Can stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating provide a forensic solution for curbing illegal harvesting of threatened cycads?

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dc.contributor.authorRetief, Kirsten
dc.contributor.authorWest, Adam G.
dc.contributor.authorPfab, Michele F.
dc.coverage.spatialSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-09-17T11:40:03Z
dc.date.available2014-09-17T11:40:03Z
dc.date.issued2014-09-17
dc.description.abstractCycads in South Africa are facing an extinction crisis due to the illegal extraction of plants from the wild. Proving wild origin of suspect ex situ cycads to the satisfaction of a court of law is difficult, limiting law enforcement efforts. We investigated the feasibility of using multiple stable isotopes to identify specimens removed from the wild. Relocated and wild specimens from the African genus Encephalartos were sampled: E. lebomboensis and E. arenarius. 14C analysis indicated that a ±30 year chronology could be reliably obtained from the cycads. For E. arenarius, pre-relocation tissue was consistent with a wild origin, whereas tissue grown post-relocation was isotopically distinct from the wild for 87Sr/86Sr and δ15N. For E. lebomboensis, δ34S, δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr were different between relocated and control plants, consistent with the >30 years since relocation. Our findings demonstrate the potential for a forensic isotope approach to identify illegal ex situ cycads.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationRetief, K., West, Adam G., & Pfab, Michele F. (2014). Can stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating provide a forensic solution for curbing illegal harvesting of threatened cycads?. <i>Journal of Forensic Sciences</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7508en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationRetief, Kirsten, Adam G. West, and Michele F. Pfab "Can stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating provide a forensic solution for curbing illegal harvesting of threatened cycads?." <i>Journal of Forensic Sciences</i> (2014) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7508en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationRetief, K., West, A.G. and Pfab, M.F. (2014) Can stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating provide a forensic solution for curbing illegal harvesting of threatened cycads? Journal of Forensic Sciences. DOI: 10.111/1556-4029.12644en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Retief, Kirsten AU - West, Adam G. AU - Pfab, Michele F. AB - Cycads in South Africa are facing an extinction crisis due to the illegal extraction of plants from the wild. Proving wild origin of suspect ex situ cycads to the satisfaction of a court of law is difficult, limiting law enforcement efforts. We investigated the feasibility of using multiple stable isotopes to identify specimens removed from the wild. Relocated and wild specimens from the African genus Encephalartos were sampled: E. lebomboensis and E. arenarius. 14C analysis indicated that a ±30 year chronology could be reliably obtained from the cycads. For E. arenarius, pre-relocation tissue was consistent with a wild origin, whereas tissue grown post-relocation was isotopically distinct from the wild for 87Sr/86Sr and δ15N. For E. lebomboensis, δ34S, δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr were different between relocated and control plants, consistent with the >30 years since relocation. Our findings demonstrate the potential for a forensic isotope approach to identify illegal ex situ cycads. DA - 2014-09-17 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - Journal of Forensic Sciences LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 T1 - Can stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating provide a forensic solution for curbing illegal harvesting of threatened cycads? TI - Can stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating provide a forensic solution for curbing illegal harvesting of threatened cycads? UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7508 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/7508
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationRetief K, West Adam G, Pfab Michele F. Can stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating provide a forensic solution for curbing illegal harvesting of threatened cycads?. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 2014; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7508.en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisherWileyen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.sourceJournal of Forensic Sciencesen_ZA
dc.titleCan stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating provide a forensic solution for curbing illegal harvesting of threatened cycads?en_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsstable isotopesen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsconservationen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordscycadsen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsforensicsen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourcePost-printen_ZA
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