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Climate-scale hydrographic features related to foraging success in a capital breeder, the northern elephant seal Mirounga angustirostris

2009; Inter-Research; Volume: 10; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/esr00254

1863-5407

Samantha E. Simmons, DE Crocker, JL Hassrick, Carey E. Kuhn, PW Robinson, Yann Tremblay, Daniel P. Costa,

Scientific Research and Discoveries

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 10:233-243 (2010) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00254 Climate-scale hydrographic features related to foraging success in a capital breeder, the northern elephant seal Mirounga angustirostris Samantha E. Simmons1,*, Daniel E. Crocker2, Jason L. Hassrick1, Carey E. Kuhn3, Patrick W. Robinson1, Yann Tremblay4, Daniel P. Costa1 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Center for Ocean Health, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, California 95060-5730, USA 2Department of Biology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California 94928, USA 3National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center/NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, Washington 98115-6349, USA 4Institut de Recherche pour le Development, Centre de Recherche Halieutique Méditerranéenne et Tropicale, UMR 212, Avenue Jean Monnet – BP 171, Sète Cedex, France *Email: ssimmons@mmc.gov ABSTRACT: In marine ecosystems, physical and biological processes act at multiple temporal and spatial scales to influence the distribution of prey species and subsequently habitat selection of foraging apex predators. Understanding how apex predators may respond to climate changes requires knowledge of habitat selection in relation to measures of foraging success at spatio-temporal scales relevant to the question and analytical approach. In this study, we used satellite telemetry from 75 adult female northern elephant seals Mirounga angustirostris, coupled with point measures of foraging success (energy gain), to examine habitat selection at large temporal and spatial scales. The main hydrographic ecoregion used on the post-moult (PM) migration was the Transition Zone, while on the post-breeding (PB) migration, females focused on the Subarctic Gyre. Characteristics of area-restricted search (ARS) behaviours, as determined by the fractal landscape method (such as time spent in ARS, total distance travelled in ARS and number of ARS) also differed significantly between the PM and PB migrations. Underlying differences in prey composition and/or distribution may drive the differences seen in searching behaviour and foraging success of elephant seals at large scales. Despite these differences, seals showed comparable levels of foraging success across both migrations and in all ecoregions. Foraging success was notably greater than measured in previous studies. These results highlight the benefits of a capital breeding strategy to a relatively slow-moving, large vertebrate predator allowing individuals to exploit large areas of the heterogeneous North Pacific. KEY WORDS: Apex predator · North Pacific · Transition Zone · Subarctic Gyre · Habitat selection Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Simmons SE, Crocker DE, Hassrick JL, Kuhn CE, Robinson PW, Tremblay Y, Costa DP (2010) Climate-scale hydrographic features related to foraging success in a capital breeder, the northern elephant seal Mirounga angustirostris. Endang Species Res 10:233-243. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00254Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 10. Online publication date: February 02, 2010 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2010 Inter-Research.