Environmental factors shaping stable isotope signatures of modern red deer (Cervus elaphus) inhabiting various habitats

Abstract

Stable isotope analyses of bone collagen are often used in palaeoecological studies to reveal environmental conditions in the habitats of different herbivore species. However, such studies require valuable reference data, obtained from analyses of modern individuals, in habitats of well-known conditions. In this article, we present the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of bone collagen from modern red deer (N = 242 individuals) dwelling in various habitats (N = 15 study sites) in Europe. We investigated which of the selected climatic and environmental factors affected the d13C and d15N values in bone collagen of the studied specimens. Among all analyzed factors, the percent of forest cover influenced the carbon isotopic composition most significantly, and decreasing forest cover caused an increase in d13C values. The d15N was positively related to the proportion of open area and (only in the coastal areas) negatively related to the distance to the seashore. Using rigorous statistical methods and a large number of samples, we confirmed that d13C and d15N values can be used as a proxy of past habitats of red deer.