Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway: during a time of ecosystem change
Global warming is causing Atlantification of water masses and concomitant changes in food webs in the Barents Sea region. To determine whether changes that have been documented at lower trophic levels are impacting the diet of ringed seals ( Pusa hispida ) gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) from 99 coas...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/19238 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02684-5 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/19238 2023-05-15T15:13:00+02:00 Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway: during a time of ecosystem change Bengtsson, Oskar Lydersen, Christian Kovacs, Kit M. Lindstrøm, Ulf 2020-06-13 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/19238 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02684-5 eng eng Springer Polar Biology Bengtsson, Lydersen, Kovacs, Lindstrøm. Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway: during a time of ecosystem change. Polar Biology. 2020;43(7):773-788 FRIDAID 1817560 doi:10.1007/s00300-020-02684-5 0722-4060 1432-2056 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/19238 openAccess Copyright 2020 The Author(s) VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed publishedVersion 2020 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02684-5 2021-06-25T17:57:39Z Global warming is causing Atlantification of water masses and concomitant changes in food webs in the Barents Sea region. To determine whether changes that have been documented at lower trophic levels are impacting the diet of ringed seals ( Pusa hispida ) gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) from 99 coastal-feeding ringed seals, collected in western Spitsbergen, Svalbard, were analysed via identification of hard-parts. The study animals were shot in spring ( n = 30; April–July) or autumn ( n = 69; August–October) during four consecutive years (2014–2017). Thirty different prey types were identified, but most seals (55.6%) had consumed between 2 and 4 different types of prey. Polar cod ( Boreogadus saida ) dominated the diet of the ringed seals in terms of relative biomass ( B i = 60.0%) and frequency of occurrence ( FO i = 86.9%), followed by pricklebacks (Stichaeidae; B i = 23.4%; FO i = 79.8%). Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that year was the only significant predictor explaining variance in autumn diet composition (RDA, F 3 = 4.96, AIC = − 76.49, p ≤ 0.0050; blubber content and maturity/sex group were not significant). Blue whiting ( Micromesistius poutassou ) occurred in the diet in small quantities; this Atlantic fish species has not previously been documented in the ringed seals’ diet. Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ) had the highest B i (9.2%) among Atlantic prey types. However, despite major changes in the last decade in the fish and zooplankton community in western Svalbard, and consumption of a few Atlantic prey types, the ringed seals’ diet in Svalbard continues to be dominated by Arctic prey, especially polar cod. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic atlantic cod Barents Sea Boreogadus saida Gadus morhua Global warming Polar Biology polar cod Pusa hispida ringed seal Svalbard Zooplankton Spitsbergen University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Arctic Barents Sea Norway Svalbard Polar Biology 43 7 773 788 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 Bengtsson, Oskar Lydersen, Christian Kovacs, Kit M. Lindstrøm, Ulf Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway: during a time of ecosystem change |
topic_facet |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 |
description |
Global warming is causing Atlantification of water masses and concomitant changes in food webs in the Barents Sea region. To determine whether changes that have been documented at lower trophic levels are impacting the diet of ringed seals ( Pusa hispida ) gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) from 99 coastal-feeding ringed seals, collected in western Spitsbergen, Svalbard, were analysed via identification of hard-parts. The study animals were shot in spring ( n = 30; April–July) or autumn ( n = 69; August–October) during four consecutive years (2014–2017). Thirty different prey types were identified, but most seals (55.6%) had consumed between 2 and 4 different types of prey. Polar cod ( Boreogadus saida ) dominated the diet of the ringed seals in terms of relative biomass ( B i = 60.0%) and frequency of occurrence ( FO i = 86.9%), followed by pricklebacks (Stichaeidae; B i = 23.4%; FO i = 79.8%). Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that year was the only significant predictor explaining variance in autumn diet composition (RDA, F 3 = 4.96, AIC = − 76.49, p ≤ 0.0050; blubber content and maturity/sex group were not significant). Blue whiting ( Micromesistius poutassou ) occurred in the diet in small quantities; this Atlantic fish species has not previously been documented in the ringed seals’ diet. Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ) had the highest B i (9.2%) among Atlantic prey types. However, despite major changes in the last decade in the fish and zooplankton community in western Svalbard, and consumption of a few Atlantic prey types, the ringed seals’ diet in Svalbard continues to be dominated by Arctic prey, especially polar cod. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bengtsson, Oskar Lydersen, Christian Kovacs, Kit M. Lindstrøm, Ulf |
author_facet |
Bengtsson, Oskar Lydersen, Christian Kovacs, Kit M. Lindstrøm, Ulf |
author_sort |
Bengtsson, Oskar |
title |
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway: during a time of ecosystem change |
title_short |
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway: during a time of ecosystem change |
title_full |
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway: during a time of ecosystem change |
title_fullStr |
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway: during a time of ecosystem change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway: during a time of ecosystem change |
title_sort |
ringed seal (pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of spitsbergen, svalbard, norway: during a time of ecosystem change |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/19238 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02684-5 |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea Norway Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Norway Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic atlantic cod Barents Sea Boreogadus saida Gadus morhua Global warming Polar Biology polar cod Pusa hispida ringed seal Svalbard Zooplankton Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic atlantic cod Barents Sea Boreogadus saida Gadus morhua Global warming Polar Biology polar cod Pusa hispida ringed seal Svalbard Zooplankton Spitsbergen |
op_relation |
Polar Biology Bengtsson, Lydersen, Kovacs, Lindstrøm. Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) diet on the west coast of Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway: during a time of ecosystem change. Polar Biology. 2020;43(7):773-788 FRIDAID 1817560 doi:10.1007/s00300-020-02684-5 0722-4060 1432-2056 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/19238 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2020 The Author(s) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02684-5 |
container_title |
Polar Biology |
container_volume |
43 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
773 |
op_container_end_page |
788 |
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1766343604535558144 |