Inter‐ and intrasex habitat partitioning in the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal
International audience Partitioning resources is a key mechanism for avoiding intraspecific competition and maximizing individual energy gain. However, in sexually dimorphic species it is difficult to discern if partitioning is due to competition or the different resource needs of morphologically di...
Published in: | Ecology and Evolution |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03144182 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7147 |
id |
ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-03144182v1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-03144182v1 2023-05-15T13:45:04+02:00 Inter‐ and intrasex habitat partitioning in the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal Hindell, Mark McMahon, Clive Jonsen, Ian Harcourt, Robert Arce, Fernando Guinet, Christophe Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) 2021 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03144182 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7147 en eng HAL CCSD Wiley Open Access info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1002/ece3.7147 hal-03144182 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03144182 doi:10.1002/ece3.7147 ISSN: 2045-7758 Ecology and Evolution https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03144182 Ecology and Evolution, Wiley Open Access, 2021, 11, pp.1620-1633. ⟨10.1002/ece3.7147⟩ Antarctic Shelf foraging and diving behavior Kerguelen Plateau mid-year haul out predation risk Southern Ocean [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2021 ftccsdartic https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7147 2021-10-23T23:59:50Z International audience Partitioning resources is a key mechanism for avoiding intraspecific competition and maximizing individual energy gain. However, in sexually dimorphic species it is difficult to discern if partitioning is due to competition or the different resource needs of morphologically distinct individuals. In the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal, there are intersexual differences in habitat use; at Iles Kerguelen, males predominantly use shelf waters, while females use deeper oceanic waters. There are equally marked intrasexual differences, with some males using the nearby Kerguelen Plateau, and others using the much more distant Antarctic continental shelf (~2,000 km away). We used this combination of inter and intrasexual behavior to test two hypotheses regarding habitat partitioning in highly dimorphic species. (a) that intersexual differences in habitat use will not appear until the seals diverge in body size and (b) that some habitats have higher rates of energy return than others. In particular, that the Antarctic shelf would provide higher energy returns than the Kerguelen Shelf, to offset the greater cost of travel. We quantified the habitat use of 187 southern elephant seals (102 adult females and 85 subadult males). The seals in the two groups were the same size (~2.4 m) removing the confounding effect of body size. We found that the intersexual differences in habitat use existed before the divergence in body size. Also, we found that the amount of energy gained was the same in all of the major habitats. This suggests that the use of shelf habitats by males is innate, and a trade‐off between the need to access the large benthic prey available on shelf waters, against the higher risk of predation there. Intrasexual differences in habitat use are another trade‐off; although there are fewer predators on the Antarctic shelf, it is subject to considerable interannual fluctuations in sea‐ice extent. In contrast, the Kerguelen Plateau presents more consistent foraging opportunities, but ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Sea ice Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) Antarctic Kerguelen Southern Ocean The Antarctic Ecology and Evolution 11 4 1620 1633 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
op_collection_id |
ftccsdartic |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctic Shelf foraging and diving behavior Kerguelen Plateau mid-year haul out predation risk Southern Ocean [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Antarctic Shelf foraging and diving behavior Kerguelen Plateau mid-year haul out predation risk Southern Ocean [SDE]Environmental Sciences Hindell, Mark McMahon, Clive Jonsen, Ian Harcourt, Robert Arce, Fernando Guinet, Christophe Inter‐ and intrasex habitat partitioning in the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal |
topic_facet |
Antarctic Shelf foraging and diving behavior Kerguelen Plateau mid-year haul out predation risk Southern Ocean [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
description |
International audience Partitioning resources is a key mechanism for avoiding intraspecific competition and maximizing individual energy gain. However, in sexually dimorphic species it is difficult to discern if partitioning is due to competition or the different resource needs of morphologically distinct individuals. In the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal, there are intersexual differences in habitat use; at Iles Kerguelen, males predominantly use shelf waters, while females use deeper oceanic waters. There are equally marked intrasexual differences, with some males using the nearby Kerguelen Plateau, and others using the much more distant Antarctic continental shelf (~2,000 km away). We used this combination of inter and intrasexual behavior to test two hypotheses regarding habitat partitioning in highly dimorphic species. (a) that intersexual differences in habitat use will not appear until the seals diverge in body size and (b) that some habitats have higher rates of energy return than others. In particular, that the Antarctic shelf would provide higher energy returns than the Kerguelen Shelf, to offset the greater cost of travel. We quantified the habitat use of 187 southern elephant seals (102 adult females and 85 subadult males). The seals in the two groups were the same size (~2.4 m) removing the confounding effect of body size. We found that the intersexual differences in habitat use existed before the divergence in body size. Also, we found that the amount of energy gained was the same in all of the major habitats. This suggests that the use of shelf habitats by males is innate, and a trade‐off between the need to access the large benthic prey available on shelf waters, against the higher risk of predation there. Intrasexual differences in habitat use are another trade‐off; although there are fewer predators on the Antarctic shelf, it is subject to considerable interannual fluctuations in sea‐ice extent. In contrast, the Kerguelen Plateau presents more consistent foraging opportunities, but ... |
author2 |
Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hindell, Mark McMahon, Clive Jonsen, Ian Harcourt, Robert Arce, Fernando Guinet, Christophe |
author_facet |
Hindell, Mark McMahon, Clive Jonsen, Ian Harcourt, Robert Arce, Fernando Guinet, Christophe |
author_sort |
Hindell, Mark |
title |
Inter‐ and intrasex habitat partitioning in the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal |
title_short |
Inter‐ and intrasex habitat partitioning in the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal |
title_full |
Inter‐ and intrasex habitat partitioning in the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal |
title_fullStr |
Inter‐ and intrasex habitat partitioning in the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal |
title_full_unstemmed |
Inter‐ and intrasex habitat partitioning in the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal |
title_sort |
inter‐ and intrasex habitat partitioning in the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03144182 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7147 |
geographic |
Antarctic Kerguelen Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Kerguelen Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Sea ice Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Sea ice Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean |
op_source |
ISSN: 2045-7758 Ecology and Evolution https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03144182 Ecology and Evolution, Wiley Open Access, 2021, 11, pp.1620-1633. ⟨10.1002/ece3.7147⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1002/ece3.7147 hal-03144182 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03144182 doi:10.1002/ece3.7147 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7147 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1620 |
op_container_end_page |
1633 |
_version_ |
1766212449359364096 |