Mesoscale activity facilitates energy gain in a top predator.

ABSTRACT: How animal movement decisions interact with the distribution of resources to shape individual performance is a key question in ecology. However, links between spatial and behavioural ecology and fitness consequences are poorly understood because the outcomes of individual resource selection decisions, such as energy intake, are rarely measured. In the open ocean, mesoscale features (approx. 10-100 km) such as fronts and eddies can aggregate prey and thereby drive the distribution of foraging vertebrates through bottom-up biophysical coupling. These productive features are known to attract predators, yet their role in facilitating energy transfer to top-level consumers is opaque. We investigated the use of mesoscale features by migrating northern elephant seals and quantified the correspond

SUBMITTER: Abrahms B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6125900 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature