Nitrogen palaeo-isoscapes: Changing spatial gradients of faunal δ15N in late Pleistocene and early Holocene Europe.

ABSTRACT: Nitrogen isotope ratio analysis (δ15N) of animal tissue is widely used in archaeology and palaeoecology to investigate diet and ecological niche. Data interpretations require an understanding of nitrogen isotope compositions at the base of the food web (baseline δ15N). Significant variation in animal δ15N has been recognised at various spatiotemporal scales and related to changes both in baseline δ15N, linked to environmental and climatic influence on the terrestrial nitrogen cycle, and animal ecology. Isoscapes (models of isotope spatial variation) have proved a useful tool for investigating spatial variability in biogeochemical cycles in present-day marine and terrestrial ecosystems, but so far, their application to palaeo-data has been more limited. Here, we present time-sliced nitrogen

SUBMITTER: Reade H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9901814 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature