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Elephant seal foraging dives track prey distribution, not temperature: Comment on McIntyre et al. (2011)

Elephant seal foraging dives track prey distribution, not temperature: Comment on McIntyre et al. (2011)
Elephant seal foraging dives track prey distribution, not temperature: Comment on McIntyre et al. (2011)
McIntyre et al. (2011; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 441:257?272) concluded that climate change-related ocean warming may lead to deeper foraging dives by southern elephant seals as their prey is forced into deeper depths. They further assert that fitness for the seals will be reduced because of greater physiological costs for deep dives and the assumption that deep foraging is less successful. Their conclusions are based on an observed correlation between a temperature index and elephant seal diving depth but do not include any observations of prey. We recently observed pronounced differences in the vertical distribution of pelagic biota—biota that may well include elephant seal prey—across the same frontal zone considered by McIntyre et al. (2011) and believe that their suggested link between temperature and diving depth is actually a link between predators and distinct prey fields—a reflection of adaptive foraging behaviour in a complex and dynamic pelagic system. As such, the analysis of McIntyre et al. (2011) is uninformative about likely impacts of ocean warming.
Climate change, Effect size, Prey field, Vertical structure, Southern elephant seal, Foraging ecology, Deep scattering layer
293-298
Boersch-Supan, P.H.
b148289e-4882-4377-bc54-208772a37f1c
Boehme, L.
24d5470b-ccb0-46dd-9ed8-18381cbf5aa5
Read, J.F.
913784a2-30c1-4aa7-aa60-63824998e845
Rogers, A.D.
906fd860-72c9-4e72-ba43-36e78a1f4037
Brierley, A.S.
845cbcc3-15ce-42b1-aed5-ff5c4a760f19
Boersch-Supan, P.H.
b148289e-4882-4377-bc54-208772a37f1c
Boehme, L.
24d5470b-ccb0-46dd-9ed8-18381cbf5aa5
Read, J.F.
913784a2-30c1-4aa7-aa60-63824998e845
Rogers, A.D.
906fd860-72c9-4e72-ba43-36e78a1f4037
Brierley, A.S.
845cbcc3-15ce-42b1-aed5-ff5c4a760f19

Boersch-Supan, P.H., Boehme, L., Read, J.F., Rogers, A.D. and Brierley, A.S. (2012) Elephant seal foraging dives track prey distribution, not temperature: Comment on McIntyre et al. (2011). Marine Ecology Progress Series, 461, 293-298. (doi:10.3354/meps09890).

Record type: Article

Abstract

McIntyre et al. (2011; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 441:257?272) concluded that climate change-related ocean warming may lead to deeper foraging dives by southern elephant seals as their prey is forced into deeper depths. They further assert that fitness for the seals will be reduced because of greater physiological costs for deep dives and the assumption that deep foraging is less successful. Their conclusions are based on an observed correlation between a temperature index and elephant seal diving depth but do not include any observations of prey. We recently observed pronounced differences in the vertical distribution of pelagic biota—biota that may well include elephant seal prey—across the same frontal zone considered by McIntyre et al. (2011) and believe that their suggested link between temperature and diving depth is actually a link between predators and distinct prey fields—a reflection of adaptive foraging behaviour in a complex and dynamic pelagic system. As such, the analysis of McIntyre et al. (2011) is uninformative about likely impacts of ocean warming.

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More information

Published date: 2012
Keywords: Climate change, Effect size, Prey field, Vertical structure, Southern elephant seal, Foraging ecology, Deep scattering layer
Organisations: Marine Biogeochemistry

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 342694
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/342694
PURE UUID: 65615e4b-cbab-43e1-b9cd-251da5238483

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 12 Sep 2012 15:55
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 11:54

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Contributors

Author: P.H. Boersch-Supan
Author: L. Boehme
Author: J.F. Read
Author: A.D. Rogers
Author: A.S. Brierley

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