Isotopic niche plasticity in a marine top predator as indicator of a large marine ecosystem food web status

As marine ecosystems are harvested or modified by anthropogenic or natural factors, there is an increasing demand for indicators of trophic web health or status. The Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) is a widely distributed species that forages in the Patagonian Shelf. During breeding, th...

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Autores principales: Javier E. Ciancio, Pablo Yorio, Claudio Buratti, Gustavo Álvarez Colombo, Esteban Frere
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Elsevier 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/3e90cd06a19745dfa74b4301105e0690
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:3e90cd06a19745dfa74b4301105e06902021-12-01T04:51:18ZIsotopic niche plasticity in a marine top predator as indicator of a large marine ecosystem food web status1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107687https://doaj.org/article/3e90cd06a19745dfa74b4301105e06902021-07-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21003526https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XAs marine ecosystems are harvested or modified by anthropogenic or natural factors, there is an increasing demand for indicators of trophic web health or status. The Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) is a widely distributed species that forages in the Patagonian Shelf. During breeding, this species is a central-place forager that feeds mainly on schooling fish, with Argentine anchovy (Engraulis anchoita) being the dominant prey in the north and Fuegian sprat (Sprattus fuegensis) in the south of the Argentine Patagonian distribution (40–55°S). Like most forage fish, both prey species display large natural interannual recruitment fluctuations. We used stable isotope analysis of adult Magellanic penguin blood obtained at twelve colonies along its Patagonian latitudinal range to assess changes in isotopic niche and in trophic level as a response to interannual changes in abundance and spatial segregation of forage fish size classes, respectively. Magellanic penguins showed large isotopic niche fluctuations among breeding seasons, explained by the contribution of forage fish in their diet. Furthermore, the size of the isotopic niche negatively correlated with forage fish biomass estimated from acoustic surveys and with their contribution in penguin diet. We defined an isotopic niche size threshold that indicates low abundance of forage fish in nearby feeding grounds. In addition, the trophic level of Magellanic penguins increased with latitude, which corresponds to the size-distribution of both main forage fish species, showing that penguins from different colonies target different size classes of their main prey. We present here a simple and easy to implement indicator to monitor the status of the base of the food web in one of the most productive marine areas in the world, which constitutes the feeding ground of a diverse group of high trophic level predators and sustains large-scale fisheries.Javier E. CiancioPablo YorioClaudio BurattiGustavo Álvarez ColomboEsteban FrereElsevierarticleForage fishMagellanic penguinStable isotopesMarine sentinelsEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 126, Iss , Pp 107687- (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Forage fish
Magellanic penguin
Stable isotopes
Marine sentinels
Ecology
QH540-549.5
spellingShingle Forage fish
Magellanic penguin
Stable isotopes
Marine sentinels
Ecology
QH540-549.5
Javier E. Ciancio
Pablo Yorio
Claudio Buratti
Gustavo Álvarez Colombo
Esteban Frere
Isotopic niche plasticity in a marine top predator as indicator of a large marine ecosystem food web status
description As marine ecosystems are harvested or modified by anthropogenic or natural factors, there is an increasing demand for indicators of trophic web health or status. The Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) is a widely distributed species that forages in the Patagonian Shelf. During breeding, this species is a central-place forager that feeds mainly on schooling fish, with Argentine anchovy (Engraulis anchoita) being the dominant prey in the north and Fuegian sprat (Sprattus fuegensis) in the south of the Argentine Patagonian distribution (40–55°S). Like most forage fish, both prey species display large natural interannual recruitment fluctuations. We used stable isotope analysis of adult Magellanic penguin blood obtained at twelve colonies along its Patagonian latitudinal range to assess changes in isotopic niche and in trophic level as a response to interannual changes in abundance and spatial segregation of forage fish size classes, respectively. Magellanic penguins showed large isotopic niche fluctuations among breeding seasons, explained by the contribution of forage fish in their diet. Furthermore, the size of the isotopic niche negatively correlated with forage fish biomass estimated from acoustic surveys and with their contribution in penguin diet. We defined an isotopic niche size threshold that indicates low abundance of forage fish in nearby feeding grounds. In addition, the trophic level of Magellanic penguins increased with latitude, which corresponds to the size-distribution of both main forage fish species, showing that penguins from different colonies target different size classes of their main prey. We present here a simple and easy to implement indicator to monitor the status of the base of the food web in one of the most productive marine areas in the world, which constitutes the feeding ground of a diverse group of high trophic level predators and sustains large-scale fisheries.
format article
author Javier E. Ciancio
Pablo Yorio
Claudio Buratti
Gustavo Álvarez Colombo
Esteban Frere
author_facet Javier E. Ciancio
Pablo Yorio
Claudio Buratti
Gustavo Álvarez Colombo
Esteban Frere
author_sort Javier E. Ciancio
title Isotopic niche plasticity in a marine top predator as indicator of a large marine ecosystem food web status
title_short Isotopic niche plasticity in a marine top predator as indicator of a large marine ecosystem food web status
title_full Isotopic niche plasticity in a marine top predator as indicator of a large marine ecosystem food web status
title_fullStr Isotopic niche plasticity in a marine top predator as indicator of a large marine ecosystem food web status
title_full_unstemmed Isotopic niche plasticity in a marine top predator as indicator of a large marine ecosystem food web status
title_sort isotopic niche plasticity in a marine top predator as indicator of a large marine ecosystem food web status
publisher Elsevier
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/3e90cd06a19745dfa74b4301105e0690
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AT claudioburatti isotopicnicheplasticityinamarinetoppredatorasindicatorofalargemarineecosystemfoodwebstatus
AT gustavoalvarezcolombo isotopicnicheplasticityinamarinetoppredatorasindicatorofalargemarineecosystemfoodwebstatus
AT estebanfrere isotopicnicheplasticityinamarinetoppredatorasindicatorofalargemarineecosystemfoodwebstatus
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