The use of stable isotopes in ecological research is increasing. Such studies rely mostly on variations in natural abundance of stable isotopes in ecosystem to study plant ecology and physiology, origin, including geographical origin, and food webs, and to reconstruct animal diets or past climate. Such variations of stable isotopes in ecosystems are a consequence of isotope fractionation, a process occurring in most physicochemical and biochemical reactions in nature. To use stable isotopes as natural tracers it is vital to have basic knowledge of isotope fractionation and the main processes in nature in which such fraction occurs. The purpose of this paper is to inform readers about the basics of fractionations of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur stable isotopes occurring in nature. We also provide a list of common research questions which can be addressed with these stable isotopes and their systems as natural traces.
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