Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis reveals a high level of dietary specialization in killer whales across the North Atlantic
Abstract Quantifying the diet composition of apex marine predators such as killer whales ( Orcinus orca) is critical to assessing their food web impacts. Yet, with few exceptions, the feeding ecology of these apex predators remains poorly understood. Here, we use our newly validated quantitative fat...
Published in: | Journal of Animal Ecology |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13920 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2656.13920 |
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crwiley:10.1111/1365-2656.13920 2024-09-15T18:05:40+00:00 Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis reveals a high level of dietary specialization in killer whales across the North Atlantic Remili, Anaïs Dietz, Rune Sonne, Christian Samarra, Filipa I. P. Rikardsen, Audun H. Kettemer, Lisa E. Ferguson, Steven H. Watt, Cortney A. Matthews, Cory J. D. Kiszka, Jeremy J. Jourdain, Eve Borgå, Katrine Ruus, Anders Granquist, Sandra M. Rosing‐Asvid, Aqqalu McKinney, Melissa A. Canada Foundation for Innovation Canada Research Chairs Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Norges Forskningsråd Nunavut General Monitoring Plan Universitetet i Tromsø 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13920 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2656.13920 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Animal Ecology volume 92, issue 6, page 1216-1229 ISSN 0021-8790 1365-2656 journal-article 2023 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13920 2024-08-09T04:27:44Z Abstract Quantifying the diet composition of apex marine predators such as killer whales ( Orcinus orca) is critical to assessing their food web impacts. Yet, with few exceptions, the feeding ecology of these apex predators remains poorly understood. Here, we use our newly validated quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) approach on nearly 200 killer whales and over 900 potential prey to model their diets across the 5000 km span of the North Atlantic. Diet estimates show that killer whales mainly consume other whales in the western North Atlantic (Canadian Arctic, Eastern Canada), seals in the mid‐North Atlantic (Greenland), and fish in the eastern North Atlantic (Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway). Nonetheless, diet estimates also varied widely among individuals within most regions. This level of inter‐individual feeding variation should be considered for future ecological studies focusing on killer whales in the North Atlantic and other oceans. These estimates reveal remarkable population‐ and individual‐level variation in the trophic ecology of these killer whales, which can help to assess how their predation impacts community and ecosystem dynamics in changing North Atlantic marine ecosystems. This new approach provides researchers with an invaluable tool to study the feeding ecology of oceanic top predators. Article in Journal/Newspaper Faroe Islands Greenland Iceland North Atlantic Orca Orcinus orca Wiley Online Library Journal of Animal Ecology 92 6 1216 1229 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Quantifying the diet composition of apex marine predators such as killer whales ( Orcinus orca) is critical to assessing their food web impacts. Yet, with few exceptions, the feeding ecology of these apex predators remains poorly understood. Here, we use our newly validated quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) approach on nearly 200 killer whales and over 900 potential prey to model their diets across the 5000 km span of the North Atlantic. Diet estimates show that killer whales mainly consume other whales in the western North Atlantic (Canadian Arctic, Eastern Canada), seals in the mid‐North Atlantic (Greenland), and fish in the eastern North Atlantic (Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway). Nonetheless, diet estimates also varied widely among individuals within most regions. This level of inter‐individual feeding variation should be considered for future ecological studies focusing on killer whales in the North Atlantic and other oceans. These estimates reveal remarkable population‐ and individual‐level variation in the trophic ecology of these killer whales, which can help to assess how their predation impacts community and ecosystem dynamics in changing North Atlantic marine ecosystems. This new approach provides researchers with an invaluable tool to study the feeding ecology of oceanic top predators. |
author2 |
Canada Foundation for Innovation Canada Research Chairs Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Norges Forskningsråd Nunavut General Monitoring Plan Universitetet i Tromsø |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Remili, Anaïs Dietz, Rune Sonne, Christian Samarra, Filipa I. P. Rikardsen, Audun H. Kettemer, Lisa E. Ferguson, Steven H. Watt, Cortney A. Matthews, Cory J. D. Kiszka, Jeremy J. Jourdain, Eve Borgå, Katrine Ruus, Anders Granquist, Sandra M. Rosing‐Asvid, Aqqalu McKinney, Melissa A. |
spellingShingle |
Remili, Anaïs Dietz, Rune Sonne, Christian Samarra, Filipa I. P. Rikardsen, Audun H. Kettemer, Lisa E. Ferguson, Steven H. Watt, Cortney A. Matthews, Cory J. D. Kiszka, Jeremy J. Jourdain, Eve Borgå, Katrine Ruus, Anders Granquist, Sandra M. Rosing‐Asvid, Aqqalu McKinney, Melissa A. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis reveals a high level of dietary specialization in killer whales across the North Atlantic |
author_facet |
Remili, Anaïs Dietz, Rune Sonne, Christian Samarra, Filipa I. P. Rikardsen, Audun H. Kettemer, Lisa E. Ferguson, Steven H. Watt, Cortney A. Matthews, Cory J. D. Kiszka, Jeremy J. Jourdain, Eve Borgå, Katrine Ruus, Anders Granquist, Sandra M. Rosing‐Asvid, Aqqalu McKinney, Melissa A. |
author_sort |
Remili, Anaïs |
title |
Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis reveals a high level of dietary specialization in killer whales across the North Atlantic |
title_short |
Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis reveals a high level of dietary specialization in killer whales across the North Atlantic |
title_full |
Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis reveals a high level of dietary specialization in killer whales across the North Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis reveals a high level of dietary specialization in killer whales across the North Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis reveals a high level of dietary specialization in killer whales across the North Atlantic |
title_sort |
quantitative fatty acid signature analysis reveals a high level of dietary specialization in killer whales across the north atlantic |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13920 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2656.13920 |
genre |
Faroe Islands Greenland Iceland North Atlantic Orca Orcinus orca |
genre_facet |
Faroe Islands Greenland Iceland North Atlantic Orca Orcinus orca |
op_source |
Journal of Animal Ecology volume 92, issue 6, page 1216-1229 ISSN 0021-8790 1365-2656 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13920 |
container_title |
Journal of Animal Ecology |
container_volume |
92 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1216 |
op_container_end_page |
1229 |
_version_ |
1810443204875517952 |