As concerns about anthropogenic and natural disturbance grow, understanding animal resource use patterns has been increasingly prioritized to predict how changes in environmental conditions, food web structure, and population dynamics will affect biological resilience. Among the tools used to assess resource use, stable isotope analysis has proliferated in ecological studies, particularly in relation to describing intra- and interspecific variation in trophic interactions. Despite a growing need to disseminate scientific information, the inherent limitations of stable isotope ratios and inappropriate synonymizing of distinct evolutionary and ecological processes may mislead ecological inferences in natural systems. This situation necessitates a re-evaluation of the utility of stable isotope ratios to address certain ecological questions. Here, we assess the efficacy of stable isotope ratios to describe two fundamental ecological processes, niche partitioning and individual specialization. Investigation of these processes has increased substantially in accordance with increased access to stable isotope data. This article discusses the circumstances and approaches that are necessary to evaluate niche partitioning and individual specialization, and outlines key considerations for the associated application of stable isotope ratios.

中文翻译：

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稳定同位素比率是否适合描述生态位划分和个体特化？

随着对人为和自然干扰的担忧日益加剧，越来越多地优先考虑了解动物资源使用模式，以预测环境条件、食物网结构和人口动态的变化将如何影响生物复原力。在用于评估资源利用的工具中，稳定同位素分析在生态研究中激增，特别是在描述营养相互作用的种内和种间变异方面。尽管传播科学信息的需求越来越大，但稳定同位素比率的固有局限性以及不同进化和生态过程的不适当同义化可能会误导自然系统中的生态推断。这种情况需要重新评估稳定同位素比率的效用，以解决某些生态问题。这里，我们评估稳定同位素比率的功效，以描述两个基本生态过程，生态位划分和个体专业化。随着对稳定同位素数据的访问增加，对这些过程的调查已大大增加。本文讨论了评估生态位划分和个体专业化所需的环境和方法，并概述了稳定同位素比率相关应用的关键考虑因素。