Abstract
This study aims to assess niche segregation among the five main toothed whales that frequent the NW Iberian Peninsula waters: the common dolphin, the harbour porpoise, the bottlenose dolphin, the striped dolphin and the long-finned pilot whale. We used cadmium (Cd) and stable isotope ratios (delta C-13 and delta N-15) as ecological tracers to assess degree of segregation in diet/trophic level and in foraging habitat, over various time-scales. delta C-13 values highlighted different habitats, while Cd concentrations highlighted feeding differences between oceanic and neritic species. Moreover, delta N-15 values suggest different trophic levels of prey targeted within oceanic and neritic species. Hence, results revealed long-term ecological segregation among five toothed whales that coexist in the NWIP and demonstrated the ability of ecological tracers to discriminate ecological niches among closely related species.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2825-2840 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Marine Biology |
Volume | 160 |
Issue number | 11 |
Early online date | 11 Jun 2013 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2013 |
Keywords
- stable-isotope analysis
- bottle-nosed dolphins
- North-West Spain
- marine mammals
- habitat preferences
- tursiops-truncatus
- sepia-officinalis
- delphinus-delphis
- Galician Waters
- feeding ecology