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Changes in northeast Pacific marine ecosystems over the last 4500 years: evidence from stable isotope analysis of bone collagen from archeological middens

Center for Archaeology, Materials and Applied Spectroscopy, 1651 Alvin Ricken Drive, Idaho State University, Pocatello ID 83201, USA and Department of Anthropology, Idaho State University, Pocatello ID 83209, USA, misanico{at}isu.edu

Bruce Finney

Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello ID 83209, USA

Herbert Maschner

Center for Archaeology, Materials and Applied Spectroscopy, 1651 Alvin Ricken Drive, Idaho State University, Pocatello ID 83201, USA and Department of Anthropology, Idaho State University, Pocatello ID 83209, USA, Idaho Museum of Natural History, Pocatello ID 83209, USA

Matthew J. Wooller

Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, Water and Environmental Research Center, Institute of Northern Engineering, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences and Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks AK 99775, USA

Changes in food web dynamics and ocean productivity over the past 4500 years are investigated using stable isotope analysis of nitrogen and carbon in collagen from animal bones preserved in coastal archeological middens on Sanak Island, along the eastern edge of the Aleutian archipelgo. Samples included Steller sea lions, Harbor seals, Northern fur seals, sea otters, Pacific cod and sockeye salmon. Sea otters had the highest ¹³C (–11.9 ± 0.7) and lowest ¹⁵N values (14.5 ± 1.4), Northern fur seals had the lowest ¹³C values (–13.6 ± 1.4), and Steller sea lions had the highest ¹⁵N values (18.4 ± 1.4) of the marine mammals. Cod isotope values were consistent with those of demersal organisms from near shore habitats (–12.5 ± 0.9 ¹³C, 16.1 ± 1.4 ¹⁵N), while salmon values were consistent with those of organisms existing in an open ocean habitat and at a lower trophic level (–15.2 ± 1.4 ¹³C, 11.5 ± 1.7 ¹⁵N). When comparing six different prehistoric time periods, two time periods had significantly different ¹³C for salmon. Otters had significantly different ¹⁵N values in two out of the six prehistoric time periods but no differences in ¹³C. The mean ¹³C, corrected for the oceanic Suess Effect, of modern specimens of all species (except Northern fur seals) were significantly lower than prehistoric animals. Several hypotheses are explored to explain these differences including a reduction in productivity during the twentieth century in this region of the Gulf of Alaska. If true, this suggests that North Pacific climate regimes experienced during the twentieth century may not be good analogs of North Pacific marine ecosystems during the late Holocene.

Key Words: Marine ecosystem • food webs • ocean productivity • stable isotopes • carbon • nitrogen • middens • bone collagen • North Pacific • late Holocene.

The Holocene, Vol. 19, No. 8, 1139-1151 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0959683609345075


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