Ethanol storage minimally affects spider stable isotope signatures

Stable isotopes, especially Carbon and Nitrogen, are valuable ways to evaluate changes in organisms' trophic positions over time. Frequently, it is taught that ethanol storage impacts the isotopic signatures, rendering specimens collected or stored in ethanol unusable for isotopic analysis. However, we collected several hundred spider samples to evaluation their trophic positions within a tropical forest food web. Specimens were collected, the legs removed and dried, while the body was stored in ethanol. After storage, both portions of each individual were assessed for δC₁₃ and δN₁₅ signatures. To date, 101 specimens have been analyzed, and we found no significant difference for Nitrogen signatures, and minimal differences for Carbon signatures, indicating ethanol stored specimens may be valuable assets for future studies interested in isotopic analysis.