What difference does a century make? Shifts in the ecosystem structure of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as evidenced from a sentinel species, the Weddell seal
The arrival of humans to Antarctica's Ross Sea (100+ years ago) led to a slow, but sustained increase in human activities in the area. To investigate if human presence has influenced the structure of the ecosystem over the last century, we compared historical ( ca 100 years old) and modern samp...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 2024-06-02T07:57:08+00:00 What difference does a century make? Shifts in the ecosystem structure of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as evidenced from a sentinel species, the Weddell seal Hückstädt, Luis A. McCarthy, Matthew D. Koch, Paul L. Costa, Daniel P. E&P Sound and Marine Life Joint Industry Project of the IAGOP Division of Polar Programs Marine Conservation Institute - Mia G. Tegner Grants in Historical Ecology 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 284, issue 1861, page 20170927 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2017 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 2024-05-07T14:16:37Z The arrival of humans to Antarctica's Ross Sea (100+ years ago) led to a slow, but sustained increase in human activities in the area. To investigate if human presence has influenced the structure of the ecosystem over the last century, we compared historical ( ca 100 years old) and modern samples of a sentinel species, the Weddell seal ( Leptonychotes weddellii ), using both bulk tissue and compound-specific stable isotope analysis. The historical isotopic niche of Weddell seals was over five times larger than the modern niche. The isotopic values of individual amino acids showed a clear segregation between historical and modern samples, indicative of differences at the base of the trophic web. Further, we found no significant differences in the trophic position of Weddell seals between the two periods. Our study revealed that the Ross Sea has undergone detectable changes (i.e. in the primary producers community) in the last century, but the presence of humans has not disrupted trophic interactions supporting Weddell seals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Ross Sea Weddell Seal Weddell Seals The Royal Society Ross Sea Weddell Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284 1861 20170927 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
The arrival of humans to Antarctica's Ross Sea (100+ years ago) led to a slow, but sustained increase in human activities in the area. To investigate if human presence has influenced the structure of the ecosystem over the last century, we compared historical ( ca 100 years old) and modern samples of a sentinel species, the Weddell seal ( Leptonychotes weddellii ), using both bulk tissue and compound-specific stable isotope analysis. The historical isotopic niche of Weddell seals was over five times larger than the modern niche. The isotopic values of individual amino acids showed a clear segregation between historical and modern samples, indicative of differences at the base of the trophic web. Further, we found no significant differences in the trophic position of Weddell seals between the two periods. Our study revealed that the Ross Sea has undergone detectable changes (i.e. in the primary producers community) in the last century, but the presence of humans has not disrupted trophic interactions supporting Weddell seals. |
author2 |
E&P Sound and Marine Life Joint Industry Project of the IAGOP Division of Polar Programs Marine Conservation Institute - Mia G. Tegner Grants in Historical Ecology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hückstädt, Luis A. McCarthy, Matthew D. Koch, Paul L. Costa, Daniel P. |
spellingShingle |
Hückstädt, Luis A. McCarthy, Matthew D. Koch, Paul L. Costa, Daniel P. What difference does a century make? Shifts in the ecosystem structure of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as evidenced from a sentinel species, the Weddell seal |
author_facet |
Hückstädt, Luis A. McCarthy, Matthew D. Koch, Paul L. Costa, Daniel P. |
author_sort |
Hückstädt, Luis A. |
title |
What difference does a century make? Shifts in the ecosystem structure of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as evidenced from a sentinel species, the Weddell seal |
title_short |
What difference does a century make? Shifts in the ecosystem structure of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as evidenced from a sentinel species, the Weddell seal |
title_full |
What difference does a century make? Shifts in the ecosystem structure of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as evidenced from a sentinel species, the Weddell seal |
title_fullStr |
What difference does a century make? Shifts in the ecosystem structure of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as evidenced from a sentinel species, the Weddell seal |
title_full_unstemmed |
What difference does a century make? Shifts in the ecosystem structure of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, as evidenced from a sentinel species, the Weddell seal |
title_sort |
what difference does a century make? shifts in the ecosystem structure of the ross sea, antarctica, as evidenced from a sentinel species, the weddell seal |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 |
geographic |
Ross Sea Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Ross Sea Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Ross Sea Weddell Seal Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Ross Sea Weddell Seal Weddell Seals |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 284, issue 1861, page 20170927 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0927 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
284 |
container_issue |
1861 |
container_start_page |
20170927 |
_version_ |
1800739134615060480 |