You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids.
Understanding the trophodynamics of marine ecosystems requires data on the temporal and spatial variation in predator diet but, particularly for wide-ranging species, these data are often unavailable. The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) consumes large quantities of fish and squid prey in t...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:1691367 2023-05-15T13:42:38+02:00 You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids. Bradshaw, Corey J A Hindell, Mark A Best, Narelle J Phillips, Katrina L Wilson, Gareth Nichols, Peter D 2003-06-22 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691367 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12816642 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2371 en eng http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691367 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12816642 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2371 Research Article Text 2003 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2371 2013-08-31T12:35:14Z Understanding the trophodynamics of marine ecosystems requires data on the temporal and spatial variation in predator diet but, particularly for wide-ranging species, these data are often unavailable. The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) consumes large quantities of fish and squid prey in the Southern Ocean relative to other marine mammals; however, how diet varies relative to seasonal and spatial foraging behaviour is unknown. We used fatty acid (FA) signature analysis of 63 blubber cores from adult female M. leonina over three seasons (winter 1999, summer 2000 and winter 2001) to determine diet structure. We detected significant differences between seasons and between the main foraging regions (Antarctic continental shelf versus pelagic). We used the FA profiles from 53 fish, squid and krill species to construct a discriminant function that would classify each seal, from its blubber sample as having a fish- or squid-FA profile. We determined that a higher proportion of M. leonina had fish-dominated diets during the winter and when foraging around the Antarctic continental shelf, and the majority had more squid-dominated diets during the summer when foraging pelagically. Thus, we were able to measure the coarse-scale diet structure of a major marine predator using FA profiles, and estimate its associated seasonal and temporal variation. Text Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean PubMed Central (PMC) Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 270 1521 1283 1292 |
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English |
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Research Article |
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Research Article Bradshaw, Corey J A Hindell, Mark A Best, Narelle J Phillips, Katrina L Wilson, Gareth Nichols, Peter D You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids. |
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Research Article |
description |
Understanding the trophodynamics of marine ecosystems requires data on the temporal and spatial variation in predator diet but, particularly for wide-ranging species, these data are often unavailable. The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) consumes large quantities of fish and squid prey in the Southern Ocean relative to other marine mammals; however, how diet varies relative to seasonal and spatial foraging behaviour is unknown. We used fatty acid (FA) signature analysis of 63 blubber cores from adult female M. leonina over three seasons (winter 1999, summer 2000 and winter 2001) to determine diet structure. We detected significant differences between seasons and between the main foraging regions (Antarctic continental shelf versus pelagic). We used the FA profiles from 53 fish, squid and krill species to construct a discriminant function that would classify each seal, from its blubber sample as having a fish- or squid-FA profile. We determined that a higher proportion of M. leonina had fish-dominated diets during the winter and when foraging around the Antarctic continental shelf, and the majority had more squid-dominated diets during the summer when foraging pelagically. Thus, we were able to measure the coarse-scale diet structure of a major marine predator using FA profiles, and estimate its associated seasonal and temporal variation. |
format |
Text |
author |
Bradshaw, Corey J A Hindell, Mark A Best, Narelle J Phillips, Katrina L Wilson, Gareth Nichols, Peter D |
author_facet |
Bradshaw, Corey J A Hindell, Mark A Best, Narelle J Phillips, Katrina L Wilson, Gareth Nichols, Peter D |
author_sort |
Bradshaw, Corey J A |
title |
You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids. |
title_short |
You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids. |
title_full |
You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids. |
title_fullStr |
You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids. |
title_full_unstemmed |
You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids. |
title_sort |
you are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids. |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691367 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12816642 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2371 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691367 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12816642 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2371 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2371 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
270 |
container_issue |
1521 |
container_start_page |
1283 |
op_container_end_page |
1292 |
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1766170337613971456 |