Long-Term Species, Sexual and Individual Variations in Foraging Strategies of Fur Seals Revealed by Stable Isotopes in Whiskers

International audience Background: Individual variations in the use of the species niche are an important component of diversity in trophic interactions. A challenge in testing consistency of individual foraging strategy is the repeated collection of information on the same individuals. Methodology/...

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Published in:PLoS ONE
Main Authors: Kernaléguen, Laeticia, Cazelles, Bernard, Arnould, John P.Y., Richard, Pierre, Guinet, Christophe, Cherel, Yves
Other Authors: Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Nord ), Laboratoire Ecologie et évolution, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Burwood, LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hal.science/hal-00679685
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032916
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spelling ftsorbonneuniv:oai:HAL:hal-00679685v1 2024-05-19T07:31:30+00:00 Long-Term Species, Sexual and Individual Variations in Foraging Strategies of Fur Seals Revealed by Stable Isotopes in Whiskers Kernaléguen, Laeticia Cazelles, Bernard Arnould, John P.Y. Richard, Pierre Guinet, Christophe Cherel, Yves Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Nord ) Laboratoire Ecologie et évolution École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) School of Life and Environmental Sciences Deakin University Burwood LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2012-03-14 https://hal.science/hal-00679685 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032916 en eng HAL CCSD Public Library of Science info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0032916 hal-00679685 https://hal.science/hal-00679685 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032916 PUBMEDCENTRAL: PMC3303799 ISSN: 1932-6203 EISSN: 1932-6203 PLoS ONE https://hal.science/hal-00679685 PLoS ONE, 2012, 7 (3), pp.e32916. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0032916⟩ [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2012 ftsorbonneuniv https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032916 2024-04-25T03:37:28Z International audience Background: Individual variations in the use of the species niche are an important component of diversity in trophic interactions. A challenge in testing consistency of individual foraging strategy is the repeated collection of information on the same individuals. Methodology/Principal Findings: The foraging strategies of sympatric fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella and A. tropicalis) were examined using the stable isotope signature of serially sampled whiskers. Most whiskers exhibited synchronous d13C and d15N oscillations that correspond to the seal annual movements over the long term (up to 8 years). d13C and d15N values were spread over large ranges, with differences between species, sexes and individuals. The main segregating mechanism operates at the spatial scale. Most seals favored foraging in subantarctic waters (where the Crozet Islands are located) where they fed on myctophids. However, A. gazella dispersed in the Antarctic Zone and A. tropicalis more in the subtropics. Gender differences in annual time budget shape the seal movements. Males that do not perform any parental care exhibited large isotopic oscillations reflecting broad annual migrations, while isotopic values of females confined to a limited foraging range during lactation exhibited smaller changes. Limited inter-individual isotopic variations occurred in female seals and in male A. tropicalis. In contrast, male A. gazella showed large inter-individual variations, with some males migrating repeatedly to high-Antarctic waters where they fed on krill, thus meaning that individual specialization occurred over years. Conclusions/Significance: Whisker isotopic signature yields unique long-term information on individual behaviour that integrates the spatial, trophic and temporal dimensions of the ecological niche. The method allows depicting the entire realized niche of the species, including some of its less well-known components such as age-, sex-, individual- and migration-related changes. It highlights ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctocephalus gazella Crozet Islands HAL Sorbonne Université PLoS ONE 7 3 e32916
institution Open Polar
collection HAL Sorbonne Université
op_collection_id ftsorbonneuniv
language English
topic [SDE]Environmental Sciences
spellingShingle [SDE]Environmental Sciences
Kernaléguen, Laeticia
Cazelles, Bernard
Arnould, John P.Y.
Richard, Pierre
Guinet, Christophe
Cherel, Yves
Long-Term Species, Sexual and Individual Variations in Foraging Strategies of Fur Seals Revealed by Stable Isotopes in Whiskers
topic_facet [SDE]Environmental Sciences
description International audience Background: Individual variations in the use of the species niche are an important component of diversity in trophic interactions. A challenge in testing consistency of individual foraging strategy is the repeated collection of information on the same individuals. Methodology/Principal Findings: The foraging strategies of sympatric fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella and A. tropicalis) were examined using the stable isotope signature of serially sampled whiskers. Most whiskers exhibited synchronous d13C and d15N oscillations that correspond to the seal annual movements over the long term (up to 8 years). d13C and d15N values were spread over large ranges, with differences between species, sexes and individuals. The main segregating mechanism operates at the spatial scale. Most seals favored foraging in subantarctic waters (where the Crozet Islands are located) where they fed on myctophids. However, A. gazella dispersed in the Antarctic Zone and A. tropicalis more in the subtropics. Gender differences in annual time budget shape the seal movements. Males that do not perform any parental care exhibited large isotopic oscillations reflecting broad annual migrations, while isotopic values of females confined to a limited foraging range during lactation exhibited smaller changes. Limited inter-individual isotopic variations occurred in female seals and in male A. tropicalis. In contrast, male A. gazella showed large inter-individual variations, with some males migrating repeatedly to high-Antarctic waters where they fed on krill, thus meaning that individual specialization occurred over years. Conclusions/Significance: Whisker isotopic signature yields unique long-term information on individual behaviour that integrates the spatial, trophic and temporal dimensions of the ecological niche. The method allows depicting the entire realized niche of the species, including some of its less well-known components such as age-, sex-, individual- and migration-related changes. It highlights ...
author2 Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC)
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Nord )
Laboratoire Ecologie et évolution
École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL)
Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
School of Life and Environmental Sciences
Deakin University Burwood
LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs)
La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Kernaléguen, Laeticia
Cazelles, Bernard
Arnould, John P.Y.
Richard, Pierre
Guinet, Christophe
Cherel, Yves
author_facet Kernaléguen, Laeticia
Cazelles, Bernard
Arnould, John P.Y.
Richard, Pierre
Guinet, Christophe
Cherel, Yves
author_sort Kernaléguen, Laeticia
title Long-Term Species, Sexual and Individual Variations in Foraging Strategies of Fur Seals Revealed by Stable Isotopes in Whiskers
title_short Long-Term Species, Sexual and Individual Variations in Foraging Strategies of Fur Seals Revealed by Stable Isotopes in Whiskers
title_full Long-Term Species, Sexual and Individual Variations in Foraging Strategies of Fur Seals Revealed by Stable Isotopes in Whiskers
title_fullStr Long-Term Species, Sexual and Individual Variations in Foraging Strategies of Fur Seals Revealed by Stable Isotopes in Whiskers
title_full_unstemmed Long-Term Species, Sexual and Individual Variations in Foraging Strategies of Fur Seals Revealed by Stable Isotopes in Whiskers
title_sort long-term species, sexual and individual variations in foraging strategies of fur seals revealed by stable isotopes in whiskers
publisher HAL CCSD
publishDate 2012
url https://hal.science/hal-00679685
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032916
genre Antarc*
Antarctic
Arctocephalus gazella
Crozet Islands
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctic
Arctocephalus gazella
Crozet Islands
op_source ISSN: 1932-6203
EISSN: 1932-6203
PLoS ONE
https://hal.science/hal-00679685
PLoS ONE, 2012, 7 (3), pp.e32916. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0032916⟩
op_relation info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0032916
hal-00679685
https://hal.science/hal-00679685
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032916
PUBMEDCENTRAL: PMC3303799
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032916
container_title PLoS ONE
container_volume 7
container_issue 3
container_start_page e32916
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