Article: The α-minimum convex polygon as a relevant tool for isotopic niche statistics
Ecological indicators. 2021 Nov., v. 130
2021
Abstract: Ecological (isotopic) niche refers to a surface in a two-dimensional space, where the axes correspond to environmental variables that reflect values of stable isotopes incorporated in an animal's tissues. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C-δ¹ ...
Abstract | Ecological (isotopic) niche refers to a surface in a two-dimensional space, where the axes correspond to environmental variables that reflect values of stable isotopes incorporated in an animal's tissues. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C-δ¹⁵N) notably provide precious information about trophic ecology, resource and habitat use, and population dynamics. Various metrics allow for isotopic niche size and overlap assessment. In this paper, we advocate α-minimum convex polygons (MCP) - that have long been used for home range estimation – as a relevant tool for isotopic niche size, overlap, and characteristics. The method allows for outlier rejection while being suited to data that are not Gaussian in the bivariate isotopic (δ¹³C-δ¹⁵N) space. The proposed indicators are compared to other existing approaches and are shown to be complementary. Notably an indicator of divergence within the niche is introduced, and allows for comparisons at low (n > 6) and different sample sizes. The R code is made publicly available and will enable ecologists to perform isotopic niche comparison, contraction and expansion assessment, and overlap, based on various methods. |
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Keywords | animals ; carbon ; home range ; nitrogen ; population dynamics ; stable isotopes ; statistics |
Language | English |
Dates of publication | 2021-11 |
Publishing place | Elsevier Ltd |
Document type | Article |
ZDB-ID | 2036774-0 |
ISSN | 1872-7034 ; 1470-160X |
ISSN (online) | 1872-7034 |
ISSN | 1470-160X |
DOI | 10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108048 |
Database | NAL-Catalogue (AGRICOLA) |
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