Mesoscale activity facilitates energy gain in a top predator
How animal movement decisions interact with the distribution of resources to shape individual performance is a key question in ecology. However, links between spatial and behavioural ecology and fitness consequences are poorly understood because the outcomes of individual resource selection decision...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
The Royal Society
2018
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6125900/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30135161 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1101 |
id |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:6125900 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:6125900 2023-05-15T16:05:39+02:00 Mesoscale activity facilitates energy gain in a top predator Abrahms, Briana Scales, Kylie L. Hazen, Elliott L. Bograd, Steven J. Schick, Robert S. Robinson, Patrick W. Costa, Daniel P. 2018-08-29 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6125900/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30135161 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1101 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6125900/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30135161 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1101 © 2018 The Author(s) http://royalsocietypublishing.org/licence Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Ecology Text 2018 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1101 2019-09-01T00:08:45Z How animal movement decisions interact with the distribution of resources to shape individual performance is a key question in ecology. However, links between spatial and behavioural ecology and fitness consequences are poorly understood because the outcomes of individual resource selection decisions, such as energy intake, are rarely measured. In the open ocean, mesoscale features (approx. 10–100 km) such as fronts and eddies can aggregate prey and thereby drive the distribution of foraging vertebrates through bottom-up biophysical coupling. These productive features are known to attract predators, yet their role in facilitating energy transfer to top-level consumers is opaque. We investigated the use of mesoscale features by migrating northern elephant seals and quantified the corresponding energetic gains from the seals' foraging patterns at a daily resolution. Migrating elephant seals modified their diving behaviour and selected for mesoscale features when foraging. Daily energy gain increased significantly with increasing mesoscale activity, indicating that the physical environment can influence predator fitness at fine temporal scales. Results show that areas of high mesoscale activity not only attract top predators as foraging hotspots, but also lead to increased energy transfer across trophic levels. Our study provides evidence that the physical environment is an important factor in controlling energy flow to top predators by setting the stage for variation in resource availability. Such understanding is critical for assessing how changes in the environment and resource distribution will affect individual fitness and food web dynamics. Text Elephant Seals PubMed Central (PMC) Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285 1885 20181101 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Abrahms, Briana Scales, Kylie L. Hazen, Elliott L. Bograd, Steven J. Schick, Robert S. Robinson, Patrick W. Costa, Daniel P. Mesoscale activity facilitates energy gain in a top predator |
topic_facet |
Ecology |
description |
How animal movement decisions interact with the distribution of resources to shape individual performance is a key question in ecology. However, links between spatial and behavioural ecology and fitness consequences are poorly understood because the outcomes of individual resource selection decisions, such as energy intake, are rarely measured. In the open ocean, mesoscale features (approx. 10–100 km) such as fronts and eddies can aggregate prey and thereby drive the distribution of foraging vertebrates through bottom-up biophysical coupling. These productive features are known to attract predators, yet their role in facilitating energy transfer to top-level consumers is opaque. We investigated the use of mesoscale features by migrating northern elephant seals and quantified the corresponding energetic gains from the seals' foraging patterns at a daily resolution. Migrating elephant seals modified their diving behaviour and selected for mesoscale features when foraging. Daily energy gain increased significantly with increasing mesoscale activity, indicating that the physical environment can influence predator fitness at fine temporal scales. Results show that areas of high mesoscale activity not only attract top predators as foraging hotspots, but also lead to increased energy transfer across trophic levels. Our study provides evidence that the physical environment is an important factor in controlling energy flow to top predators by setting the stage for variation in resource availability. Such understanding is critical for assessing how changes in the environment and resource distribution will affect individual fitness and food web dynamics. |
format |
Text |
author |
Abrahms, Briana Scales, Kylie L. Hazen, Elliott L. Bograd, Steven J. Schick, Robert S. Robinson, Patrick W. Costa, Daniel P. |
author_facet |
Abrahms, Briana Scales, Kylie L. Hazen, Elliott L. Bograd, Steven J. Schick, Robert S. Robinson, Patrick W. Costa, Daniel P. |
author_sort |
Abrahms, Briana |
title |
Mesoscale activity facilitates energy gain in a top predator |
title_short |
Mesoscale activity facilitates energy gain in a top predator |
title_full |
Mesoscale activity facilitates energy gain in a top predator |
title_fullStr |
Mesoscale activity facilitates energy gain in a top predator |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mesoscale activity facilitates energy gain in a top predator |
title_sort |
mesoscale activity facilitates energy gain in a top predator |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6125900/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30135161 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1101 |
genre |
Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seals |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6125900/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30135161 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1101 |
op_rights |
© 2018 The Author(s) http://royalsocietypublishing.org/licence Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1101 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
285 |
container_issue |
1885 |
container_start_page |
20181101 |
_version_ |
1766401557833711616 |