Open AccessUsing near‐infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to estimate carbon and nitrogen stable isotope composition in animal tissues
Author(s) -
AncinMurguzur Francisco Javier,
Tarroux Arnaud,
Bråthen Kari Anne,
Bustamante Paco,
Descamps Sébastien
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.7851
Subject(s) - near infrared reflectance spectroscopy , trophic level , stable isotope ratio , nitrogen , carbon fibers , isotopes of nitrogen , isotopes of carbon , δ13c , isotope , δ15n , reflectivity , spectroscopy , isotope analysis , diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform , chemistry , near infrared spectroscopy , analytical chemistry (journal) , environmental chemistry , biology , ecology , total organic carbon , mathematics , biochemistry , algorithm , optics , composite number , quantum mechanics , physics , organic chemistry , neuroscience , photocatalysis , catalysis
Stable isotopes analysis (SIA) of carbon and nitrogen provides valuable information about trophic interactions and animal feeding habits. We used near‐infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) and support vector machines (SVM) to develop a model for screening isotopic ratios of carbon and nitrogen ( δ 13 C and δ 15 N) in samples from living animals. We applied this method on dried blood samples from birds previously analyzed for δ 13 C and δ 15 N to test whether NIRS can be applied to accurately estimate isotopic ratios. Our results show a prediction accuracy of NIRS ( R 2 > 0.65, RMSEP < 0.28) for both δ 13 C and δ 15 N, representing a 12% of the measurement range in this study. Our study suggests that NIRS can provide a time‐ and cost‐efficient method to evaluate stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen when substantial differences in δ 13 C or δ 15 N are expected, such as when discriminating among different trophic levels in diet.