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Shift in foraging grounds and diet broadening during ontogeny in southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands

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Abstract

Highly dimorphic species like southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina, SES hereafter) frequently exhibit resource partitioning according to sex and/or age classes. We measured carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) of 404 blood samples (136 males and 268 females from Kerguelen Islands, 49°21′S, 70°18′E) from 2004 to 2011. Assuming that the distribution of carbon isotopes (δ13C value) reflects the two main foraging grounds (Polar Frontal and Antarctic Zones), we quantified the proportion of SES foraging within each zone in relation with size, a proxy for their age. We found a clear shift from Polar Frontal to Antarctic waters as male SES aged, but no relation as far as females is concerned. We also observed a widening range of nitrogen isotopic (δ15N) values, suggesting that both males and females expanded their diet spectra with age. Whereas males increased their trophic level, females remained constant on average, with some adult females feeding both at lower and at higher trophic levels than juveniles.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank all fieldworkers that helped collecting data since 2004, particularly Guillaume Bessigneul, Alexis Chevallier, Pierrick Giraudet and Nory El-Ksabi for their precious help and advice during the 2010 field work. The authors also thank Gaël Guillou for stable isotope analyses in France. This study is part of a national research program (no. 109, H. Weimerskirch and the observatory Mammifères Explorateurs du Milieu Océanique, MEMO SOERE CTD 02) supported by the French Polar Institute (Institut Paul Emile Victor, IPEV). The Territoire des Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF) and ANR-VMC 07 IPSOS-SEAL program also contributed to this study. The ethics committee of the French Polar Institute (IPEV) approved the fields work. All animals in this study were cared for in accordance with its guidelines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre d’Etude Biologique de Chizé, CNRS UPR 1934, 79360, Villiers-en-Bois, France

    Adrien Chaigne, Matthieu Authier, Yves Cherel & Christophe Guinet

  2. Littoral Environnement et Sociétés, UMR 6250 du CNRS-Université de la Rochelle, La Rochelle, France

    Pierre Richard

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  1. Adrien Chaigne
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  2. Matthieu Authier
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  3. Pierre Richard
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  4. Yves Cherel
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  5. Christophe Guinet
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Correspondence to Adrien Chaigne.

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Communicated by U. Siebert.

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Chaigne, A., Authier, M., Richard, P. et al. Shift in foraging grounds and diet broadening during ontogeny in southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands. Mar Biol 160, 977–986 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-2149-5

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