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The hydrogen and oxygen isotope tracer method has excellent potential where (1) spatial variation of precipitation isotopes exist, and (2) strong, mechanistic relationships link precipitation and isotope ratios in biological tissue. As a result, these isotopes are potentially ideal tracers of geographic origin. The heavy isotope content of precipitated water and snow (δD p, δ 18O p) varies widely and systematically across the globe, providing a label that is incorporated through diet into animal tissue.
Stable isotopes are being increasingly used in wildlife forensics as means of determining the origin and movement of animals.