The co-distribution of Arctic cod and its seabird predators across the marginal ice zone in Baffin Bay
Arctic cod ('Boreogadus saida') is the dominant pelagic fish in Arctic seas and a staple food of many arctic predators including several seabird species. Marginal ice zones are known as important feeding locations for seabirds. The hypothesis that thick-billed murre ('Uria lomvia'...
Published in: | Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
BioOne
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.339 https://doaj.org/article/4fed95f8f8a54255aea61436e69216aa |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4fed95f8f8a54255aea61436e69216aa |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4fed95f8f8a54255aea61436e69216aa 2023-05-15T14:30:17+02:00 The co-distribution of Arctic cod and its seabird predators across the marginal ice zone in Baffin Bay Mathieu LeBlanc Stéphane Gauthier Svend Erik Garbus Anders Mosbech Louis Fortier 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.339 https://doaj.org/article/4fed95f8f8a54255aea61436e69216aa EN eng BioOne https://www.elementascience.org/articles/339 https://doaj.org/toc/2325-1026 2325-1026 doi:10.1525/elementa.339 https://doaj.org/article/4fed95f8f8a54255aea61436e69216aa Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, Vol 7, Iss 1 (2019) 'Boreogadus saida' Arctic seabirds Predator-prey interactions Spatial distribution Ontogenetic migration Marginal ice zone Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.339 2022-12-31T06:36:52Z Arctic cod ('Boreogadus saida') is the dominant pelagic fish in Arctic seas and a staple food of many arctic predators including several seabird species. Marginal ice zones are known as important feeding locations for seabirds. The hypothesis that thick-billed murre ('Uria lomvia'), northern fulmar ('Fulmarus glacialis') and black-legged kittiwake ('Rissa tridactyla') congregate in areas of high Arctic cod food resource and low ice concentration was tested at different spatial scales. Arctic cod biomass was estimated by hydroacoustics as a resource proxy, and seabirds were counted and sampled for stomach analysis along eight longitudinal transects across the marginal ice zone in southern Baffin Bay in June–July 2016. With increasing length, the epipelagic age-0 Arctic cod migrated from open waters to ice-covered areas. Subsequently, age-1 and age-2 Arctic cod tended to concentrate in a subsurface layer (40–100 m) within the epipelagic layer. Arctic cod 5.7–16.1 cm long (late age-0 to age-5) were the main fish prey of the three seabird species, which preferentially captured age-1 cod (6–11.5 cm). At large spatial scale (western versus eastern Baffin Bay), thick-billed murre, northern fulmar and their Arctic cod resource proxy were generally more abundant on the western ice-covered side of Baffin Bay. No clear spatial match was found, however, when comparing seabird abundances and their food-resource proxy in different ice concentrations across the marginal ice zone or at small scale (5 km). At medium scale (12.5 km), only murre density was influenced positively by its Arctic cod resource. A lack of schooling behavior and a successful strategy to avoid predation by hiding under the ice could explain the absence of any strong spatial match between Arctic cod and its seabird predators at these different scales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic cod Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Black-legged Kittiwake Boreogadus saida Fulmarus glacialis Northern Fulmar rissa tridactyla thick-billed murre Uria lomvia ice covered areas uria Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Baffin Bay Fulmar ENVELOPE(-46.016,-46.016,-60.616,-60.616) Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 7 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
'Boreogadus saida' Arctic seabirds Predator-prey interactions Spatial distribution Ontogenetic migration Marginal ice zone Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
'Boreogadus saida' Arctic seabirds Predator-prey interactions Spatial distribution Ontogenetic migration Marginal ice zone Environmental sciences GE1-350 Mathieu LeBlanc Stéphane Gauthier Svend Erik Garbus Anders Mosbech Louis Fortier The co-distribution of Arctic cod and its seabird predators across the marginal ice zone in Baffin Bay |
topic_facet |
'Boreogadus saida' Arctic seabirds Predator-prey interactions Spatial distribution Ontogenetic migration Marginal ice zone Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Arctic cod ('Boreogadus saida') is the dominant pelagic fish in Arctic seas and a staple food of many arctic predators including several seabird species. Marginal ice zones are known as important feeding locations for seabirds. The hypothesis that thick-billed murre ('Uria lomvia'), northern fulmar ('Fulmarus glacialis') and black-legged kittiwake ('Rissa tridactyla') congregate in areas of high Arctic cod food resource and low ice concentration was tested at different spatial scales. Arctic cod biomass was estimated by hydroacoustics as a resource proxy, and seabirds were counted and sampled for stomach analysis along eight longitudinal transects across the marginal ice zone in southern Baffin Bay in June–July 2016. With increasing length, the epipelagic age-0 Arctic cod migrated from open waters to ice-covered areas. Subsequently, age-1 and age-2 Arctic cod tended to concentrate in a subsurface layer (40–100 m) within the epipelagic layer. Arctic cod 5.7–16.1 cm long (late age-0 to age-5) were the main fish prey of the three seabird species, which preferentially captured age-1 cod (6–11.5 cm). At large spatial scale (western versus eastern Baffin Bay), thick-billed murre, northern fulmar and their Arctic cod resource proxy were generally more abundant on the western ice-covered side of Baffin Bay. No clear spatial match was found, however, when comparing seabird abundances and their food-resource proxy in different ice concentrations across the marginal ice zone or at small scale (5 km). At medium scale (12.5 km), only murre density was influenced positively by its Arctic cod resource. A lack of schooling behavior and a successful strategy to avoid predation by hiding under the ice could explain the absence of any strong spatial match between Arctic cod and its seabird predators at these different scales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mathieu LeBlanc Stéphane Gauthier Svend Erik Garbus Anders Mosbech Louis Fortier |
author_facet |
Mathieu LeBlanc Stéphane Gauthier Svend Erik Garbus Anders Mosbech Louis Fortier |
author_sort |
Mathieu LeBlanc |
title |
The co-distribution of Arctic cod and its seabird predators across the marginal ice zone in Baffin Bay |
title_short |
The co-distribution of Arctic cod and its seabird predators across the marginal ice zone in Baffin Bay |
title_full |
The co-distribution of Arctic cod and its seabird predators across the marginal ice zone in Baffin Bay |
title_fullStr |
The co-distribution of Arctic cod and its seabird predators across the marginal ice zone in Baffin Bay |
title_full_unstemmed |
The co-distribution of Arctic cod and its seabird predators across the marginal ice zone in Baffin Bay |
title_sort |
co-distribution of arctic cod and its seabird predators across the marginal ice zone in baffin bay |
publisher |
BioOne |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.339 https://doaj.org/article/4fed95f8f8a54255aea61436e69216aa |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-46.016,-46.016,-60.616,-60.616) |
geographic |
Arctic Baffin Bay Fulmar |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Baffin Bay Fulmar |
genre |
Arctic cod Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Black-legged Kittiwake Boreogadus saida Fulmarus glacialis Northern Fulmar rissa tridactyla thick-billed murre Uria lomvia ice covered areas uria |
genre_facet |
Arctic cod Arctic Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Black-legged Kittiwake Boreogadus saida Fulmarus glacialis Northern Fulmar rissa tridactyla thick-billed murre Uria lomvia ice covered areas uria |
op_source |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, Vol 7, Iss 1 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.elementascience.org/articles/339 https://doaj.org/toc/2325-1026 2325-1026 doi:10.1525/elementa.339 https://doaj.org/article/4fed95f8f8a54255aea61436e69216aa |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.339 |
container_title |
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene |
container_volume |
7 |
_version_ |
1766304149559836672 |