Abstract:

This dataset includes bulk carbon (delta-13C) and nitrogen (delta-15N) stable isotope values from organisms collected between 2015 and 2017 in brackish salt marshes located in southern Louisiana as part of the Coastal Waters Consortium (CWC) III. It contains blood samples from marsh vertebrates (seaside sparrows and marsh rice rats), tissue from primary consumers (ribbed mussels and leaf hoppers) and samples of basal carbon sources (cordgrass and particulate organic matter) in southern Louisiana salt marshes. Samples were collected using mist-nets (birds), live traps (marsh rice rats), sweep nets (insects), hand (ribbed mussels and plants) and filtration onto pre-combusted Whatman GF/F filters (particulate organic matter). All samples were frozen at -80°C until further processing for stable isotope analysis. Additional dataset authors: Sydney Moyo, Jill Olin, Jessica Johnson, Paola Lopez-Duarte, Brian Roberts, Linda Hooper-Bui, Sabrina Taylor, Philip Stouffer.

Suggested Citation:

Polito, Michael, J., Moyo, Sydney, Olin, Jill, Johnson, Jessica, Lopez-Duarte, Paola, Roberts, Brian, Hooper-Bui, Linda, Taylor, Sabrina, Stouffer, Phillip. 2019. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values of marsh rice rats, seaside sparrows, primary consumers and basal carbon sources from southern Louisiana salt marshes, 2015-05-01 to 2017-06-30. Distributed by: Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/n7-6277-1216

Publications:

Moyo, S., Bennadji, H., Laguaite, D., Pérez-Umphrey, A. A., Snider, A. M., Bonisoli-Alquati, A., … Polito, M. J. (2021). Stable isotope analyses identify trophic niche partitioning between sympatric terrestrial vertebrates in coastal saltmarshes with differing oiling histories. PeerJ, 9, e11392. doi:10.7717/peerj.11392

Purpose:

This dataset was developed to obtain the stable isotope values (delta-13C and delta-15N) of seaside sparrows and marsh rice rats, as well as those representing the basal carbon sources in their food webs, to explore and understand their trophic ecology. For each sample, the delta-13C values are indicators of basal carbon sources, and delta-15N values indicate trophic position.

Data Parameters and Units:

Worksheets “Sparrows_Rats” and “Consumers_Carbon_Sources” contain the same variables, in the same column order. In all worksheets, NA=not available. CWC_ID: user defined code assigned to every sample; Other_ID_1: code that may have been assigned by other groups who collected the samples; Other_ID_2: second code that may have been assigned by another laboratory or by the analytical facility; Date: Date: Month-Year the samples were collected; Season: season in which samples were collected (Spring, Spring/Summer, Fall); Year: year samples were collected; Area: location description for the particular area where samples were collected; Site: user defined codes assigned to each sampling site; Habitat_Location: habitat description where samples were collected (Marsh platform, edge, creek, pond, or distance into the marsh in meters for plants); Latitude: latitude of sampled sites in decimal degrees; Longitude: longitude of sampled sites in decimal degrees; Node_Group: refers to the functional group the species belongs to according to existing literature; Node_Code: short version of node group; Species: lowest taxonomic unit to which the specimen could be identified (Genus species, Genus spp., or Family); Common_Name: generally used name; Tissue_Type: tissue type or matrix that was analyzed (Whole Blood, muscle, whole body, ground plant, SPOM Filter); SIA_Laboratory: where the samples were analyzed (LSU or Windsor); d13C: stable carbon isotope values (delta-13C) in per mil units (‰); %C: elemental concentration of carbon (%); d15N: stable nitrogen isotope values (delta-15N) in per mil units (‰); %N: elemental concentration of nitrogen (%); CN: Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio calculated as %C divided by %N.

Methods:

Rice rats were caught in baited Sherman live traps. Seaside sparrows were caught in 12 meter mist nets. Blood samples were drawn from sparrows and rats and transferred to glass vials. Ribbed mussels and cordgrass were collected by hand. Insects were collected using sweep nets. Particulate organic matter (phytoplankton) was collected by filtering water through pre-combusted Whatman GF/F (0.7µm) filters.

Instruments:

Seaside sparrows and marsh rice rat carbon (delta-13C) and nitrogen (delta-15N) stable isotope values were analyzed at the Stable Isotope Ecology Laboratory at Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, using a Costech ECS4010 Elemental Analyzer (Costech, Valencia, California, USA) coupled to a Thermo Scientific Delta XP Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (Thermo Scientific, San Jose, California, USA). Primary consumers and basal energy source carbon (delta-13C) and nitrogen (delta-15N) stable isotope values were analyzed at the Stable Isotope Facility at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada using a Costech ECS4010 Elemental Analyzer (Costech, Valencia, California, USA) coupled to a Thermo Scientific DeltaPlus mass spectrometer (Thermo Scientific, San Jose, California, USA).

Error Analysis:

The analytical precision, based on standard deviations of repeated reference materials were 0.1‰ and 0.2‰ for delta-13C and delta-15N, respectively.

Individual Files: