Radiocarbon as a Novel Tracer of Extra-Antarctic Feeding in Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales
Bulk stable isotope analysis provides information regarding food web interactions, and has been applied to several cetacean species for the study of migration ecology. One limitation in bulk stable isotope analysis arises when a species, such as Southern hemisphere humpback whales, utilises geograph...
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ftgriffithuniv:oai:research-repository.griffith.edu.au:10072/347248 2024-04-21T07:49:47+00:00 Radiocarbon as a Novel Tracer of Extra-Antarctic Feeding in Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales Eisenmann, Pascale Fry, Brian Mazumder, Debashish Jacobsen, Geraldine Holyoake, Carlysle Sian Coughran, Douglas Nash, Susan Bengtson 2017 http://hdl.handle.net/10072/347248 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04698-2 English eng eng Nature Publishing Group Scientific Reports http://hdl.handle.net/10072/347248 2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-04698-2 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © The Author(s) 2017. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. open access Biochemistry and cell biology not elsewhere classified Journal article 2017 ftgriffithuniv https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04698-2 2024-03-27T15:17:54Z Bulk stable isotope analysis provides information regarding food web interactions, and has been applied to several cetacean species for the study of migration ecology. One limitation in bulk stable isotope analysis arises when a species, such as Southern hemisphere humpback whales, utilises geographically distinct food webs with differing isotopic baselines. Migrations to areas with different baselines can result in isotopic changes that mimic changes in feeding relations, leading to ambiguous food web interpretations. Here, we demonstrate the novel application of radiocarbon measurement for the resolution of such ambiguities. Radiocarbon was measured in baleen plates from humpback whales stranded in Australia between 2007 and 2013, and in skin samples collected in Australia and Antarctica from stranded and free-ranging animals. Radiocarbon measurements showed lower values for Southern Ocean feeding than for extra-Antarctic feeding in Australian waters. While the whales mostly relied on Antarctic-derived energy stores during their annual migration, there was some evidence of feeding within temperate zone waters in some individuals. This work, to our knowledge, provides the first definitive biochemical evidence for supplementary feeding by southern hemisphere humpback whales within temperate waters during migration. Further, the work contributes a powerful new tool (radiocarbon) for tracing source regions and geographical feeding. Griffith Sciences, Griffith School of Environment Full Text Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean Griffith University: Griffith Research Online Scientific Reports 7 1 |
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Biochemistry and cell biology not elsewhere classified |
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Biochemistry and cell biology not elsewhere classified Eisenmann, Pascale Fry, Brian Mazumder, Debashish Jacobsen, Geraldine Holyoake, Carlysle Sian Coughran, Douglas Nash, Susan Bengtson Radiocarbon as a Novel Tracer of Extra-Antarctic Feeding in Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales |
topic_facet |
Biochemistry and cell biology not elsewhere classified |
description |
Bulk stable isotope analysis provides information regarding food web interactions, and has been applied to several cetacean species for the study of migration ecology. One limitation in bulk stable isotope analysis arises when a species, such as Southern hemisphere humpback whales, utilises geographically distinct food webs with differing isotopic baselines. Migrations to areas with different baselines can result in isotopic changes that mimic changes in feeding relations, leading to ambiguous food web interpretations. Here, we demonstrate the novel application of radiocarbon measurement for the resolution of such ambiguities. Radiocarbon was measured in baleen plates from humpback whales stranded in Australia between 2007 and 2013, and in skin samples collected in Australia and Antarctica from stranded and free-ranging animals. Radiocarbon measurements showed lower values for Southern Ocean feeding than for extra-Antarctic feeding in Australian waters. While the whales mostly relied on Antarctic-derived energy stores during their annual migration, there was some evidence of feeding within temperate zone waters in some individuals. This work, to our knowledge, provides the first definitive biochemical evidence for supplementary feeding by southern hemisphere humpback whales within temperate waters during migration. Further, the work contributes a powerful new tool (radiocarbon) for tracing source regions and geographical feeding. Griffith Sciences, Griffith School of Environment Full Text |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Eisenmann, Pascale Fry, Brian Mazumder, Debashish Jacobsen, Geraldine Holyoake, Carlysle Sian Coughran, Douglas Nash, Susan Bengtson |
author_facet |
Eisenmann, Pascale Fry, Brian Mazumder, Debashish Jacobsen, Geraldine Holyoake, Carlysle Sian Coughran, Douglas Nash, Susan Bengtson |
author_sort |
Eisenmann, Pascale |
title |
Radiocarbon as a Novel Tracer of Extra-Antarctic Feeding in Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales |
title_short |
Radiocarbon as a Novel Tracer of Extra-Antarctic Feeding in Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales |
title_full |
Radiocarbon as a Novel Tracer of Extra-Antarctic Feeding in Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales |
title_fullStr |
Radiocarbon as a Novel Tracer of Extra-Antarctic Feeding in Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales |
title_full_unstemmed |
Radiocarbon as a Novel Tracer of Extra-Antarctic Feeding in Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales |
title_sort |
radiocarbon as a novel tracer of extra-antarctic feeding in southern hemisphere humpback whales |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10072/347248 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04698-2 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
Scientific Reports http://hdl.handle.net/10072/347248 2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-04698-2 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © The Author(s) 2017. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. open access |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04698-2 |
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Scientific Reports |
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