Interpretation of southern hemisphere humpback whale diet via stable isotopes; implications of tissue-specific analysis
Blubber and skin are commonly used tissues in stable isotope analysis for the purpose of investigating cetacean diet. Critical comparison of tissue-specific isotopic signals is, however, lacking resulting in uncertainty surrounding the representativeness and therefore utility of different tissues fo...
Published in: | PLOS ONE |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283330 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283330 |
id |
crplos:10.1371/journal.pone.0283330 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crplos:10.1371/journal.pone.0283330 2024-05-19T07:41:45+00:00 Interpretation of southern hemisphere humpback whale diet via stable isotopes; implications of tissue-specific analysis Eggebo, June Groß, Jasmin Bengtson Nash, Susan Cooper, Lee W. 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283330 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283330 en eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PLOS ONE volume 18, issue 4, page e0283330 ISSN 1932-6203 journal-article 2023 crplos https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283330 2024-05-01T07:04:01Z Blubber and skin are commonly used tissues in stable isotope analysis for the purpose of investigating cetacean diet. Critical comparison of tissue-specific isotopic signals is, however, lacking resulting in uncertainty surrounding the representativeness and therefore utility of different tissues for accurate determination of recent foraging. This study used remotely biopsied blubber and skin tissues from southern hemisphere humpback whales for strategic comparison of δ 13 C and δ 15 N values. Samples were collected between 2008–2018 as part of long-term monitoring under the Humpback Whale Sentinel Program. Blubber tissues were lipid-extracted prior to analysis, whilst mathematical lipid-correction was performed on skin samples. Isotopic values from paired blubber and skin samples from the same individuals were compared to assess whether tissues could be used interchangeably for isotope analysis and dietary interpretation. Significant differences were observed for both δ 13 C and δ 15 N, flagging previously undocumented methodological considerations, and the need for method validation and standardisation in application of these approaches. This study therefore advances methodological aspects of cetacean dietary analysis. This is of elevated importance in the context of rapidly changing ocean ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale PLOS PLOS ONE 18 4 e0283330 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PLOS |
op_collection_id |
crplos |
language |
English |
description |
Blubber and skin are commonly used tissues in stable isotope analysis for the purpose of investigating cetacean diet. Critical comparison of tissue-specific isotopic signals is, however, lacking resulting in uncertainty surrounding the representativeness and therefore utility of different tissues for accurate determination of recent foraging. This study used remotely biopsied blubber and skin tissues from southern hemisphere humpback whales for strategic comparison of δ 13 C and δ 15 N values. Samples were collected between 2008–2018 as part of long-term monitoring under the Humpback Whale Sentinel Program. Blubber tissues were lipid-extracted prior to analysis, whilst mathematical lipid-correction was performed on skin samples. Isotopic values from paired blubber and skin samples from the same individuals were compared to assess whether tissues could be used interchangeably for isotope analysis and dietary interpretation. Significant differences were observed for both δ 13 C and δ 15 N, flagging previously undocumented methodological considerations, and the need for method validation and standardisation in application of these approaches. This study therefore advances methodological aspects of cetacean dietary analysis. This is of elevated importance in the context of rapidly changing ocean ecosystems. |
author2 |
Cooper, Lee W. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Eggebo, June Groß, Jasmin Bengtson Nash, Susan |
spellingShingle |
Eggebo, June Groß, Jasmin Bengtson Nash, Susan Interpretation of southern hemisphere humpback whale diet via stable isotopes; implications of tissue-specific analysis |
author_facet |
Eggebo, June Groß, Jasmin Bengtson Nash, Susan |
author_sort |
Eggebo, June |
title |
Interpretation of southern hemisphere humpback whale diet via stable isotopes; implications of tissue-specific analysis |
title_short |
Interpretation of southern hemisphere humpback whale diet via stable isotopes; implications of tissue-specific analysis |
title_full |
Interpretation of southern hemisphere humpback whale diet via stable isotopes; implications of tissue-specific analysis |
title_fullStr |
Interpretation of southern hemisphere humpback whale diet via stable isotopes; implications of tissue-specific analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Interpretation of southern hemisphere humpback whale diet via stable isotopes; implications of tissue-specific analysis |
title_sort |
interpretation of southern hemisphere humpback whale diet via stable isotopes; implications of tissue-specific analysis |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283330 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283330 |
genre |
Humpback Whale |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale |
op_source |
PLOS ONE volume 18, issue 4, page e0283330 ISSN 1932-6203 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283330 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
e0283330 |
_version_ |
1799481359383658496 |