Evolutionary history biases inferences of ecology and environment from δ13C but not δ18O values

Kirsty M. Edgar (), Pincelli M. Hull and Thomas H. G. Ezard
Additional contact information
Kirsty M. Edgar: University of Birmingham
Pincelli M. Hull: Yale University
Thomas H. G. Ezard: University of Southampton

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Closely related taxa are, on average, more similar in terms of their physiology, morphology and ecology than distantly related ones. How this biological similarity affects geochemical signals, and their interpretations, has yet to be tested in an explicitly evolutionary framework. Here we compile and analyze planktonic foraminiferal size-specific stable carbon and oxygen isotope values (δ13C and δ18O, respectively) spanning the last 107 million years. After controlling for dominant drivers of size-δ13C and size-δ18O trends, such as geological preservation, presence of algal photosymbionts, and global environmental changes, we identify that shared evolutionary history has shaped the evolution of species-specific vital effects in δ13C, but not in δ18O. Our results lay the groundwork for using a phylogenetic approach to correct species δ13C vital effects through time, thereby reducing systematic biases in interpretations of long-term δ13C records—a key measure of holistic organismal biology and of the global carbon cycle.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01154-7 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-01154-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01154-7

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().