| Summary: | Progress Code: completed Statement: Values provided in temporal and spatial coverage are approximate only. The major difficulty associated with the DNA based dietary work was that we were not allowed to collect as many scat samples as we wanted to on the Heard Island expedition. This led to an impoverished data set and consequent difficulty in publishing the work. Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2301 See the link below for public details on this project. --- Public Summary from Project --- This study develops and combines the latest molecular and electronics technology into a comprehensive investigation of diet and food-web relationships of Southern Ocean predators (whales, seals, penguins) and commercial marine resources (krill, fish, squid). This type of information is essential for ecosystem models that set sustainable catch limits for fisheries. From the abstract of the referenced paper: We describe seven group-specific primer pairs that amplify small sections of ribosomal RNA genes suitable for identification of animal groups of major importance as prey items in marine ecosystems. These primer sets allow the isolation of DNA from the target animal groups from mixed pools of DNA, where DNA-based identification using universal primers is unlikely to succeed. The primers are designed for identifying prey and animal diets, but could be used in any situation where these animal groups are to be identified by their DNA. Progress report from the 2006/2007 Season: Overall objective This new multi-year initiative project within the AMLR program aims to develop and combine the latest molecular and electronics technology to facilitate a comprehensive investigation of appropriately scaled and strategically located trophodynamics of Southern Ocean higher marine predators and commercial marine living resources. The objectives and early experimental design are largely responsive to needs determined by the Australian Antarctic Division's core-function obligations to CCAMLR, as well as other international ...
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