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Article Dans Une Revue Marine Biology Année : 2022

Trophic ecology of northern gannets Morus bassanus highlights the extent of isotopic niche overlap with other apex predators within the Bay of Biscay

Résumé

Understanding the linkages within complex and evolving marine food webs is essential to comprehend marine ecosystem structure and dynamics. Carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope signatures are recognized to be powerful descriptors of the trophic ecology and trophic relationships within marine communities. Apex predators such as seabirds can influence the structure of communities by predating on lower trophic levels. They also convey information both over a range of spatial and temporal scales due to their high mobility and longevity, respectively. For this reason, here, we studied the trophic ecology of northern gannets and the extent of niche overlap with other apex predators within the Bay of Biscay (North-East Atlantic), a key feeding area for numerous predatory species. Mixing models indicated that northern gannets fed primarily on European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus and on a mixed group composed of European sardine Sardina pilchardus, European sprat Sprattus sprattus, juvenile hake Merluccius merluccius, Atlantic mackerel Scomber scombrus and Atlantic horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus. Within the apex predator community, the northern gannets trophic niche overlapped the most with common guillemots Uria aalge (15.58%, based on Stable Isotope Bayesian Ellipses (SIBER)) and overlapped to a lesser extent with cetacean species occupying shelf habitats (i.e. the harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena (9.99%) and the short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis (10.37%)). Overall, the overlap found was moderate indicating trophic similarities and dissimilarities between these species. Information on trophic interactions between co-existing species is necessary for a holistic environmental management, particularly in areas where several megafauna species share their foraging grounds with fisheries activity.
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Dates et versions

hal-03774382 , version 1 (10-09-2022)

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Claudia Gaspar, Joan Giménez, Eider Andonegi, Amaia Astarloa, Tiphaine Chouvelon, et al.. Trophic ecology of northern gannets Morus bassanus highlights the extent of isotopic niche overlap with other apex predators within the Bay of Biscay. Marine Biology, 2022, 169 (8), pp.105. ⟨10.1007/s00227-022-04079-y⟩. ⟨hal-03774382⟩
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