You eat what you find - Local patterns in vegetation structure control diets of African fungus-growing termites.

Fungus-growing termites and their symbiotic fungi are critically important carbon and nutrient recyclers in arid and semiarid environments of sub-Saharan Africa. A major proportion of plant litter produced in these ecosystems is decomposed within nest chambers of termite mounds, where temperature and humidity are kept optimal for the fungal symbionts. While fungus-growing termites are generally believed to exploit a wide range of different plant substrates, the actual diets of most species remain elusive.

Recurrent transitions to Little Ice Age-like climatic regimes over the Holocene.

Unlabelled: Holocene climate variability is punctuated by episodic climatic events such as the Little Ice Age (LIA) predating the industrial-era warming. Their dating and forcing mechanisms have however remained controversial. Even more crucially, it is uncertain whether earlier events represent climatic regimes similar to the LIA.

New Ag PO comparison material for stable oxygen isotope analysis.

Rationale: A silver phosphate reference material (Ag PO ) for the measurement of stable oxygen isotope compositions is much needed; however, it is not available from the authorities distributing reference materials. This study aims to fill this gap by calibrating a new Ag PO stable isotope comparison material produced by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU).

Methods: Aliquots of Ag PO were distributed to four laboratories who frequently measure the δ O value in Ag PO ; the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), the University of Western Australia (UWA), the University of Helsinki (UH), and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).

Sequential extraction of the phosphate and collagen fractions of small bone samples for analysis of multiple isotope systems (δ O , δ C, δ N).

Rationale: Stable isotope analyses are used on precious archeological and paleontological materials despite their destructive nature, because the information gained by these methods on, for example, feeding habits, migration and health of individuals cannot otherwise be obtained. We approached this issue by devising a new sequential extraction scheme aimed at producing multiple (O, C, N) isotope proxies from small amounts of sample.

Methods: The new extraction scheme includes dissolution of the bone in dilute HNO followed by separate treatments of the collagenous and phosphate fractions.