Título
Trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes
Autor
MARICELA JUAREZ RODRIGUEZ
Colaborador
GISELA HECKEL DZIENDZIELEWSKI (Colaborador)
JUAN CARLOS HERGUERA GARCIA (Colaborador)
FERNANDO RICARDO ELORRIAGA VERPLANCKEN (Colaborador)
Sharon Zinah Herzka Llona (Colaborador)
Yolanda Schramm Urrutia (Colaborador)
Nivel de Acceso
Acceso Abierto
Identificador alterno
doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225889
Materias
carbon, delta carbon 13, delta nitrogen 15, isotope, nitrogen, unclassified drug, carbon, nitrogen, Article, correlational study, feeding behavior, latitude, Mexico, nonhuman, organism colony, Pinnipedia, population abundance, species richness, troph - (SCOPUS) BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA - (CTI) CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA - (CTI) BIOLOGÍA ANIMAL (ZOOLOGÍA) - (CTI) BIOLOGÍA ANIMAL (ZOOLOGÍA) - (CTI)
Resumen o descripción
There is limited information that provides a comprehensive understanding of the trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardii) colonies. While scat analysis has been used to determine the diet of some colonies, the integrative characterization of its feeding habits on broader temporal and spatial scales remains limited. We examined potential feeding grounds, trophic niche width, and overlap, and inferred the degree of dietary specialization using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) in this subspecies. We analyzed δ13C and δ15N on fur samples from pups collected at five sites along the western coast of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Fur of natal coat of Pacific harbor seal pups begins to grow during the seventh month in utero until the last stage of gestation. Therefore pup fur is a good proxy for the mother's feeding habits in winter (∼December to March), based on the timing of gestation for the subspecies in this region. Our results indicated that the δ13C and δ15N values differed significantly among sampling sites, with the highest mean δ15N value occurring at the southernmost site, reflecting a well-characterized north to south latitudinal 15N-enrichment in the food web. The tendency identified in δ13C values, in which the northern colonies showed the most enriched values, suggests nearshore and benthic-demersal feeding habits. A low variance in δ13C and δ15N values for each colony (<1‰) and relatively small standard ellipse areas suggest a specialized foraging behavior in adult female Pacific harbor seals in Mexican waters. © 2020 Juárez-Rodríguez et al.
Editor
Lee W. Cooper, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, United States of America
Fecha de publicación
2020
Tipo de publicación
Artículo
Versión de la publicación
Versión publicada
Recurso de información
Formato
application/pdf
Fuente
PLoS ONE, Vol.15, No.1, Pags. 1-21
Idioma
Inglés
Sugerencia de citación
Juárez-Rodríguez M, Heckel G, Herguera-García JC, Elorriaga-Verplancken FR, Herzka SZ, Schramm Y (2020) Trophic ecology of Mexican Pacific harbor seal colonies using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. PLoS ONE 15(1): e0225889. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225889
Repositorio Orígen
Repositorio Institucional CICESE
Descargas
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