Involving collaboration particularly with CEFAS and Netherlands NIOO, our field and experimental work has been exploring stable isotope trophic-step fractionation and its application to revealing marine food web structures. Building on theory (Olive PJW et al. 2003 J Anim Ecol 72: 608), and empirical and field (e.g. Mill AC et al. 2007 Mar Biol 21: 1137) and lab work (e.g. Sweeting CJ et al. ) we are exploring what factors affect the level of fractionation and what additional information variations in this might convey. We continue to apply this knowledge to understanding food web structures and how these change over time and in space through detailed empirical studies (e.g. fish bone collagen data, North Sea benthic-pelagic coupling, deep-sea vents and seeps in the Southern Ocean) and syntheses of existing knowledge.
