Feeding ecology of the long finned pilot whale, Globicephala melas edwardii, in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, determined by stable isotopes analysis

Artículo

Autoría

BECKER, YAMILA ANABELLA ; Fioramonti, Nicolas Ezequiel ; DELLABIANCA, NATALIA ANDREA ; RICCIALDELLI, LUCIANA

Fecha

2021

Editorial y Lugar de Edición

SPRINGER

Revista

POLAR BIOLOGY, vol. 44 (pp. 1655-1667) SPRINGER

Resumen Información suministrada por el agente en SIGEVA

Cetaceans are known to play an important role in ecosystem structure and dynamics because they occupy the highest position in food webs. In order to improve our knowledge on the feeding ecology of the long finned pilot whale, Globicephala melas edwardii, in the western South Atlantic Ocean, we analyzed carbon (?13C) and nitrogen (?15N) stable isotope composition of bone collagen from 54 specimens found stranded along the coast of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Through Bayesian mixing models we es... Cetaceans are known to play an important role in ecosystem structure and dynamics because they occupy the highest position in food webs. In order to improve our knowledge on the feeding ecology of the long finned pilot whale, Globicephala melas edwardii, in the western South Atlantic Ocean, we analyzed carbon (?13C) and nitrogen (?15N) stable isotope composition of bone collagen from 54 specimens found stranded along the coast of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Through Bayesian mixing models we estimated the contribution of the most putative prey to the consumer’s diet. Prey species were selected, based on previous knowledge and covered all possible foraging areas for the region that were analyzed through a visual spatial analysis (based on sightings records). Based on our results, the long finned pilot whale is mainly a teutophagous species, feeding on squids, and can complement its diet with neritic prey when moving sporadically to coastal areas. We found that the southeastern part of Tierra del Fuego, north of Staten Island and the slope break around the Burdwood Bank are plausible feeding areas, which offer suitable habitats where pilot whales can search for their preferred prey. These areas are important for Argentin’s conservation policies, since they enclose three oceanic Marine Protected Areas (Namuncurá–Burdwood Bank, Burdwood Bank II and Yaganes). Therefore, it is crucial to improve the knowledge regarding their foraging preferences in order to provide support for conservation and management strategies in these MPAs.

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Palabras Clave

ODONTOCETES?15NNAMUNCURÁ–BURDWOOD BANK AREA?13CTIERRA DEL FUEGOSUB-ANTARCTIC WATERS

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http://hdl.handle.net/11336/145439