Foraging Ecology and Contaminant Burdens of Ringed Seals (Pusa hispida) in the Central Canadian Arctic
Increasing temperatures have led to declines in the extent of Arctic sea ice. Due to their reliance on sea ice and central position within Arctic marine food webs, ringed seals (Pusa hispida) are particularly vulnerable to these climate-mediated changes. I sought to investigate factors affecting rin...
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ftyorkuniv:oai:yorkspace.library.yorku.ca:10315/37463 2023-05-15T14:37:43+02:00 Foraging Ecology and Contaminant Burdens of Ringed Seals (Pusa hispida) in the Central Canadian Arctic Ross, Tyler Robert Thiemann, Gregory 2020-05-11T12:53:17Z application/pdf https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10315/37463 en eng https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10315/37463 Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests. Biology Ringed Seal Pusa hispida Phoca hispida Arctic Foraging Ecology Fatty Acids Stable Isotopes Contaminants Gulf of Boothia Electronic Thesis or Dissertation 2020 ftyorkuniv 2022-08-22T13:03:03Z Increasing temperatures have led to declines in the extent of Arctic sea ice. Due to their reliance on sea ice and central position within Arctic marine food webs, ringed seals (Pusa hispida) are particularly vulnerable to these climate-mediated changes. I sought to investigate factors affecting ringed seal foraging and contaminant burdens in the central Canadian Arctic. Specifically, I used three dietary estimation techniques to examine how seal diets differed in accordance with demographic and environmental variables. Contaminant concentrations in seal tissues were also assessed in relation to trophic position and climate indices. Diet analyses revealed intraspecific and temporal variation in ringed seal foraging. Changes in sea ice phenology also influenced ratios of stable isotopes. Contaminant concentrations exhibited similar demographic variation and differed in accordance with several environmental variables. Ongoing monitoring of ringed seals is important, as climate-mediated shifts in prey composition and contaminants may be indicators of broader ecological changes. Thesis Arctic Phoca hispida Pusa hispida ringed seal Sea ice York University, Toronto: YorkSpace Arctic Gulf of Boothia ENVELOPE(-90.657,-90.657,70.719,70.719) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
York University, Toronto: YorkSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftyorkuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology Ringed Seal Pusa hispida Phoca hispida Arctic Foraging Ecology Fatty Acids Stable Isotopes Contaminants Gulf of Boothia |
spellingShingle |
Biology Ringed Seal Pusa hispida Phoca hispida Arctic Foraging Ecology Fatty Acids Stable Isotopes Contaminants Gulf of Boothia Ross, Tyler Robert Foraging Ecology and Contaminant Burdens of Ringed Seals (Pusa hispida) in the Central Canadian Arctic |
topic_facet |
Biology Ringed Seal Pusa hispida Phoca hispida Arctic Foraging Ecology Fatty Acids Stable Isotopes Contaminants Gulf of Boothia |
description |
Increasing temperatures have led to declines in the extent of Arctic sea ice. Due to their reliance on sea ice and central position within Arctic marine food webs, ringed seals (Pusa hispida) are particularly vulnerable to these climate-mediated changes. I sought to investigate factors affecting ringed seal foraging and contaminant burdens in the central Canadian Arctic. Specifically, I used three dietary estimation techniques to examine how seal diets differed in accordance with demographic and environmental variables. Contaminant concentrations in seal tissues were also assessed in relation to trophic position and climate indices. Diet analyses revealed intraspecific and temporal variation in ringed seal foraging. Changes in sea ice phenology also influenced ratios of stable isotopes. Contaminant concentrations exhibited similar demographic variation and differed in accordance with several environmental variables. Ongoing monitoring of ringed seals is important, as climate-mediated shifts in prey composition and contaminants may be indicators of broader ecological changes. |
author2 |
Thiemann, Gregory |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Ross, Tyler Robert |
author_facet |
Ross, Tyler Robert |
author_sort |
Ross, Tyler Robert |
title |
Foraging Ecology and Contaminant Burdens of Ringed Seals (Pusa hispida) in the Central Canadian Arctic |
title_short |
Foraging Ecology and Contaminant Burdens of Ringed Seals (Pusa hispida) in the Central Canadian Arctic |
title_full |
Foraging Ecology and Contaminant Burdens of Ringed Seals (Pusa hispida) in the Central Canadian Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Foraging Ecology and Contaminant Burdens of Ringed Seals (Pusa hispida) in the Central Canadian Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Foraging Ecology and Contaminant Burdens of Ringed Seals (Pusa hispida) in the Central Canadian Arctic |
title_sort |
foraging ecology and contaminant burdens of ringed seals (pusa hispida) in the central canadian arctic |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10315/37463 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-90.657,-90.657,70.719,70.719) |
geographic |
Arctic Gulf of Boothia |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Gulf of Boothia |
genre |
Arctic Phoca hispida Pusa hispida ringed seal Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Phoca hispida Pusa hispida ringed seal Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10315/37463 |
op_rights |
Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests. |
_version_ |
1766309922930163712 |