Intraindividual and interpopulation variability in carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of bone collagen in the modern red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Abstract Stable isotope analyses of bone collagen are increasingly used in ecological studies. They are especially valuable in palaeoecological research due to the time of bone collagen preservation. However, such studies are usually subjected to some limitations, such as small size of the dataset and unknown sex or age of analysed individuals, which could potentially influence the results. We investigated variability of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N) within different parts of the skeleton of modern red deer (Cervus elaphus) from Poland, Scotland (UK) and Slovenia. We also tested weather there were differences in isotopic composition of bone collagen between males and females and individuals of different ages representing various populations. The mean differences between samples taken from the same mandibles and between various bones of the same individuals amounted to not more than 0.88‰ (SE ± 0.24) for δ15N and 0.46‰ (SE ± 0.07) for δ13C. Values of δ15N and δ13C in bone collagen did not differ significantly between males and females. Furthermore, we did not find any relationship between isotopic composition of bone collagen and age of the studied individuals. We conclude that carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in the distal appendicular elements or fragments of mandible bones of the same individuals are comparable and can be alternately used in ecological studies of modern and ancient red deer specimens.