ABSTRACT
In previous chapters, we have identified ways that trophic transactions may be quantified from bioenergetics, diets, consumption models, food-web topologies, and secondary production estimates. The fate of materials and energy can also be quantified using the physical variation among elements that commonly occur within ecosystems. Although elemental analysis can be used to answer questions in biogeochemistry, we focus on how isotopes of atoms can be used to tease apart feeding relationships in trophic ecology. This chapter is not intended to provide an exhaustive review of the rapidly expanding use of these techniques in trophic ecology, but to familiarize the many of us who barely remember our chemistry and need access to basic and more sophisticated tools. We end the chapter by identifying some of the potential pitfalls of relying solely on elemental tracers for assessing trophic interactions.
