Circumpolar habitat use in the southern elephant seal: implications for foraging success and population trajectories. Ecosphere. 2016; 7: n/a-n/a. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.1213Hindell MA, McMahon CR, Bester MN, Boehme L, Costa D, Fedak MA, et al. Circumpolar habitat use in the southern elephant...
Habitat, Feeding, and BreedingElephants are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. They are found in different habitats, including forests, savannahs, deserts, and marshes. They are herbivorous, which means they eat plant material. They stay near water when possible...
Regions of the mid-shelf were used in different seasons and were associated with low chlorophyll-a concentration at the time of the visit, suggesting that surface productivity does not overlap with putative quality habitat for benthic foragers. Benthic diving on the shallow mid-shelf would be a ...
elephant seal pup mortality rose to 80%. El Niño events cause severe winter storms, elevated sea levels, heavy rains and high tides that can submerge colonies and wash away pups. It is known that the Farallon Islands colony decreased by nearly half due to habitat changes caused by winter ...
This preference underscores the intricate interplay between marine top predators and ecosystem dynamics, hinting at mechanisms through which phytoplankton structure shapes seal activity.Similar content being viewed by others Seasonal variability in the feeding ecology of an oceanic predator Article Open ...
Oceanographic parameters other than the ones considered in our analyses are also likely to affect prey distribution and foraging habitat, such as chlorophyll density, which is linked to primary production (Moore and Abbott, 2000), salinity, a key physical parameter of oceans (Caldwell, 1974), or...
The energy requirements of free-ranging marine mammals are challenging to measure due to cryptic and far-ranging feeding habits, but are important to quantify given the potential impacts of high-level predators on ecosystems. Given their large body size and carnivorous lifestyle, we would predict ...
Southern elephant seal life cycle Southern elephant seals are wide-ranging marine predators that haul out on land to breed and moult. Every September to October, pregnant females (age three and older) haul out to give birth to a single pup. Female seals do not forage during the breeding seas...
In the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal, there are intersexual differences in habitat use; at Iles Kerguelen, males predominantly use shelf waters, while females use deeper oceanic waters. There are equally marked intrasexual differences, with some males using the nearby Kerguelen Plateau, and...
· Foraging habitat Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher INTRODUCTION Investigating the foraging strategies of top preda- tors within an ecosystem is an important step towards understanding the functioning of an ecological com- munity, on both spatial and ...