Trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes.
There is limited information that provides a comprehensive understanding of the trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardii) colonies. While scat analysis has been used to determine the diet of some colonies, the integrative characterization of its feeding habits on broa...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:129ff030ea794627aaa12bb4b5b0bf00 2023-05-15T16:33:04+02:00 Trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. Maricela Juárez-Rodríguez Gisela Heckel Juan Carlos Herguera-García Fernando R Elorriaga-Verplancken Sharon Z Herzka Yolanda Schramm 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225889 https://doaj.org/article/129ff030ea794627aaa12bb4b5b0bf00 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225889 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0225889 https://doaj.org/article/129ff030ea794627aaa12bb4b5b0bf00 PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 1, p e0225889 (2020) Medicine R Science Q article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225889 2022-12-31T11:16:46Z There is limited information that provides a comprehensive understanding of the trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardii) colonies. While scat analysis has been used to determine the diet of some colonies, the integrative characterization of its feeding habits on broader temporal and spatial scales remains limited. We examined potential feeding grounds, trophic niche width, and overlap, and inferred the degree of dietary specialization using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) in this subspecies. We analyzed δ13C and δ15N on fur samples from pups collected at five sites along the western coast of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Fur of natal coat of Pacific harbor seal pups begins to grow during the seventh month in utero until the last stage of gestation. Therefore pup fur is a good proxy for the mother's feeding habits in winter (~December to March), based on the timing of gestation for the subspecies in this region. Our results indicated that the δ13C and δ15N values differed significantly among sampling sites, with the highest mean δ15N value occurring at the southernmost site, reflecting a well-characterized north to south latitudinal 15N-enrichment in the food web. The tendency identified in δ13C values, in which the northern colonies showed the most enriched values, suggests nearshore and benthic-demersal feeding habits. A low variance in δ13C and δ15N values for each colony (<1‰) and relatively small standard ellipse areas suggest a specialized foraging behavior in adult female Pacific harbor seals in Mexican waters. Article in Journal/Newspaper harbor seal Phoca vitulina Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Baja Pacific PLOS ONE 15 1 e0225889 |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Maricela Juárez-Rodríguez Gisela Heckel Juan Carlos Herguera-García Fernando R Elorriaga-Verplancken Sharon Z Herzka Yolanda Schramm Trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
There is limited information that provides a comprehensive understanding of the trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardii) colonies. While scat analysis has been used to determine the diet of some colonies, the integrative characterization of its feeding habits on broader temporal and spatial scales remains limited. We examined potential feeding grounds, trophic niche width, and overlap, and inferred the degree of dietary specialization using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) in this subspecies. We analyzed δ13C and δ15N on fur samples from pups collected at five sites along the western coast of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Fur of natal coat of Pacific harbor seal pups begins to grow during the seventh month in utero until the last stage of gestation. Therefore pup fur is a good proxy for the mother's feeding habits in winter (~December to March), based on the timing of gestation for the subspecies in this region. Our results indicated that the δ13C and δ15N values differed significantly among sampling sites, with the highest mean δ15N value occurring at the southernmost site, reflecting a well-characterized north to south latitudinal 15N-enrichment in the food web. The tendency identified in δ13C values, in which the northern colonies showed the most enriched values, suggests nearshore and benthic-demersal feeding habits. A low variance in δ13C and δ15N values for each colony (<1‰) and relatively small standard ellipse areas suggest a specialized foraging behavior in adult female Pacific harbor seals in Mexican waters. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Maricela Juárez-Rodríguez Gisela Heckel Juan Carlos Herguera-García Fernando R Elorriaga-Verplancken Sharon Z Herzka Yolanda Schramm |
author_facet |
Maricela Juárez-Rodríguez Gisela Heckel Juan Carlos Herguera-García Fernando R Elorriaga-Verplancken Sharon Z Herzka Yolanda Schramm |
author_sort |
Maricela Juárez-Rodríguez |
title |
Trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. |
title_short |
Trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. |
title_full |
Trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. |
title_fullStr |
Trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. |
title_sort |
trophic ecology of mexican pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225889 https://doaj.org/article/129ff030ea794627aaa12bb4b5b0bf00 |
geographic |
Baja Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Baja Pacific |
genre |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 1, p e0225889 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225889 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0225889 https://doaj.org/article/129ff030ea794627aaa12bb4b5b0bf00 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225889 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
e0225889 |
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1766022792211333120 |