Decadal changes in blood 13C values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands
Changes in the foraging environment and at-sea distribution of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands were investigated over a decade (2004–2018) using tracking, weaning mass, and blood δ13C values. Females showed either a sub-Antarctic or an Antarctic foraging strategy, and no significant s...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
The Royal Society Publishing
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://eprints.utas.edu.au/42152/ |
id |
ftunivtasmania:oai:eprints.utas.edu.au:42152 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivtasmania:oai:eprints.utas.edu.au:42152 2023-05-15T13:41:50+02:00 Decadal changes in blood 13C values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands Mestre, J Authier, M Cherel, Y Harcourt, R McMahon, CR Hindell, MA Charrassin, J-B Guinet, C 2020 https://eprints.utas.edu.au/42152/ unknown The Royal Society Publishing Mestre, J, Authier, M, Cherel, Y, Harcourt, R, McMahon, CR, Hindell, MA orcid:0000-0002-7823-7185 , Charrassin, J-B and Guinet, C 2020 , 'Decadal changes in blood 13C values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands' , Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences, vol. 287, no. 1933 , pp. 1-10 , doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1544 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1544>. seals foraging ecology foraging habitat stable isotopes bio-logging population strategies decadal change Indian sector of the Southern Ocean Article PeerReviewed 2020 ftunivtasmania https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1544 2022-02-07T23:18:25Z Changes in the foraging environment and at-sea distribution of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands were investigated over a decade (2004–2018) using tracking, weaning mass, and blood δ13C values. Females showed either a sub-Antarctic or an Antarctic foraging strategy, and no significant shift in their at-sea distribution was detected between 2004 and 2017. The proportion of females foraging in sub-Antarctic versus Antarctic habitats did not change over the 2006–2018 period. Pup weaning mass varied according to the foraging habitat of their mothers. The weaning mass of sub-Antarctic foraging mothers' pups decreased by 11.7 kg over the study period, but they were on average 5.8 kg heavier than pups from Antarctic foraging mothers. Pup blood δ13C values decreased by 1.1‰ over the study period regardless of their sex and the presumed foraging habitat of their mothers. Together, these results suggest an ecological change is occurring within the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean with possible consequences on the foraging performance of southern elephant seals. We hypothesize that this shift in δ13C is related to a change in primary production and/or in the composition of phytoplankton communities, but this requires further multidisciplinary investigations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seals Kerguelen Islands Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints Antarctic Southern Ocean Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Indian Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287 1933 20201544 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasmania |
language |
unknown |
topic |
seals foraging ecology foraging habitat stable isotopes bio-logging population strategies decadal change Indian sector of the Southern Ocean |
spellingShingle |
seals foraging ecology foraging habitat stable isotopes bio-logging population strategies decadal change Indian sector of the Southern Ocean Mestre, J Authier, M Cherel, Y Harcourt, R McMahon, CR Hindell, MA Charrassin, J-B Guinet, C Decadal changes in blood 13C values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands |
topic_facet |
seals foraging ecology foraging habitat stable isotopes bio-logging population strategies decadal change Indian sector of the Southern Ocean |
description |
Changes in the foraging environment and at-sea distribution of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands were investigated over a decade (2004–2018) using tracking, weaning mass, and blood δ13C values. Females showed either a sub-Antarctic or an Antarctic foraging strategy, and no significant shift in their at-sea distribution was detected between 2004 and 2017. The proportion of females foraging in sub-Antarctic versus Antarctic habitats did not change over the 2006–2018 period. Pup weaning mass varied according to the foraging habitat of their mothers. The weaning mass of sub-Antarctic foraging mothers' pups decreased by 11.7 kg over the study period, but they were on average 5.8 kg heavier than pups from Antarctic foraging mothers. Pup blood δ13C values decreased by 1.1‰ over the study period regardless of their sex and the presumed foraging habitat of their mothers. Together, these results suggest an ecological change is occurring within the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean with possible consequences on the foraging performance of southern elephant seals. We hypothesize that this shift in δ13C is related to a change in primary production and/or in the composition of phytoplankton communities, but this requires further multidisciplinary investigations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mestre, J Authier, M Cherel, Y Harcourt, R McMahon, CR Hindell, MA Charrassin, J-B Guinet, C |
author_facet |
Mestre, J Authier, M Cherel, Y Harcourt, R McMahon, CR Hindell, MA Charrassin, J-B Guinet, C |
author_sort |
Mestre, J |
title |
Decadal changes in blood 13C values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands |
title_short |
Decadal changes in blood 13C values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands |
title_full |
Decadal changes in blood 13C values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands |
title_fullStr |
Decadal changes in blood 13C values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Decadal changes in blood 13C values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands |
title_sort |
decadal changes in blood 13c values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from kerguelen islands |
publisher |
The Royal Society Publishing |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/42152/ |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Indian |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Indian |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seals Kerguelen Islands Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seals Kerguelen Islands Southern Elephant Seals Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
Mestre, J, Authier, M, Cherel, Y, Harcourt, R, McMahon, CR, Hindell, MA orcid:0000-0002-7823-7185 , Charrassin, J-B and Guinet, C 2020 , 'Decadal changes in blood 13C values, at-sea distribution, and weaning mass of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands' , Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences, vol. 287, no. 1933 , pp. 1-10 , doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1544 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1544>. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1544 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
287 |
container_issue |
1933 |
container_start_page |
20201544 |
_version_ |
1766158715713486848 |