Evaluating the use of marine subsidies by Arctic foxes without direct coastal access ; insights from stable isotopes

dc.contributor.authorAngerbjorn, Anders
dc.contributor.authorLiden, Kerstin
dc.contributor.authorRoth, James D.
dc.contributor.authorDalerum, Fredrik
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-26T12:13:32Z
dc.date.available2025-05-26T12:13:32Z
dc.date.issued2024-09
dc.descriptionThis article belongs to the special issue on the “Pathways and impacts of biotically-mediated marine and other stored nutrient transfer between polar ecosystems”, coordinated by Peter Convey, Katarzyna Zmudczyńska-Skarbek, and Stef Bokhorst.
dc.descriptionDATA AVAILABILITY : Data are included in the supplementary material for this article.
dc.description.abstractThe trophic structures of tundra ecosystems are often viewed as a result of local terrestrial primary productivity. However, other resources can be brought in through long-distant migrants or be directly accessible in coastal areas. Hence, trophic structures may deviate from predictions based on local terrestrial resources. The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is a small canid that may use marine resources when available. We used stable isotope values in Arctic fox fur and literature data on potential prey to evaluate Arctic fox summer resource use in a mountain tundra without coastal access. The dietary contribution of local prey, presumably mostly rodents, declined with declining rodent abundance, with a subsequent increased contribution of migratory prey relying on marine resources. Stable isotope values did not differ between this terrestrial area and an area with direct coastal access during years of high rodent abundance, but isotope values during low rodent abundances suggested less marine input than in a coastal population feeding primarily on marine prey. Our study shows that marine resources may be used by animals in areas without any coastal access, and we highlight that such partial coupling of ecosystems must be included in the modeling and assessments of tundra environments.
dc.description.departmentZoology and Entomology
dc.description.departmentMammal Research Institute
dc.description.librarianam2025
dc.description.sdgSDG-15: Life on land
dc.description.sponsorshipThe Spanish National Research Council through the i-Link + program; EU-Life also funded the study to SEFALO and SEFALO + at Stockholm University, together with Göran Gustafsson foundation for studies in Lappland, Swedish WWF and Fjällräven International AB. Open Access funding provided to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.
dc.description.urihttp://link.springer.com/journal/300
dc.identifier.citationAngerbjorn, A., Liden, K., Roth, J.D. et al. 2024, 'Evaluating the use of marine subsidies by Arctic foxes without direct coastal access; insights from stable isotopes', Polar Biology, vol. 47, pp. 935-944. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-024-03256-7.
dc.identifier.issn0722-4060 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1432-2056 (online)
dc.identifier.issn10.1007/s00300-024-03256-7
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/102517
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
dc.subjectDelta 13C
dc.subjectDelta 15N
dc.subjectAllochthonous resources
dc.subjectPredator–prey relations
dc.subjectFennoscandia
dc.subjectEcological subsidies
dc.subjectArctic fox (Vulpes lagopus)
dc.titleEvaluating the use of marine subsidies by Arctic foxes without direct coastal access ; insights from stable isotopes
dc.typeArticle

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