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The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 1419-1427 (2003)
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00274

Low turnover rates of carbon isotopes in tissues of two nectar-feeding bat species

Christian C. Voigt^1,*, Felix Matt², Robert Michener³ and Thomas H. Kunz^3,4

¹ Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
² Zoologisches Institut II, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstr. 5, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
³ Stable Isotope Laboratory, Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
⁴ Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: voigt{at}izw-berlin.de)

Accepted 29 January 2003

Stable isotopes of carbon are commonly used to characterize dietary preferences in animals. Because turnover rates of carbon isotopes are related to metabolic rate, we wanted to determine the rates at which carbon isotopes are exchanged in tissues of two species of nectar-feeding bats (Leptonycteris curasoae and Glossophaga soricina), both of which have relatively high mass-specific metabolic rates. To test the hypothesis that isotope turnover is higher in nectar-feeding bats, because of their high mass-specific metabolic rates, than in other eutherian mammals, we conducted diet-switching experiments and chose three target tissues (hair, wing membrane and blood) to evaluate the isotopic turnover rates. We made the following predictions: (1) isotopic composition should change towards higher ¹³C-values due to the turnover of carbon isotopes of C₃ origin with those of C₄/CAM origin; (2) the turnover rates of carbon isotopes would differ between the three types of tissues in the following order of decreasing turnover rates: blood>wing membrane>hair; and (3) turnover rates of nectar-feeding bats should exceed those reported for other small mammals because of the high mass-specific metabolic rate of nectar-feeding bats. Compared to the initial diet, target tissues were enriched in heavy carbon isotopes by 2.8 in L. curasoae and by 2.6 in G. soricina. After changing the diet from C₃ to C₄/CAM origin we found an increase in abundance of ¹³C in blood and wing membrane in all experimental subjects. The estimated half life of carbon isotope turnover ranged from 100 to 134 days and did not differ significantly between blood and wing membrane, nor did it differ between the two species. The low turnover rate in wing membrane may reflect its specific composition and the relatively low temperature of this tissue, and long-lived erythrocytes in bat blood may be responsible for the low turnover rate of carbon isotopes in blood. The turnover rate of stable carbon isotopes in hair was low in L. curasoae and undetectable in G. soricina, which may be explained by the seasonal growth of the hair in these two species. Because both species are small (10 and 25 g, respectively) and nectar-feeding bats have higher mass-specific metabolic rates than bats in temperate regions or similar sized terrestrial mammals, our findings of low turnover rates were unexpected.

Key words: metabolism, carbon isotope, bat, Leptonycteris curasoae, Glossophaga soricina, fractionation

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