Ecological niche segregation among five toothed whale species off the NW Iberian Peninsula using ecological tracers as multi-approach

• Published in: Marine Biology
• Main Authors: Méndez-Fernandez, Paula, Pierce, Graham J., Bustamante, Paco, Chouvelon, Tiphaine, Ferreira, Marisa, González, Angel F., López, Alfredo, Read, Fiona L., Santos, M. Begoña, Spitz, Jérôme, Vingada, José V., Caurant, Florence
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Verlag 2013
• Subjects: Fernandez; Harbour porpoise; toothed whale; toothed whales
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/23958; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2274-9

This study aims to assess niche segregation among the five main toothed whales that frequent the NW Iberian Peninsula waters: the common dolphin, the harbour porpoise, the bottlenose dolphin, the striped dolphin and the long-finned pilot whale. We used cadmium (Cd) and stable isotope ratios (delta C-13 and delta N-15) as ecological tracers to assess degree of segregation in diet/trophic level and in foraging habitat, over various time-scales. delta C-13 values highlighted different habitats, while Cd concentrations highlighted feeding differences between oceanic and neritic species. Moreover, delta N-15 values suggest different trophic levels of prey targeted within oceanic and neritic species. Hence, results revealed long-term ecological segregation among five toothed whales that coexist in the NWIP and demonstrated the ability of ecological tracers to discriminate ecological niches among closely related species. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of volunteers from the Galician (CEMMA) and Portuguese (SPVS) stranding networks. They also thank P. Richard and G. Guillou (UMR LIENSs) for running stable isotope measurements, C. Churlaud and M. Kalombo from the Centre Commun d’Analyses (Fédération de Recherche en Environnement pour le Développement Durable FR 3097 CNRS-IFREMER-Université de La Rochelle) for running part of the metal analyses, and P. Brunello from the Cellule Géomatique (UMR LIENSs) for providing the map of the study area. We also wish to thank B. Simon-Bouhet and Géraldine Lassale (UMR LIENSs) for useful comments during statistical analysis and T. Berthuin for her assistance during laboratory work. This work was supported through the PhD grant to P. Méndez-Fernandez from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology of the Government of Portugal (SFRH/BD/36766/2007). G.J. Pierce acknowledges support from the EU under the ANIMATE project (MEXC-CT-2006-042337). M.B. Santos acknowledges support from the LOTOFPEL project (Plan Nacional de I + D + I, CTM 2010-16053) and from the ...