Ionomic Variation Among Tissues in Fallow Deer (Dama dama) by Sex and Age

Wenting, Elke; Siepel, Henk; Christerus, Melanie; Jansen, Patrick A.

doi:10.1007/s12011-023-03724-x

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 107 publications

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“…This may stem from methodological difficulties associated with determining elemental allocation; while determining OS is relatively straightforward, separating tissues and determining their elemental contributions is challenging, especially in large animals (e.g. see Wenting et al., 2020, 2023). Nonetheless, ES predictions may remain unsupported if we fail to consider allocation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The vertebrate bone hypothesis: Understanding the impact of bone on vertebrate stoichiometry

May,

El‐Sabaawi

2024

Functional Ecology

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Understanding how animals store and recycle nutrients is a major question in ecological stoichiometry, a field that applies mass‐balance to ecological and physiological processes. However, ecological stoichiometry has thus far failed to accurately predict elemental demand and release in vertebrates. Because they invest in bone, a tissue mineralized with calcium phosphate, vertebrates are phosphorus (P) rich, allowing them to uniquely impact P cycling. Nonetheless, bone's impact goes further than merely changing vertebrate body elemental content. We propose a potential guiding hypothesis for vertebrate P stoichiometry called the ‘Vertebrate Bone Hypothesis (VBH)’. The VBH has three components: (1)Bone strongly impacts vertebrate whole‐body %P and N:P. (2) Bone is a P storage tissue that acts in elemental homeostasis. (3)Bone does not have constant elemental content. To characterize this hypothesis, we integrate bone physiology with stoichiometric principles, and we systematically review quantitative bone measurements to showcase cryptic diversity in vertebrate P content. Finally, we apply the characteristics of the VBH to ontogeny and reproduction, both of which impact bone physiology and elemental demand, to demonstrate the context dependency of bone's stoichiometric impact. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The vertebrate bone hypothesis: Understanding the impact of bone on vertebrate stoichiometry

May,

El‐Sabaawi

2024

Functional Ecology

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The influence of vertebrate scavengers on leakage of nutrients from carcasses

Wenting,

Jansen,

Burggraeve

et al. 2024

Oecologia

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The decomposition of carcasses by scavengers and microbial decomposers is an important component of the biochemical cycle that can strongly alter the chemical composition of soils locally. Different scavenger guilds are assumed to have a different influence on the chemical elements that leak into the soil, although this assumption has not been empirically tested. Here, we experimentally determine how different guilds of vertebrate scavengers influence local nutrient dynamics. We performed a field experiment in which we systematically excluded different subsets of vertebrate scavengers from decomposing carcasses of fallow deer (Dama dama), and compared elemental concentrations in the soil beneath and in the vegetation next to the carcasses over time throughout the decomposition process. We used four exclusion treatments: excluding (1) no scavengers, thus allowing them all; (2) wild boar (Sus scrofa); (3) all mammals; and (4) all mammals and birds. We found that fluxes of several elements into the soil showed distinct peaks when all vertebrates were excluded. Especially, trace elements (Cu and Zn) seemed to be influenced by carcass decomposition. However, we found no differences in fluxes between partial exclusion treatments. Thus, vertebrate scavengers indeed reduce leakage of elements from carcasses into the soil, hence influencing local biochemical cycles, but did so independent of which vertebrate scavenger guild had access. Our results suggest that carcass-derived elements are dispersed over larger areas rather than locally leak into the soil when vertebrate scavengers dominate the decomposition process.

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Variability of the Ionome of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) and Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in a Dutch National Park, with Implications for Biomonitoring

Wenting,

Siepel,

Jansen

2023

Biol Trace Elem Res

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The ionome—an important expression of the physiological state of organisms—is poorly known for mammals. The focus on particular tissues—such as liver, kidney, and bones—in biomonitoring of environmental pollution and potential deficiencies is based on widely held assumptions rather than solid knowledge of full mammalian ionomes. We examined the full ionome of Red deer (Cervus elaphus) and Wild boar (Sus scrofa), two commonly used mammals for biomonitoring, in a Dutch protected nature reserve (Veluwezoom). We used four individuals per species. We dissected 13 tissues and organs from each individuals (eight in total) of each species and measured 22 elemental concentrations in each. We assessed, for each element, how concentrations varied across tissues within and between individuals. Based on existing literature, we put our findings in the context of their function in the mammalian body. We found that the ionome was highly variable between as well as within the two species. For most elements, tissues containing the highest and lowest concentration differed between individuals. No single tissue accurately represented the accumulation of toxic elements or potential deficiencies in the bodies. Our assessment of the element’s biological roles revealed a serious lack of reference values. Our findings imply that analyses of commonly used tissues in biomonitoring do not necessarily capture bioaccumulation of toxins or potential deficiencies. We recommend establishing a centralized database of mammalian ionomes to derive reference values in future. To our knowledge, our study is one of the most complete assessments of mammalian ionomes to date.

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Ionomic Variation Among Tissues in Fallow Deer (Dama dama) by Sex and Age

Cited by 4 publications

References 107 publications

The vertebrate bone hypothesis: Understanding the impact of bone on vertebrate stoichiometry

The vertebrate bone hypothesis: Understanding the impact of bone on vertebrate stoichiometry

The influence of vertebrate scavengers on leakage of nutrients from carcasses

Variability of the Ionome of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) and Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in a Dutch National Park, with Implications for Biomonitoring

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