Ecological niche partitioning between baleen whales inhabiting Icelandic waters

The highly productive waters off Iceland are an important feeding ground for baleen whales. Five balaenopterid species coexist there during the summer feeding season: the blue whale, the fin whale, the sei whale, the humpback whale and the common minke whale. For capital breeders such as baleen whal...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: García-Vernet, Raquel, Borrell Thió, Assumpció, Víkingsson, Gísli, Halldórsson, Sverrir D., Aguilar, Àlex
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/184348
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/184348
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Isòtops estables en ecologia
Cetacis
Nutrició animal
Stable isotopes in ecological research
Cetacea
Animal nutrition
id ES_164e76daa20aa4f0bfa030ea2148a840
oai_identifier_str oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/184348
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling Ecological niche partitioning between baleen whales inhabiting Icelandic watersGarcía-Vernet, RaquelBorrell Thió, AssumpcióVíkingsson, GísliHalldórsson, Sverrir D.Aguilar, ÀlexIsòtops estables en ecologiaCetacisNutrició animalStable isotopes in ecological researchCetaceaAnimal nutritionThe highly productive waters off Iceland are an important feeding ground for baleen whales. Five balaenopterid species coexist there during the summer feeding season: the blue whale, the fin whale, the sei whale, the humpback whale and the common minke whale. For capital breeders such as baleen whales, niche partitioning and reduced interspecific competition during their stay in the feeding grounds may be critical for the completion of their annual cycles and the long-term stability of populations. Coexistence often entails spatio-temporal or trophic segregation to avoid competitive exclusion. With the aim of studying how these species share habitat and trophic resources, we analyzed the δ13C, δ15N and δ34S values in skin samples. Bayesian stable isotope mixing models to calculate compositional mixture of food sources showed that most species segregate by consuming different prey. Segregation was further enhanced by some degree of spatio-temporal exclusion. Overall, clear ecological niche partitioning was apparent between all species except between blue and fin whales. All the species consumed krill and, except for the common minke whale, this was the dominant prey. Among baleen whales, common minke whales and humpback whales were the major predators of sand eel, capelin and herring. In humpback whales, a strong reliance on krill may explain the apparently low rates of local entanglement in fishing nets as compared to other areas. Except for the blue whale, all species have shown evidence of adapting to shifts in prey availability and thus suggested capacity to cope with variability. However, in a scenario of increasing environmental variability associated to global warming, the overlap between ecological niches may have to decrease to allow long-term coexistence.Elsevier2021info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/184348Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UBinstname:Universidad de BarcelonaInglésReproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2021.102690Progress in Oceanography, 2021, vol. 199, num. 102690, p. 1-10https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2021.102690cc-by-nc-nd (c) García-Vernet, Raquel et al., 2021https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/1843482026-05-27T06:46:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Ecological niche partitioning between baleen whales inhabiting Icelandic waters
title Ecological niche partitioning between baleen whales inhabiting Icelandic waters
spellingShingle Ecological niche partitioning between baleen whales inhabiting Icelandic waters
García-Vernet, Raquel
Isòtops estables en ecologia
Cetacis
Nutrició animal
Stable isotopes in ecological research
Cetacea
Animal nutrition
title_short Ecological niche partitioning between baleen whales inhabiting Icelandic waters
title_full Ecological niche partitioning between baleen whales inhabiting Icelandic waters
title_fullStr Ecological niche partitioning between baleen whales inhabiting Icelandic waters
title_full_unstemmed Ecological niche partitioning between baleen whales inhabiting Icelandic waters
title_sort Ecological niche partitioning between baleen whales inhabiting Icelandic waters
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv García-Vernet, Raquel
Borrell Thió, Assumpció
Víkingsson, Gísli
Halldórsson, Sverrir D.
Aguilar, Àlex
author García-Vernet, Raquel
author_facet García-Vernet, Raquel
Borrell Thió, Assumpció
Víkingsson, Gísli
Halldórsson, Sverrir D.
Aguilar, Àlex
author_role author
author2 Borrell Thió, Assumpció
Víkingsson, Gísli
Halldórsson, Sverrir D.
Aguilar, Àlex
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Isòtops estables en ecologia
Cetacis
Nutrició animal
Stable isotopes in ecological research
Cetacea
Animal nutrition
topic Isòtops estables en ecologia
Cetacis
Nutrició animal
Stable isotopes in ecological research
Cetacea
Animal nutrition
description The highly productive waters off Iceland are an important feeding ground for baleen whales. Five balaenopterid species coexist there during the summer feeding season: the blue whale, the fin whale, the sei whale, the humpback whale and the common minke whale. For capital breeders such as baleen whales, niche partitioning and reduced interspecific competition during their stay in the feeding grounds may be critical for the completion of their annual cycles and the long-term stability of populations. Coexistence often entails spatio-temporal or trophic segregation to avoid competitive exclusion. With the aim of studying how these species share habitat and trophic resources, we analyzed the δ13C, δ15N and δ34S values in skin samples. Bayesian stable isotope mixing models to calculate compositional mixture of food sources showed that most species segregate by consuming different prey. Segregation was further enhanced by some degree of spatio-temporal exclusion. Overall, clear ecological niche partitioning was apparent between all species except between blue and fin whales. All the species consumed krill and, except for the common minke whale, this was the dominant prey. Among baleen whales, common minke whales and humpback whales were the major predators of sand eel, capelin and herring. In humpback whales, a strong reliance on krill may explain the apparently low rates of local entanglement in fishing nets as compared to other areas. Except for the blue whale, all species have shown evidence of adapting to shifts in prey availability and thus suggested capacity to cope with variability. However, in a scenario of increasing environmental variability associated to global warming, the overlap between ecological niches may have to decrease to allow long-term coexistence.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2445/184348
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/184348
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2021.102690
Progress in Oceanography, 2021, vol. 199, num. 102690, p. 1-10
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2021.102690
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc-by-nc-nd (c) García-Vernet, Raquel et al., 2021
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv cc-by-nc-nd (c) García-Vernet, Raquel et al., 2021
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)
reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
instname:Universidad de Barcelona
instname_str Universidad de Barcelona
reponame_str Dipòsit Digital de la UB
collection Dipòsit Digital de la UB
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
_version_ 1869403848458633216
score 15,300719

Similares en LA Referencia