Bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica
Antarctic coastal polynyas are persistent open water areas in the sea ice zone, and regions of high biological productivity thought to be important foraging habitat for marine predators. This study quantified southern elephant seal ( Mirounga leonina) habitat use within and around the polynyas of th...
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:122403 2023-05-15T13:49:03+02:00 Bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica Malpress, V Bestley, S Corney, S Welsford, D Labrousse, S Sumner, M Hindell, M 2017 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184536 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28902905 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/122403 en eng Public Library of Science http://ecite.utas.edu.au/122403/1/122403 final.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184536 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/A00104696 Malpress, V and Bestley, S and Corney, S and Welsford, D and Labrousse, S and Sumner, M and Hindell, M, Bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, PLoS One, 12, (9) Article e0184536. ISSN 1932-6203 (2017) [Refereed Article] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28902905 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/122403 Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology) Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184536 2019-12-13T22:21:18Z Antarctic coastal polynyas are persistent open water areas in the sea ice zone, and regions of high biological productivity thought to be important foraging habitat for marine predators. This study quantified southern elephant seal ( Mirounga leonina) habitat use within and around the polynyas of the Prydz Bay region (63E 88E) in East Antarctica, and examined the bio-physical characteristics structuring polynyas as foraging habitat. Output from a climatological regional ocean model was used to provide context for in situ temperature-salinity vertical profiles collected by tagged elephant seals and to characterise the physical properties structuring polynyas. Biological properties were explored using remotely-sensed surface chlorophyll (Chl- a ) and, qualitatively, historical fish assemblage data. Spatially gridded residence time of seals was examined in relation to habitat characteristics using generalized additive mixed models. The results showed clear polynya usage during early autumn and increasingly concentrated usage during early winter. Bathymetry, Chl- a , surface net heat flux (representing polynya location), and bottom temperature were identified as significant bio-physical predictors of the spatio-temporal habitat usage. The findings from this study confirm that the most important marine habitats for juvenile male southern elephant seals within Prydz Bay region are polynyas. A hypothesis exists regarding the seasonal evolution of primary productivity, coupling from surface to subsurface productivity and supporting elevated rates of secondary production in the upper water column during summer-autumn. An advancement to this hypothesis is proposed here, whereby this bio-physical coupling is likely to extend throughout the water column as it becomes fully convected during autumn-winter, to also promote pelagic-benthic linkages important for benthic foraging within polynyas. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Prydz Bay Sea ice Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic East Antarctica Prydz Bay PLOS ONE 12 9 e0184536 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology) |
spellingShingle |
Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology) Malpress, V Bestley, S Corney, S Welsford, D Labrousse, S Sumner, M Hindell, M Bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Biological Sciences Ecology Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology) |
description |
Antarctic coastal polynyas are persistent open water areas in the sea ice zone, and regions of high biological productivity thought to be important foraging habitat for marine predators. This study quantified southern elephant seal ( Mirounga leonina) habitat use within and around the polynyas of the Prydz Bay region (63E 88E) in East Antarctica, and examined the bio-physical characteristics structuring polynyas as foraging habitat. Output from a climatological regional ocean model was used to provide context for in situ temperature-salinity vertical profiles collected by tagged elephant seals and to characterise the physical properties structuring polynyas. Biological properties were explored using remotely-sensed surface chlorophyll (Chl- a ) and, qualitatively, historical fish assemblage data. Spatially gridded residence time of seals was examined in relation to habitat characteristics using generalized additive mixed models. The results showed clear polynya usage during early autumn and increasingly concentrated usage during early winter. Bathymetry, Chl- a , surface net heat flux (representing polynya location), and bottom temperature were identified as significant bio-physical predictors of the spatio-temporal habitat usage. The findings from this study confirm that the most important marine habitats for juvenile male southern elephant seals within Prydz Bay region are polynyas. A hypothesis exists regarding the seasonal evolution of primary productivity, coupling from surface to subsurface productivity and supporting elevated rates of secondary production in the upper water column during summer-autumn. An advancement to this hypothesis is proposed here, whereby this bio-physical coupling is likely to extend throughout the water column as it becomes fully convected during autumn-winter, to also promote pelagic-benthic linkages important for benthic foraging within polynyas. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Malpress, V Bestley, S Corney, S Welsford, D Labrousse, S Sumner, M Hindell, M |
author_facet |
Malpress, V Bestley, S Corney, S Welsford, D Labrousse, S Sumner, M Hindell, M |
author_sort |
Malpress, V |
title |
Bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica |
title_short |
Bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica |
title_full |
Bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica |
title_sort |
bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( mirounga leonina ) in prydz bay, east antarctica |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184536 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28902905 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/122403 |
geographic |
Antarctic East Antarctica Prydz Bay |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic East Antarctica Prydz Bay |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Prydz Bay Sea ice Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Prydz Bay Sea ice Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
op_relation |
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/122403/1/122403 final.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184536 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/A00104696 Malpress, V and Bestley, S and Corney, S and Welsford, D and Labrousse, S and Sumner, M and Hindell, M, Bio-physical characterisation of polynyas as a key foraging habitat for juvenile male southern elephant seals ( Mirounga leonina ) in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, PLoS One, 12, (9) Article e0184536. ISSN 1932-6203 (2017) [Refereed Article] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28902905 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/122403 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184536 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
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12 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
e0184536 |
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1766250738187501568 |