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RATIONALE Globally, many drylands are experiencing the encroachment of woody vegetation into grasslands. These changes in ecosystem structure and processes can result in increased sediment and nutrient fluxes due to fluvial erosion. As these changes are often accompanied by a shift from C4 to C3 vegetation with characteristic δ13C values, stable isotope analysis provides a promising mechanism for tracing these fluxes. METHODS Input vegetation, surface sediment and fluvially eroded sediment samples were collected across two contrasting C4-C3 dryland vegetation transitions in New Mexico, USA. Isotope ratio mass spectrometric analyses were performed using a Carlo Erba NA2000 analyser interfaced to a SerCon 20-22 isotope ratio mass spectrometer to determine bulk δ13C values. RESULTS Stable isotope analyses of contemporary input vegetation and surface sediments over the monitored transitions showed significant differences ( p <0.05) in the bulk δ13C values of C4 Bouteloua sp. (grama) grassland, C3 Larrea tridentata (creosote) shrubland and C3 Pinus edulis/Juniperus monosperma (piñon-juniper) woodland sites. Significantly, this distinctive δ13C value was maintained in the bulk δ13C values of fluvially eroded sediment from each of the sites, with no significant variation between surface sediment and eroded sediment values. CONCLUSIONS The significant differences in bulk δ13C values between sites were dependent on vegetation input. Importantly, these values were robustly expressed in fluvially eroded sediments, suggesting that stable isotope analysis is suitable for tracing sediment fluxes. Due to the prevalent nature of these dryland vegetation transitions in the USA and globally, further development of stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry has provided a valuable tool for enhanced understanding of functional changes in these ecosystems. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]