Stable isotopes unveil habitat partitioning among the marine mammals off NW Africa and reveal unique trophic niches for two globally threatened species.
Stable isotope abundances of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in the bone of 13 species of marine mammals from the northwest coast of Africa were investigated to assess their positions in the local trophic web and their preferred habitats. Also, samples of primary producers and potential prey speci...
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ftubarcepubl:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/58413 2024-02-11T10:02:18+01:00 Stable isotopes unveil habitat partitioning among the marine mammals off NW Africa and reveal unique trophic niches for two globally threatened species. Pinela, Ana M. Borrell Thió, Assumpció Cardona Pascual, Luis Aguilar, Àlex 2010-10-14 12 p. application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2445/58413 eng eng Inter-Research Reproducció del document publicat a: http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps08790 Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2010, vol. 416, p. 295-306 Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals) http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps08790 0171-8630 http://hdl.handle.net/2445/58413 580269 (c) Inter-Research, 2010 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Mamífers marins Biologia de poblacions Biologia marina Animals en perill d'extinció Marine mammals Population biology Marine biology Rare animals info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2010 ftubarcepubl https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08790 2024-01-24T00:57:09Z Stable isotope abundances of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in the bone of 13 species of marine mammals from the northwest coast of Africa were investigated to assess their positions in the local trophic web and their preferred habitats. Also, samples of primary producers and potential prey species from the study area were collected to characterise the local isotopic landscape. This characterisation indicated that δ13C values increased from offshore to nearshore and that δ15N was a good proxy for trophic level. Therefore, the most coastal species were Monachus monachus and Sousa teuszii, whereas the most pelagic were Physeter macrocephalus and Balaenoptera acutorostrata. δ15N values indicated that marine mammals located at the lowest trophic level were B. acutorostrata, Stenella coeruleoalba and Delphinus sp., and those occupying the highest trophic level were M. monachus and P. macrocephalus. The trophic level of Orcinus orca was similar to that of M. monachus, suggesting that O. orca preys on fish. Conservation of coastal and threatened species (M. monachus and S. teuszii) off NW Africa should be a priority because these species, as the main apex predators, cannot be replaced by other marine mammals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaenoptera acutorostrata Orca Orcinus orca Physeter macrocephalus Dipòsit Digital de la Universitat de Barcelona Marine Ecology Progress Series 416 295 306 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Dipòsit Digital de la Universitat de Barcelona |
op_collection_id |
ftubarcepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Mamífers marins Biologia de poblacions Biologia marina Animals en perill d'extinció Marine mammals Population biology Marine biology Rare animals |
spellingShingle |
Mamífers marins Biologia de poblacions Biologia marina Animals en perill d'extinció Marine mammals Population biology Marine biology Rare animals Pinela, Ana M. Borrell Thió, Assumpció Cardona Pascual, Luis Aguilar, Àlex Stable isotopes unveil habitat partitioning among the marine mammals off NW Africa and reveal unique trophic niches for two globally threatened species. |
topic_facet |
Mamífers marins Biologia de poblacions Biologia marina Animals en perill d'extinció Marine mammals Population biology Marine biology Rare animals |
description |
Stable isotope abundances of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in the bone of 13 species of marine mammals from the northwest coast of Africa were investigated to assess their positions in the local trophic web and their preferred habitats. Also, samples of primary producers and potential prey species from the study area were collected to characterise the local isotopic landscape. This characterisation indicated that δ13C values increased from offshore to nearshore and that δ15N was a good proxy for trophic level. Therefore, the most coastal species were Monachus monachus and Sousa teuszii, whereas the most pelagic were Physeter macrocephalus and Balaenoptera acutorostrata. δ15N values indicated that marine mammals located at the lowest trophic level were B. acutorostrata, Stenella coeruleoalba and Delphinus sp., and those occupying the highest trophic level were M. monachus and P. macrocephalus. The trophic level of Orcinus orca was similar to that of M. monachus, suggesting that O. orca preys on fish. Conservation of coastal and threatened species (M. monachus and S. teuszii) off NW Africa should be a priority because these species, as the main apex predators, cannot be replaced by other marine mammals. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pinela, Ana M. Borrell Thió, Assumpció Cardona Pascual, Luis Aguilar, Àlex |
author_facet |
Pinela, Ana M. Borrell Thió, Assumpció Cardona Pascual, Luis Aguilar, Àlex |
author_sort |
Pinela, Ana M. |
title |
Stable isotopes unveil habitat partitioning among the marine mammals off NW Africa and reveal unique trophic niches for two globally threatened species. |
title_short |
Stable isotopes unveil habitat partitioning among the marine mammals off NW Africa and reveal unique trophic niches for two globally threatened species. |
title_full |
Stable isotopes unveil habitat partitioning among the marine mammals off NW Africa and reveal unique trophic niches for two globally threatened species. |
title_fullStr |
Stable isotopes unveil habitat partitioning among the marine mammals off NW Africa and reveal unique trophic niches for two globally threatened species. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stable isotopes unveil habitat partitioning among the marine mammals off NW Africa and reveal unique trophic niches for two globally threatened species. |
title_sort |
stable isotopes unveil habitat partitioning among the marine mammals off nw africa and reveal unique trophic niches for two globally threatened species. |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2445/58413 |
genre |
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Orca Orcinus orca Physeter macrocephalus |
genre_facet |
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Orca Orcinus orca Physeter macrocephalus |
op_relation |
Reproducció del document publicat a: http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps08790 Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2010, vol. 416, p. 295-306 Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals) http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps08790 0171-8630 http://hdl.handle.net/2445/58413 580269 |
op_rights |
(c) Inter-Research, 2010 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08790 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
container_volume |
416 |
container_start_page |
295 |
op_container_end_page |
306 |
_version_ |
1790598240583811072 |