Dear Marmam,
My co-authors and I are happy to announce the publication of our paper:
Deep-sea predator niche segregation revealed by combined cetacean
biologging and eDNA analysis of cephalopod prey, in Science Advances.
Link (open access):
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/14/eabf5908
We combined Dtag data with eDNA analysis of cephalopods in the whale
foraging zones and find that, while the Risso's dolphin and Cuviers
beaked whale have discrete foraging zones, they target comparable prey
communities. As many squid migrate to deeper waters as they mature,
Cuvier's beaked whales may thus target similar prey species, but have
access to larger, more mature and possibly brooding individuals, than
Risso's dolphins.
Abstract
Fundamental insight on predator-prey dynamics in the deep sea is
hampered by a lack of combined data on hunting behavior and prey
spectra. Deep-sea niche segregation may evolve when predators target
specific prey communities, but this hypothesis remains untested. We
combined environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding with biologging to
assess cephalopod community composition in the deep-sea foraging habitat
of two top predator cetaceans. Risso’s dolphin and Cuvier’s beaked whale
selectively targeted distinct epi/meso- and bathypelagic foraging zones,
holding eDNA of 39 cephalopod taxa, including 22 known prey. Contrary to
expectation, extensive taxonomic overlap in prey spectra between
foraging zones indicated that predator niche segregation was not driven
by prey community composition alone. Instead, intraspecific prey
spectrum differences may drive differentiation for hunting fewer, more
calorific, mature cephalopods in deeper waters. The novel combination of
methods presented here holds great promise to disclose elusive deep-sea
predator-prey systems, aiding in their protection.
All the best,
Fleur
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