Dogs in Lithuania from the 12th to 18th C AD: Diet and Health According to Stable Isotope, Zooarchaeological, and Historical Data.

This article presents the results of research that focused on the nutrition and related health issues of medieval and early modern dogs found in the territory of present-day Lithuania. In this study, we present bone collagen carbon (δC) and nitrogen (δN) isotope ratios for seventy-five dogs recovered from seven sites which were dated back to the between the 12th and 18th C AD. In addition, by studying the remains of almost 200 dogs, we were able to estimate changes in the sizes and morphotypes of canines across over 600 years.

Isotopic Niche of Syntopic Granivores in Commercial Orchards and Meadows.

In agricultural habitats, diets and trophic positions of syntopic granivorous small mammals are not known sufficiently. Agroecosystems may be quite complex isotopically and the most complex situation concerns the nitrogen-15 isotope as N values are influenced by many internal and external fluxes. We analysed the isotopic niches of striped field (), yellow-necked (), and harvest () mice living sympatrically and syntopically in apple and plum orchards, raspberry and currant plantations, and nearby meadows that were used as control habitats.

Stable Isotopes Reveal the Dominant Species to Have the Widest Trophic Niche of Three Syntopic Voles.

Diets and trophic positions of co-occurring animals are fundamental issues in their ecology, and these issues in syntopic rodents have been studied insufficiently. Using carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stable isotope ratios from hair samples, we analysed the trophic niches of common (), field (), and root () voles co-occurring in orchards, berry plantations, and nearby meadows (as control habitat to orchards and plantations). We tested if the niche of the dominant common vole was the widest, whether its width depended on the presence of other vole species, and whether there were intraspecific differences.

Diet patterns in medieval to early modern (14-early 20 c.) coastal communities in Lithuania.

Coastal residents are quite often expected to consume a significant amount of aquatic resources, though historical evidence often reveals a rather complex diet. To better understand the actual consumption and the distribution of various foods, stable isotope (δC and δN) analyses were employed to skeletal remains from three coastal communities, Palanga, Kretinga and Smeltė, ranging in date from the medieval period to the early modern ages (14-early 20 c.) near the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea in Lithuania.

Diet, cuisine and consumption practices of the first farmers in the southeastern Baltic.

With the arrival of the Early Neolithic Globular Amphora and Corded Ware cultures into the southeastern Baltic, ca. 2900/2800-2400 cal BC, a new type of economy was introduced, animal husbandry. However, the degree to which this transformed the subsistence economy is unknown.

Resource partitioning confirmed by isotopic signatures allows small mammals to share seasonally flooded meadows.

Meadows in river deltas are characterized by a high diversity and abundance of small mammals. However, neither their spatial arrangement nor differences in their use of microhabitat can necessarily explain the dense co-occurrence of sympatric species. We investigated how several small mammal species share a seasonally flooded meadow of limited size, testing predictions (P1) that herbivore, granivore, insectivore, and omnivore species are separated in time (dominant in different years), (P2) that sympatric species undergo isotopic partitioning, and (P3) that there are intraspecific differences in diet.

Seasonal Variation in Stable Isotope Ratios of Cow Milk in Vilnius Region, Lithuania.

Various studies have shown that stable isotope analysis has the potential to verify the geographic origin of foods and drinks. However, stable isotope composition is not always constant in the environment and can even change in the same area. Dairy products are of particular interest as a group of foods that play an important role in feeding the population.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope inter- and intra-individual dietary reconstruction from the late 14th to early 18th century site of Alytus, Lithuania.

Objectives: The Baltic region, particularly Lithuania, was a politically vibrant area of Eastern Europe during the medieval and early modern period. To better understand the diet of Lithuanians during the late 14th to early 18th century, we examine stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios from bone and dentin samples from the site of Alytus. We investigate possible dietary differences based on sex, age, and religious practice, as well as dietary changes throughout an individual's lifetime, within the broader European milieu.

Aerosol source (biomass, traffic and coal emission) apportionment in Lithuania using stable carbon and radiocarbon analysis.

In the present study, a combination of the stable carbon isotope ratio (C/C) with radiocarbon data (C) allowed us to perform the aerosol source apportionment. Filter samples of PM were collected during the warm and cold periods in rural and urban sites in Lithuania. The C/C ratio of total carbon (TC) was measured using the single stage accelerator mass spectrometer quantifying of fossil and non-fossil derived aerosol emissions.

Stable isotope ratio method for the characterisation of the poultry house environment.

Stable isotope analysis was applied to describe the poultry house environment. The poultry house indoor environment was selected for this study due to the relevant health problems in animals and their caretakers. Air quality parameters including temperature, relative humidity, airflow rate, NH, CO and total suspended particles, as well as mean levels of total airborne bacteria and fungi count, were measured.

The impact of Great Cormorants on biogenic pollution of land ecosystems: Stable isotope signatures in small mammals.

Studying the isotopic composition of the hair of two rodent species trapped in the territories of Great Cormorant colonies, we aimed to show that Great Cormorants transfer biogens from aquatic ecosystems to terrestrial ecosystems, and that these substances reach small mammals through the trophic cascade, thus influencing the nutrient balance in the terrestrial ecosystem. Analysis of δ(13)C and δ(15)N was performed on two dominant species of small mammals, Apodemus flavicollis and Myodes glareolus, inhabiting the territories of the colonies. For both species, the values of δ(13)C and δ(15)N were higher in the animals trapped in the territories of the colonies than those in control territories.