Deuterium and oxygen-18 abundance in birds: implications for DLW energetics studies

Abstract

The doubly labeled water (DLW) technique for measuring energy expenditure may employ one (18O) or two (18O and deuterium) stable isotopes as tracers. These occur naturally in the environment, so when they are used as tracers it is necessary to subtract the background levels. Few studies report data on background concentrations. This work provides such data for a range of avian species. Overall, there was a strong positive correlation (r = 0.63) between the 18O and deuterium concentrations in birds' body water. Variation in the deuterium concentration was less extensive than in the 18O concentration (1:2.7 parts/million). In the European robin, there was a linked, seasonal variation in 18O and deuterium abundance producing high summer and low winter values. Throughout the year, a high individual variability was greater in 18O than in deuterium. A difference between the European robin and the dipper suggests that habitat may also influence background abundance. Investigation of the effect of variation in background abundance on measures of energy expenditure for small passerines (20 g) revealed that employing estimates, instead of direct measurements, had a minor influence over an experimental period of 1 day but could potentially introduce errors as large as 54% over a 2-day period.