Relationship between Chlorophyll a Concentration, Light Attenuation and Diving Depth of the Southern Elephant Seal Mirounga leonina
Recently, a number of Antarctic marine environmental studies have used oceanographic parameters collected from instrumented top predators for ecological and physical information. Phytoplankton concentration is generally quantified through active measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence. In this study...
Published in: | PLoS ONE |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library Science
2012
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00589/70150/68129.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047444 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00589/70150/ |
id |
ftarchimer:oai:archimer.ifremer.fr:70150 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftarchimer:oai:archimer.ifremer.fr:70150 2023-05-15T13:47:36+02:00 Relationship between Chlorophyll a Concentration, Light Attenuation and Diving Depth of the Southern Elephant Seal Mirounga leonina Jaud, Thomas Dragon, Anne-cecile Vacquie Garcia, Jade Guinet, Christophe 2012-10 application/pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00589/70150/68129.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047444 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00589/70150/ eng eng Public Library Science https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00589/70150/68129.pdf doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0047444 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00589/70150/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess restricted use Plos One (1932-6203) (Public Library Science), 2012-10 , Vol. 7 , N. 10 , P. e47444 (10p.) text Publication info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2012 ftarchimer https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047444 2021-09-23T20:33:49Z Recently, a number of Antarctic marine environmental studies have used oceanographic parameters collected from instrumented top predators for ecological and physical information. Phytoplankton concentration is generally quantified through active measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence. In this study, light absorption coefficient (K-0.75) was used as an indicator of phytoplankton concentration. This measurement, easy to obtain and requiring low electric power, allows for assessing of the fine scale horizontal structuring of phytoplankton. As part of this study, Southern elephant seals (SES) were simultaneously equipped with a fluorometer and a light logger. Along the SES tracks, variations in K-0.75 were strongly correlated with chlorophyll, a concentration measured by the fluorometer within the euphotic layer. With regards to SES foraging behaviour, bottom depth of the seal's dive was highly dependent on light intensity at 150 m, indicating that the vertical distribution of SES's prey such as myctophids is tightly related to light level. Therefore, change in phytoplankton concentration may not only have a direct effect on SES's prey abundance but may also determine their vertical accessibility with likely consequences on SES foraging efficiency. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Archimer (Archive Institutionnelle de l'Ifremer - Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) Antarctic PLoS ONE 7 10 e47444 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archimer (Archive Institutionnelle de l'Ifremer - Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) |
op_collection_id |
ftarchimer |
language |
English |
description |
Recently, a number of Antarctic marine environmental studies have used oceanographic parameters collected from instrumented top predators for ecological and physical information. Phytoplankton concentration is generally quantified through active measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence. In this study, light absorption coefficient (K-0.75) was used as an indicator of phytoplankton concentration. This measurement, easy to obtain and requiring low electric power, allows for assessing of the fine scale horizontal structuring of phytoplankton. As part of this study, Southern elephant seals (SES) were simultaneously equipped with a fluorometer and a light logger. Along the SES tracks, variations in K-0.75 were strongly correlated with chlorophyll, a concentration measured by the fluorometer within the euphotic layer. With regards to SES foraging behaviour, bottom depth of the seal's dive was highly dependent on light intensity at 150 m, indicating that the vertical distribution of SES's prey such as myctophids is tightly related to light level. Therefore, change in phytoplankton concentration may not only have a direct effect on SES's prey abundance but may also determine their vertical accessibility with likely consequences on SES foraging efficiency. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jaud, Thomas Dragon, Anne-cecile Vacquie Garcia, Jade Guinet, Christophe |
spellingShingle |
Jaud, Thomas Dragon, Anne-cecile Vacquie Garcia, Jade Guinet, Christophe Relationship between Chlorophyll a Concentration, Light Attenuation and Diving Depth of the Southern Elephant Seal Mirounga leonina |
author_facet |
Jaud, Thomas Dragon, Anne-cecile Vacquie Garcia, Jade Guinet, Christophe |
author_sort |
Jaud, Thomas |
title |
Relationship between Chlorophyll a Concentration, Light Attenuation and Diving Depth of the Southern Elephant Seal Mirounga leonina |
title_short |
Relationship between Chlorophyll a Concentration, Light Attenuation and Diving Depth of the Southern Elephant Seal Mirounga leonina |
title_full |
Relationship between Chlorophyll a Concentration, Light Attenuation and Diving Depth of the Southern Elephant Seal Mirounga leonina |
title_fullStr |
Relationship between Chlorophyll a Concentration, Light Attenuation and Diving Depth of the Southern Elephant Seal Mirounga leonina |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relationship between Chlorophyll a Concentration, Light Attenuation and Diving Depth of the Southern Elephant Seal Mirounga leonina |
title_sort |
relationship between chlorophyll a concentration, light attenuation and diving depth of the southern elephant seal mirounga leonina |
publisher |
Public Library Science |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00589/70150/68129.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047444 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00589/70150/ |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
op_source |
Plos One (1932-6203) (Public Library Science), 2012-10 , Vol. 7 , N. 10 , P. e47444 (10p.) |
op_relation |
https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00589/70150/68129.pdf doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0047444 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00589/70150/ |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess restricted use |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047444 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
e47444 |
_version_ |
1766247513975685120 |