Data from: Determinants of individual foraging specialisation in large marine vertebrates, the Antarctic and Subantarctic fur seals ...

• Main Authors: Kernaléguen, Laëtitia, Arnould, John P. Y., Guinet, Christophe, Cherel, Yves
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2016
• Subjects: niche width; Otariid; foraging ecology; Arctocephalus tropicalis; niche variation hypothesis; Vibrissae; Arctocephalus gazella; Whisker; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k231g; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.k231g

1. The degree of individual specialization in resource use differs widely among wild populations where individuals range from fully generalized to highly specialized. This interindividual variation has profound implications in many ecological and evolutionary processes. A recent review proposed four main ecological causes of individual specialization: interspecific and intraspecific competition, ecological opportunity and predation. 2. Using the isotopic signature of subsampled whiskers, we investigated to what degree three of these factors (interspecific and intraspecific competition and ecological opportunity) affect the population niche width and the level of individual foraging specialization in two fur seal species, the Antarctic and subantarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella and Arctocephalus tropicalis), over several years. 3. Population niche width was greater when the two seal species bred in allopatry (low interspecific competition) than in sympatry or when seals bred in high-density stabilized ... : Kernaleguen_et_al_JAE_dataCarbon and nitrogen isotopic values of whiskers of Antarctic and subantarctic fur seal females during the pup-rearing and inter-breeding periods. ...