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Ecological niche segregation among five toothed whale species off the NW Iberian Peninsula using ecological tracers as multi-approach

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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 (δ13C and δ15N) as ecological tracers to assess degree of segregation in diet/trophic level and in foraging habitat, over various time-scales. δ13C values highlighted different habitats, while Cd concentrations highlighted feeding differences between oceanic and neritic species. Moreover, δ15N 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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of volunteers from the Galician (CEMMA) and Portuguese (SPVS) stranding networks. They also thank P. Richard and G. Guillou (UMR LIENSs) for running stable isotope measurements, C. Churlaud and M. Kalombo from the Centre Commun d’Analyses (Fédération de Recherche en Environnement pour le Développement Durable FR 3097 CNRS-IFREMER-Université de La Rochelle) for running part of the metal analyses, and P. Brunello from the Cellule Géomatique (UMR LIENSs) for providing the map of the study area. We also wish to thank B. Simon-Bouhet and Géraldine Lassale (UMR LIENSs) for useful comments during statistical analysis and T. Berthuin for her assistance during laboratory work. This work was supported through the PhD grant to P. Méndez-Fernandez from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology of the Government of Portugal (SFRH/BD/36766/2007). G.J. Pierce acknowledges support from the EU under the ANIMATE project (MEXC-CT-2006-042337). M.B. Santos acknowledges support from the LOTOFPEL project (Plan Nacional de I + D + I, CTM 2010-16053) and from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Programa Nacional de Movilidad de Recursos Humanos de Investigación (PR-2010-0518). Two anonymous reviewers and the associate editor C. Harrod are thanked for helpful suggestions and comments on an earlier form of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Littoral Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMR 7266 CNRS-ULR, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17042, La Rochelle Cedex 01, France

    Paula Méndez-Fernandez, Paco Bustamante, Tiphaine Chouvelon, Jérôme Spitz & Florence Caurant

  2. Coordinadora para o Estudo dos Mamiferos Mariños (CEMMA), Apdo. 15, 36380, Pontevedra, Spain

    Paula Méndez-Fernandez & Alfredo López

  3. Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental (CBMA)/Sociedade Portuguesa de Vida Selvagem (SPVS), Departamento de Biologia, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Paula Méndez-Fernandez, Marisa Ferreira & José V. Vingada

  4. Oceanlab, University of Aberdeen, Main Street, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, AB41 6AA, UK

    Graham J. Pierce

  5. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (C.S.I.C), Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208, Vigo, Spain

    Angel F. González & Fiona L. Read

  6. Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo, Apdo. 1552, 36280, Vigo, Spain

    M. Begoña Santos

  7. Marine Mammal Research Unit, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Jérôme Spitz

  8. Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    José V. Vingada

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  1. Paula Méndez-Fernandez
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  2. Graham J. Pierce
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  3. Paco Bustamante
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  4. Tiphaine Chouvelon
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  5. Marisa Ferreira
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  6. Angel F. González
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  7. Alfredo López
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  9. M. Begoña Santos
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  11. José V. Vingada
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  12. Florence Caurant
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Correspondence to Paula Méndez-Fernandez.

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Communicated by C. Harrod.

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Méndez-Fernandez, P., Pierce, G.J., Bustamante, P. et al. Ecological niche segregation among five toothed whale species off the NW Iberian Peninsula using ecological tracers as multi-approach. Mar Biol 160, 2825–2840 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2274-9

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