Ecological niche segregation among five toothed whale species off the NW Iberian Peninsula using ecological tracers as multi-approachs

This study aims to assess niche segregation among the five main toothed whales that frequent the NW Iberian Peninsula waters: the common dolphin, the harbour porpoise, the bottlenose dolphin, the striped dolphin and the long-finned pilot whale. We used cadmium (Cd) and stable isotope ratios (δ13C an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Biology
Main Authors: Méndez-Fernandez, Paula, Pierce, Graham John, Bustamante, Paco, Chouvelon, Tiphaine, Ferreira, M., González, Ángel, López, A., Read, Fiona, Santos, María Begoña, Spitz, ‪Jérôme, Vingada, José, Caurant, Florence
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo
Medio Marino
Harbour porpoise
toothed whale
toothed whales
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10508/8599
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/323332
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2274-9
Description
Summary:This study aims to assess niche segregation among the five main toothed whales that frequent the NW Iberian Peninsula waters: the common dolphin, the harbour porpoise, the bottlenose dolphin, the striped dolphin and the long-finned pilot whale. We used cadmium (Cd) and stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) as ecological tracers to assess degree of segregation in diet/trophic level and in foraging habitat, over various time-scales. δ13C values highlighted different habitats, while Cd concentrations highlighted feeding differences between oceanic and neritic species. Moreover, δ15N values suggest different trophic levels of prey targeted within oceanic and neritic species. Hence, results revealed long-term ecological segregation among five toothed whales that coexist in the NWIP and demonstrated the ability of ecological tracers to discriminate ecological niches among closely related species. Sí

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