Morphological characteristics of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) whiskers and their use in dietary reconstruction using stable isotope ratios
We investigated whether inferences about harbor seal (Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758) whisker shed status and growth rates based on whisker morphology could improve dietary time series from whisker isotopic profiles. We identified morphometric characteristics of Alaskan harbor seal whiskers, includin...
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing)
2018
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1807/91217 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2017-0309 |
id |
ftunivtoronto:oai:localhost:1807/91217 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivtoronto:oai:localhost:1807/91217 2023-05-15T16:33:05+02:00 Morphological characteristics of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) whiskers and their use in dietary reconstruction using stable isotope ratios Smith, Justin Karpovich, Shawna Breed, Greg A O'Brien, Diane M 2018-02-21 http://hdl.handle.net/1807/91217 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2017-0309 unknown NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) 0008-4301 http://hdl.handle.net/1807/91217 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2017-0309 Article 2018 ftunivtoronto 2020-06-17T12:20:50Z We investigated whether inferences about harbor seal (Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758) whisker shed status and growth rates based on whisker morphology could improve dietary time series from whisker isotopic profiles. We identified morphometric characteristics of Alaskan harbor seal whiskers, including a smooth root section (SRS) and a bumpy section. The SRS was longer for spring versus fall-collected whiskers and matched the length of fully-grown, shed whiskers. Thus, SRS length can differentiate whisker shed and growth status, and we used it to determine the sequence of whisker shedding by cohort in summer-captured seals. The mean inter-bump length (IBL) correlated with whisker length, potentially providing a proxy for whisker growth rate. We compared carbon isotope ratios (expressed as δ13C values) along the three longest whiskers from 10 harbor seals, using two approaches for converting whisker position to date: (1) a standard growth rate constant based on captive studies and (2) individually adjusted growth rates based on whisker morphology. Intra-individual patterns of whisker δ13C values became more synchronous when expressed by deposition date rather than by position, however, adjusting growth rates based on IBL did not improve synchrony further. These findings suggest that whisker morphology can contribute whisker growth rate and shedding information for dietary reconstruction. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author. Article in Journal/Newspaper harbor seal Phoca vitulina University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Toronto: Research Repository T-Space |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtoronto |
language |
unknown |
description |
We investigated whether inferences about harbor seal (Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758) whisker shed status and growth rates based on whisker morphology could improve dietary time series from whisker isotopic profiles. We identified morphometric characteristics of Alaskan harbor seal whiskers, including a smooth root section (SRS) and a bumpy section. The SRS was longer for spring versus fall-collected whiskers and matched the length of fully-grown, shed whiskers. Thus, SRS length can differentiate whisker shed and growth status, and we used it to determine the sequence of whisker shedding by cohort in summer-captured seals. The mean inter-bump length (IBL) correlated with whisker length, potentially providing a proxy for whisker growth rate. We compared carbon isotope ratios (expressed as δ13C values) along the three longest whiskers from 10 harbor seals, using two approaches for converting whisker position to date: (1) a standard growth rate constant based on captive studies and (2) individually adjusted growth rates based on whisker morphology. Intra-individual patterns of whisker δ13C values became more synchronous when expressed by deposition date rather than by position, however, adjusting growth rates based on IBL did not improve synchrony further. These findings suggest that whisker morphology can contribute whisker growth rate and shedding information for dietary reconstruction. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Smith, Justin Karpovich, Shawna Breed, Greg A O'Brien, Diane M |
spellingShingle |
Smith, Justin Karpovich, Shawna Breed, Greg A O'Brien, Diane M Morphological characteristics of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) whiskers and their use in dietary reconstruction using stable isotope ratios |
author_facet |
Smith, Justin Karpovich, Shawna Breed, Greg A O'Brien, Diane M |
author_sort |
Smith, Justin |
title |
Morphological characteristics of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) whiskers and their use in dietary reconstruction using stable isotope ratios |
title_short |
Morphological characteristics of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) whiskers and their use in dietary reconstruction using stable isotope ratios |
title_full |
Morphological characteristics of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) whiskers and their use in dietary reconstruction using stable isotope ratios |
title_fullStr |
Morphological characteristics of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) whiskers and their use in dietary reconstruction using stable isotope ratios |
title_full_unstemmed |
Morphological characteristics of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) whiskers and their use in dietary reconstruction using stable isotope ratios |
title_sort |
morphological characteristics of harbor seal (phoca vitulina) whiskers and their use in dietary reconstruction using stable isotope ratios |
publisher |
NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1807/91217 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2017-0309 |
genre |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
op_relation |
0008-4301 http://hdl.handle.net/1807/91217 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2017-0309 |
_version_ |
1766022796167610368 |