Assessing marine ecosystem complexity: isotopic integration of the trophic structure of seabird communities from the Southern Ocean
International audience Understanding the processes structuring communities is a fundamental goal in ecology and conservation biology. Seabirds are commonly used as sentinels of marine ecosystems, but there is a lack of quantitative information providing a synoptic view of their community structure a...
Published in: | Marine Ecology Progress Series |
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-03695830 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14087 |
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ftunivrochelle:oai:HAL:hal-03695830v1 2024-02-11T09:57:21+01:00 Assessing marine ecosystem complexity: isotopic integration of the trophic structure of seabird communities from the Southern Ocean Cherel, Yves Carrouée, Antoine Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) APDRA Pisciculture Paysanne Massy, France 2022 https://hal.science/hal-03695830 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14087 en eng HAL CCSD Inter Research info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3354/meps14087 hal-03695830 https://hal.science/hal-03695830 doi:10.3354/meps14087 ISSN: 0171-8630 EISSN: 1616-1599 Marine Ecology Progress Series https://hal.science/hal-03695830 Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2022, 694, pp.193-208. ⟨10.3354/meps14087⟩ Habitat Trophic position Body size Penguins Procellariiformes Stable isotopes Antarctica [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2022 ftunivrochelle https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14087 2024-01-23T23:34:26Z International audience Understanding the processes structuring communities is a fundamental goal in ecology and conservation biology. Seabirds are commonly used as sentinels of marine ecosystems, but there is a lack of quantitative information providing a synoptic view of their community structure and of its underlying mechanisms. Here, stable isotope analysis of chick feathers was used to investigate the structure of two communities that are representative of the subantarctic (Kerguelen) and Antarctic (Terre Adélie) seabird diversity. Total area of the convex hull (a measure of the total δ13C-δ15N niche space) is 8.4-fold higher at Kerguelen Islands than in Adélie Land, a consequence of the higher seabird diversity at the former locality. Kerguelen seabirds grouped into two clusters of oceanic and inshore species, with the latter group not represented in Adélie Land. Communities are primarily structured by the availability of foraging habitats (δ13C) and then of trophic resources (δ15N), with body size being a major driving force of the species trophic position. Ecological characteristics are more important than phylogeny to shape seabird isotopic niche breadth (SEAc), with no significant differences between Sphenisciformes, Procellariiformes, and Charadriiformes. By contrast, SEAc varies according to foraging guilds, diet, and a specialist-generalist gradient, with ubiquitous seabirds having a 10-fold larger mean SEAc than pelagic divers. This study sets a baseline against which the effects of long-term environmental changes on seabird community structure can be studied across years and conditions, and provides a relevant starting point for the investigation into the effect of climate change on Southern Ocean ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean HAL - Université de La Rochelle Antarctic Southern Ocean Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Terre Adélie ENVELOPE(139.000,139.000,-67.000,-67.000) Terre-Adélie ENVELOPE(138.991,138.991,-59.999,-59.999) Marine Ecology Progress Series |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HAL - Université de La Rochelle |
op_collection_id |
ftunivrochelle |
language |
English |
topic |
Habitat Trophic position Body size Penguins Procellariiformes Stable isotopes Antarctica [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Habitat Trophic position Body size Penguins Procellariiformes Stable isotopes Antarctica [SDE]Environmental Sciences Cherel, Yves Carrouée, Antoine Assessing marine ecosystem complexity: isotopic integration of the trophic structure of seabird communities from the Southern Ocean |
topic_facet |
Habitat Trophic position Body size Penguins Procellariiformes Stable isotopes Antarctica [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
description |
International audience Understanding the processes structuring communities is a fundamental goal in ecology and conservation biology. Seabirds are commonly used as sentinels of marine ecosystems, but there is a lack of quantitative information providing a synoptic view of their community structure and of its underlying mechanisms. Here, stable isotope analysis of chick feathers was used to investigate the structure of two communities that are representative of the subantarctic (Kerguelen) and Antarctic (Terre Adélie) seabird diversity. Total area of the convex hull (a measure of the total δ13C-δ15N niche space) is 8.4-fold higher at Kerguelen Islands than in Adélie Land, a consequence of the higher seabird diversity at the former locality. Kerguelen seabirds grouped into two clusters of oceanic and inshore species, with the latter group not represented in Adélie Land. Communities are primarily structured by the availability of foraging habitats (δ13C) and then of trophic resources (δ15N), with body size being a major driving force of the species trophic position. Ecological characteristics are more important than phylogeny to shape seabird isotopic niche breadth (SEAc), with no significant differences between Sphenisciformes, Procellariiformes, and Charadriiformes. By contrast, SEAc varies according to foraging guilds, diet, and a specialist-generalist gradient, with ubiquitous seabirds having a 10-fold larger mean SEAc than pelagic divers. This study sets a baseline against which the effects of long-term environmental changes on seabird community structure can be studied across years and conditions, and provides a relevant starting point for the investigation into the effect of climate change on Southern Ocean ecosystems. |
author2 |
Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) APDRA Pisciculture Paysanne Massy, France |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cherel, Yves Carrouée, Antoine |
author_facet |
Cherel, Yves Carrouée, Antoine |
author_sort |
Cherel, Yves |
title |
Assessing marine ecosystem complexity: isotopic integration of the trophic structure of seabird communities from the Southern Ocean |
title_short |
Assessing marine ecosystem complexity: isotopic integration of the trophic structure of seabird communities from the Southern Ocean |
title_full |
Assessing marine ecosystem complexity: isotopic integration of the trophic structure of seabird communities from the Southern Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Assessing marine ecosystem complexity: isotopic integration of the trophic structure of seabird communities from the Southern Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing marine ecosystem complexity: isotopic integration of the trophic structure of seabird communities from the Southern Ocean |
title_sort |
assessing marine ecosystem complexity: isotopic integration of the trophic structure of seabird communities from the southern ocean |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-03695830 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14087 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(139.000,139.000,-67.000,-67.000) ENVELOPE(138.991,138.991,-59.999,-59.999) |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Terre Adélie Terre-Adélie |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Terre Adélie Terre-Adélie |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Kerguelen Islands Southern Ocean |
op_source |
ISSN: 0171-8630 EISSN: 1616-1599 Marine Ecology Progress Series https://hal.science/hal-03695830 Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2022, 694, pp.193-208. ⟨10.3354/meps14087⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3354/meps14087 hal-03695830 https://hal.science/hal-03695830 doi:10.3354/meps14087 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14087 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
_version_ |
1790609650519900160 |