Isotopic Niche Analysis of Long-Finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melas edwardii) in Aotearoa New Zealand Waters.

ABSTRACT: The quantification of a species' trophic niche is important to understand the species ecology and its interactions with the ecosystem it resides in. Despite the high frequency of long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas edwardii) strandings on the Aotearoa New Zealand coast, their trophic niche remains poorly understood. To assess the isotopic niche of G. m. edwardii within New Zealand, ontogenetic (sex, total body length, age, maturity status, reproductive group) and spatiotemporal (stranding location, stranding event, and stranding year) variation were investigated. Stable isotopes of carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) were examined from skin samples of 125 G. m. edwardii (67 females and 58 males) collected at mass-stranding even

SUBMITTER: Hinton B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9598128 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature