food webs isoscapes isotopes Ridgway’s rail tidal marsh Ecology QH540-549.5 Angela M Merritt Michael L Casazza Cory T Overton John Y Takekawa Thomas P Hahn Joshua M Hull Lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats
description	Introduction: Tidal marsh systems along the Pacific coast of the United States have experienced substantial stress and loss of area and ecosystem function, which we examined by using the endangered California Ridgway’s Rail, Rallus obsoletus obsoletus (‘rail’) as an indicator of its tidal marsh habitat in the San Francisco Estuary. We organized a collection of historical (1885-1940) and modern (2005-2014) rail feathers and analyzed the feather isotope means for delta carbon (δ13C), sulfur (δ34S), and nitrogen (δ15N) by region and time period. Outcomes: Feather isotopes represented the primary foraging habitat during historical then modern time periods. Neither individual nor regional rail feather isotopes suggested freshwater or terrestrial foraging by the rail. Three regions with both historic and modern feather isotopes revealed non-uniform spatial shifts in isotope levels consistent with a marine based food web and significant δ15N enrichment. Discussion: Our results supported the rail’s status as a generalist forager and obligate tidal marsh species throughout the historic record. The variable isoscape trends generated from feather isotope means illustrated a modern loss of the isotopic homogeneity between regions of historical tidal marsh, which correlated with spatially-explicit habitat alterations such as increasing biological invasions and sewage effluent over time. Conclusion: These findings have reinforced the importance of tidal marsh conservation in the face of ongoing underlying changes to these important ecosystems.
format	article
author	Angela M Merritt Michael L Casazza Cory T Overton John Y Takekawa Thomas P Hahn Joshua M Hull
author_facet	Angela M Merritt Michael L Casazza Cory T Overton John Y Takekawa Thomas P Hahn Joshua M Hull
author_sort	Angela M Merritt
title	Lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats
title_short	Lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats
title_full	Lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats
title_fullStr	Lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats
title_full_unstemmed	Lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats
title_sort	lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats
publisher	Taylor & Francis Group
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/a24f3b8520454553be142cd2f04f5542
work_keys_str_mv	AT angelammerritt lessonsfromthepastisotopesofanendangeredrailasindicatorsofunderlyingchangetotidalmarshhabitats AT michaellcasazza lessonsfromthepastisotopesofanendangeredrailasindicatorsofunderlyingchangetotidalmarshhabitats AT corytoverton lessonsfromthepastisotopesofanendangeredrailasindicatorsofunderlyingchangetotidalmarshhabitats AT johnytakekawa lessonsfromthepastisotopesofanendangeredrailasindicatorsofunderlyingchangetotidalmarshhabitats AT thomasphahn lessonsfromthepastisotopesofanendangeredrailasindicatorsofunderlyingchangetotidalmarshhabitats AT joshuamhull lessonsfromthepastisotopesofanendangeredrailasindicatorsofunderlyingchangetotidalmarshhabitats
_version_	1718391801461604352

Lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats

Ejemplares similares