The diet of Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis
The diet of adult and juvenile Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, was determined from both scat and stable isotope analyses, to ascertain if foraging behavior varied with age, season, or diving pattern. Scats were collected over 6 years and recovered hard parts ide...
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1998
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Online Access: | https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52360/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52360/1/3274.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050245 |
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ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:52360 2023-05-15T14:01:00+02:00 The diet of Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis Burns, J. M. Trumble, S. J. Castellini, M. A. Testa, J. W. 1998-03-17 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52360/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52360/1/3274.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050245 en eng Springer https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52360/1/3274.pdf Burns, J. M., Trumble, S. J., Castellini, M. A. and Testa, J. W. (1998) The diet of Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis. Polar Biology, 19 (4). pp. 272-282. DOI 10.1007/s003000050245 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050245>. doi:10.1007/s003000050245 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Article PeerReviewed 1998 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050245 2023-04-07T15:55:25Z The diet of adult and juvenile Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, was determined from both scat and stable isotope analyses, to ascertain if foraging behavior varied with age, season, or diving pattern. Scats were collected over 6 years and recovered hard parts identified. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values were determined for seal blood samples and potential prey items and used to identify primary prey species and assess trophic interactions. Pleuragramma antarcticum remains were recovered from between 70 and 100% of the scats, and there was little evidence for inter-annual or age-specific variation in foraging behavior. However, stable isotope and dive data analyses indicated that while most seals foraged predominantly on pelagic fish and squid, some juveniles concentrated on shallow benthic Trematomus spp. Combining these three methods permitted firm conclusions about diet and foraging behavior to be drawn. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Sound Polar Biology Weddell Seals OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) McMurdo Sound Weddell Polar Biology 19 4 272 282 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
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ftoceanrep |
language |
English |
description |
The diet of adult and juvenile Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, was determined from both scat and stable isotope analyses, to ascertain if foraging behavior varied with age, season, or diving pattern. Scats were collected over 6 years and recovered hard parts identified. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values were determined for seal blood samples and potential prey items and used to identify primary prey species and assess trophic interactions. Pleuragramma antarcticum remains were recovered from between 70 and 100% of the scats, and there was little evidence for inter-annual or age-specific variation in foraging behavior. However, stable isotope and dive data analyses indicated that while most seals foraged predominantly on pelagic fish and squid, some juveniles concentrated on shallow benthic Trematomus spp. Combining these three methods permitted firm conclusions about diet and foraging behavior to be drawn. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Burns, J. M. Trumble, S. J. Castellini, M. A. Testa, J. W. |
spellingShingle |
Burns, J. M. Trumble, S. J. Castellini, M. A. Testa, J. W. The diet of Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis |
author_facet |
Burns, J. M. Trumble, S. J. Castellini, M. A. Testa, J. W. |
author_sort |
Burns, J. M. |
title |
The diet of Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis |
title_short |
The diet of Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis |
title_full |
The diet of Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis |
title_fullStr |
The diet of Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
The diet of Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis |
title_sort |
diet of weddell seals in mcmurdo sound, antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
1998 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52360/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52360/1/3274.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050245 |
geographic |
McMurdo Sound Weddell |
geographic_facet |
McMurdo Sound Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Sound Polar Biology Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Sound Polar Biology Weddell Seals |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52360/1/3274.pdf Burns, J. M., Trumble, S. J., Castellini, M. A. and Testa, J. W. (1998) The diet of Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica as determined from scat collections and stable isotope analysis. Polar Biology, 19 (4). pp. 272-282. DOI 10.1007/s003000050245 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050245>. doi:10.1007/s003000050245 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050245 |
container_title |
Polar Biology |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
272 |
op_container_end_page |
282 |
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1766270440667348992 |