Arctic seals as tracers of environmental and ecological change.
Knowledge of species trophic position (TP) is an essential component of ecosystem management. Determining TP from stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) in predators requires understanding how these tracers vary across environments and how they relate to predator isotope composition. We used two seal speci...
Published in: | Limnology and Oceanography Letters |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2719540 https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10176 |
id |
ftimr:oai:imr.brage.unit.no:11250/2719540 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftimr:oai:imr.brage.unit.no:11250/2719540 2023-05-15T14:47:49+02:00 Arctic seals as tracers of environmental and ecological change. De la Vega, C. Mahaffey, C. Tuerena, R.E. Yurkowski, D.J. Ferguson, S.H. Stenson, G.B. Nordøy, E.S. Haug, Tore Biuw, Martin Smout, S. Hopkins, J. Tagliabue, A. Jeffreys, R.M. 2020 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2719540 https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10176 eng eng Limnology and Oceanography Letters. 2020, . urn:issn:2378-2242 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2719540 https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10176 cristin:1854861 9 Limnology and Oceanography Letters Peer reviewed Journal article 2020 ftimr https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10176 2021-09-23T20:15:12Z Knowledge of species trophic position (TP) is an essential component of ecosystem management. Determining TP from stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) in predators requires understanding how these tracers vary across environments and how they relate to predator isotope composition. We used two seal species as a model for determining TP across large spatial scales in the Arctic. δ15N in seawater nitrate (δ15NNO3) and seal muscle amino acids (δ15NAA) were determined to independently characterize the base of the food web and the TP of harp and ringed seals, demonstrating a direct link between δ15NNO3 and δ15NAA. Our results show that the spatial variation in δ15NAA in seals reflects the δ15NNO3 end members in Pacific vs. Atlantic waters. This study provides a reference for best practice on accurate comparison of TP in predators and as such, provides a framework to assess the impact of environmental and human‐induced changes on ecosystems at pan‐Arctic scales. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Institute for Marine Research: Brage IMR Arctic Pacific Limnology and Oceanography Letters 6 1 24 32 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Institute for Marine Research: Brage IMR |
op_collection_id |
ftimr |
language |
English |
description |
Knowledge of species trophic position (TP) is an essential component of ecosystem management. Determining TP from stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) in predators requires understanding how these tracers vary across environments and how they relate to predator isotope composition. We used two seal species as a model for determining TP across large spatial scales in the Arctic. δ15N in seawater nitrate (δ15NNO3) and seal muscle amino acids (δ15NAA) were determined to independently characterize the base of the food web and the TP of harp and ringed seals, demonstrating a direct link between δ15NNO3 and δ15NAA. Our results show that the spatial variation in δ15NAA in seals reflects the δ15NNO3 end members in Pacific vs. Atlantic waters. This study provides a reference for best practice on accurate comparison of TP in predators and as such, provides a framework to assess the impact of environmental and human‐induced changes on ecosystems at pan‐Arctic scales. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
De la Vega, C. Mahaffey, C. Tuerena, R.E. Yurkowski, D.J. Ferguson, S.H. Stenson, G.B. Nordøy, E.S. Haug, Tore Biuw, Martin Smout, S. Hopkins, J. Tagliabue, A. Jeffreys, R.M. |
spellingShingle |
De la Vega, C. Mahaffey, C. Tuerena, R.E. Yurkowski, D.J. Ferguson, S.H. Stenson, G.B. Nordøy, E.S. Haug, Tore Biuw, Martin Smout, S. Hopkins, J. Tagliabue, A. Jeffreys, R.M. Arctic seals as tracers of environmental and ecological change. |
author_facet |
De la Vega, C. Mahaffey, C. Tuerena, R.E. Yurkowski, D.J. Ferguson, S.H. Stenson, G.B. Nordøy, E.S. Haug, Tore Biuw, Martin Smout, S. Hopkins, J. Tagliabue, A. Jeffreys, R.M. |
author_sort |
De la Vega, C. |
title |
Arctic seals as tracers of environmental and ecological change. |
title_short |
Arctic seals as tracers of environmental and ecological change. |
title_full |
Arctic seals as tracers of environmental and ecological change. |
title_fullStr |
Arctic seals as tracers of environmental and ecological change. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Arctic seals as tracers of environmental and ecological change. |
title_sort |
arctic seals as tracers of environmental and ecological change. |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2719540 https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10176 |
geographic |
Arctic Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Pacific |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
9 Limnology and Oceanography Letters |
op_relation |
Limnology and Oceanography Letters. 2020, . urn:issn:2378-2242 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2719540 https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10176 cristin:1854861 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10176 |
container_title |
Limnology and Oceanography Letters |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
24 |
op_container_end_page |
32 |
_version_ |
1766318935872897024 |