Allegue Hassen, Guinet Christophe, Patrick Samantha C, Hindell Mark A, McMahon Clive R, Réale Denis
Département des Sciences Biologiques Université du Québec à Montréal Montréal QC Canada.
Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé CEBC CNRS Chizé France.
Ecol Evol. 2022 Jan 26;12(1):e8457. doi: 10.1002/ece3.8457. eCollection 2022 Jan.
Selecting foraging habitat is a fundamental behavior in the life of organisms as it directly links resource acquisition to fitness. Differences in habitat selection among individuals may arise from several intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and yet, their interaction has been given little attention in the study of wild populations. We combine sex, body size, and boldness to explain individual differences in the seasonal foraging habitat selection of southern elephant seals () from the Kerguelen Archipelago. We hypothesize that habitat selection is linked to the trade-off between resource acquisition and risk, and that individuals differ in their position along this trade-off because of differences in reproductive strategies, life stages, and metabolic requirements. Before the post-molt foraging trip, we used a novel object approach test to quantify the boldness of 28 subadult and adult females and 42 subadult males and equipped them with data loggers to track their movements at sea. Subadult males selected neritic and oceanic habitats, whereas females mostly selected less productive oceanic habitats. Both sexes showed a seasonal shift from Antarctic habitats in the south in the summer to the free of ice subantarctic and subtropical habitats in the north in the winter. Males avoided oceanic habitats and selected more productive neritic and Antarctic habitats with body size mostly in the winter. Bolder males selected northern warmer waters in winter, while shyer ones selected the Kerguelen plateau and southern colder oceanic waters. Bolder females selected the Kerguelen plateau in the summer when prey profitability is assumed to be the highest. This study not only provides new insights into the spatiotemporal foraging ecology of elephant seals in relation to personality but also emphasizes the relevance of combining several intrinsic and extrinsic factors in understanding among-individual variation in space use essential in wildlife management and conservation.
选择觅食栖息地是生物生命中的一种基本行为，因为它直接将资源获取与适合度联系起来。个体之间栖息地选择的差异可能源于多种内在和外在因素，然而，它们之间的相互作用在野生种群研究中很少受到关注。我们结合性别、体型和胆量来解释克格伦群岛南象海豹（）季节性觅食栖息地选择的个体差异。我们假设栖息地选择与资源获取和风险之间的权衡有关，并且由于生殖策略、生命阶段和代谢需求的差异，个体在这种权衡中的位置也不同。在蜕皮后的觅食之旅前，我们使用一种新颖的物体接近测试来量化28只亚成年和成年雌性以及42只亚成年雄性的胆量，并为它们配备数据记录器以跟踪它们在海上的活动。亚成年雄性选择浅海和海洋栖息地，而雌性大多选择生产力较低的海洋栖息地。两性都表现出季节性变化，从夏季在南部的南极栖息地转移到冬季在北部无冰的亚南极和亚热带栖息地。雄性在冬季大多避免选择海洋栖息地，随着体型增大选择更具生产力的浅海和南极栖息地。更大胆的雄性在冬季选择北部较温暖的水域，而较胆小的则选择克格伦高原和南部较寒冷的海洋水域。更大胆的雌性在夏季猎物获利能力被认为最高时选择克格伦高原。这项研究不仅为象海豹与个性相关的时空觅食生态学提供了新见解，还强调了在理解野生动物管理和保护中空间利用的个体间差异时结合多种内在和外在因素的重要性。
