title: Distinctive diet-tissue isotopic discrimination factors derived from the exclusive bamboo-eating giant panda.
abstract: Stable isotope analysis is very useful in animal ecology, especially in diet reconstruction and trophic studies. Differences in isotope ratios between consumers and their diet, termed discrimination factors, are essential for studies of stable isotope ecology and are species-specific and tissue-specific. Given the specialized bamboo diet and clear foraging behavior, here, we calculated discrimination factors for carbon and nitrogen isotopes from diet to tissues (tooth enamel, hair keratin and bone collagen) for the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), a species derived from meat-eating ancestors. Our results showed that carbon discrimination factor obtained from giant panda tooth enamel (ε13Cdiet-enamel= 10.0‰) and nitrogen discrimination factors from hair keratin (Δ15Ndiet-hair= 2.2‰) and bone collagen (Δ15Ndiet-collagen= 2.3‰) were lower, and carbon discrimination factors from hair keratin (Δ13Cdiet-hair= 5.0‰) and bone collagen (Δ13Cdiet-collagen= 6.1‰) were higher than those of other mammalian carnivores, omnivores and herbivores. Such distinctive values are likely the result of a low-nutrient and specialized bamboo diet, carnivore-like digestive system and exceptionally low metabolism in giant pandas.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wenliang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yibo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservational Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Fuwen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000737:chemistry; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary*; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D006109:Poaceae / Q000737:chemistry; D001503:Ursidae / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes
keywords: bone collagen; discrimination factor; giant panda; hair keratin; stable isotope