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Using Isoscapes to Trace the Movements and Foraging Behavior of Top Predators in Oceanic Ecosystems

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Isoscapes

Abstract

The stable isotope composition of animal tissues can provide intrinsic tags to study the foraging and migratory ecology of predators in the open ocean. Chapter 13 (this volume) demonstrated that by comparing the isotope values of an animal and its local prey or environment, the animal’s movements can be estimated, given that isotopic variation exists between habitats. The utility of using geographical variations in stable isotopes values, or isoscapes to study the movements of marine predators has been limited because of our lack of knowledge on the spatial variation of the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope values in the open ocean.

In this chapter, we review the spatial patterns in the carbon and nitrogen values of primary producers in the oceans and broadly discuss mechanisms that set the isotopic composition at the base of marine food webs. We then discuss how spatial patterns in baseline and predator isotope values can be used to examine the movements and foraging behavior in two groups of marine predators, pinnepids and tropical tuna. These two case studies demonstrate that ocean isoscapes are a promising tool to investigate population-level movements and foraging behavior of elusive predators, but this method has limitations and will not achieve the fine-spatial resolution obtained with electronic tags and instrumentation. Furthermore, the construction and application of ocean isoscapes is still in its early development and requires knowledge about the physiology and behavior of the predator, an understanding of the temporal and spatial stability of the isotopic baseline, and validation with independent datasets.

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Acknowledgements

We thank B. Fry, B. Popp, R. Olson, V. Allain, F. Galvan, A. Lorrain, and J. Sibert for invaluable and continual support of the tuna research. Tuna research and BSG were funded by the Cooperative Agreement NA17RJ1230 between the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the Pelagic Fisheries Research Program. Marine mammal work was funded by NSF Grants EAR-0000895 and OCE-0345943, as well as by a grant from UCMEXUS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai’i, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Brittany S. Graham

  2. Dept. of Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

    Paul L. Koch

  3. Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, 20015, USA

    Seth D. Newsome

  4. MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Biological Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Kelton W. McMahon

  5. Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, La Paz Baja California Sur, 23060, Mexico

    David Aurioles

  6. Stable Isotopes in Nature Laboratory (SINLAB), Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada, E3B 5A3

    Brittany S. Graham

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  1. Brittany S. Graham
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  2. Paul L. Koch
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  3. Seth D. Newsome
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  4. Kelton W. McMahon
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  5. David Aurioles
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Correspondence to Brittany S. Graham .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M University System, Garner Field Rd. 1619, Uvalde, 78801, U.S.A.

    Jason B. West

  2. Dept. Earth & Atmospheric Science, Purdue University, Stadium Mall Drive 550, West Lafayette, 47907-2051, U.S.A.

    Gabriel J. Bowen

  3. Dept. Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, 94720, U.S.A.

    Todd E. Dawson

  4. Dept. Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, 94720, U.S.A.

    Kevin P. Tu

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Graham, B.S., Koch, P.L., Newsome, S.D., McMahon, K.W., Aurioles, D. (2010). Using Isoscapes to Trace the Movements and Foraging Behavior of Top Predators in Oceanic Ecosystems. In: West, J., Bowen, G., Dawson, T., Tu, K. (eds) Isoscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3354-3_14

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