Diet of harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) in nearshore northeast Newfoundland: Inferences from stable-carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analyses

Marine Mammal Science

Volumn 16, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 578-591

  Lawson, John W ^a   Hobson, Keith A ^b  

^a LGL LIMITED   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN   (Canada)

Author keywords

Age; Carbon 13; Diet; Harp seal; Newfoundland; Nitrogen 15; Pagophilus groenlandicus; Stable isotope; Trophic

Indexed keywords

DIET; ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS; PINNIPED;

CANADA; NEWFOUNDLAND;

ANIMALIA; CLUPEA HARENGUS; DECAPODA (CRUSTACEA); GADUS MORHUA; HIPPOGLOSSOIDES; MAMMALIA; PAGOPHILUS GROENLANDICUS; PANDALUS BOREALIS; PHOCA GROENLANDICA; PHOCIDAE; PINNIPEDIA; REINHARDTIUS HIPPOGLOSSOIDES; VERTEBRATA;

EID: 0033946950     PISSN: 08240469     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2000.tb00953.x     Document Type: Article

References (37)

1. ANONYMOUS. 1997. Harp seal - fishery interactions in the northwest Atlantic: Toward research & management actions. Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation. 41 pp. Available from Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation, Marine Institute. P. O. Box 4920, St. John's, NF A1C 5R3, Canada.
2. ATKINSON, D. B., G. A. ROSE, E. F. MURPHY AND C. A. BISHOP. 1997. Distribution changes and abundance of northern cod (Gadus morhua), 1981-1993. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54:132-138.
3. BOWEN, W. D., D. E. SERGEANT AND T. ØRITSLAND. 1983. Validation of age determination in the harp seal, Phoca groenlandica, using dentinal annuli. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 40:1430-1441.
4. DICKSON, M.-L. 1986. A comparative study of the pelagic food webs in two Newfoundland fjords using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope tracers. M.Sc. thesis. Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NF. 159 pp.
5. DRINKWATER, K. F. 1996. Climate and oceanographic variability in the northwest Atlantic during the 1980s and early-1990s. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Science 18:77-97.
6. FRANCE, R. L. 1995. Carbon-13 enrichment in benthic compared to planktonic algae: Foodweb implications. Marine Ecology Progress Series 124:307-312.
7. GOMES, M. C., R. L. HAEDRICH AND M. G. VILLAGARCIA. 1995. Spatial and temporal changes in the groundfish assemblages on the northeast Newfoundland/Labrador Shelf, northwest Atlantic, 1978-1991. Fisheries Oceanography 4:85-101.
8. HARRIS, L. 1990. Independent review of the state of the northern cod stock. Ministry of Supply and Services, Ottawa, Ont. 153 pp.
9. HARVEY, J. T., AND G. A. ANTONELIS. 1994. Biases associated with non-lethal methods of determining the diet of northern elephant seals. Marine Mammal Science 10: 178-187.
10. HELM, R. C. 1984. Rate of digestion in three species of pinnipeds. Canadian Journal of Zoology 62:1751-1756.
11. 13C in tissues. Condor 94:181-188.
12. HOBSON, K. A., AND W. A. MONTEVECCHI. 1991. Stable isotopic determinations of trophic relationships of great auks. Oecologia 87:528-531.
13. 15N analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 84:9-18.
14. HOBSON, K. A., R. T. ALISAUSKAS AND R. G. CLARK. 1993. Stable-nitrogen isotope enrichment in avian tissues due to fasting and nutritional stress: Implications for isotopic analyses of diet. Condor 95:388-394.
15. HOBSON, K. A., J. F. PIATT AND J. PITOCCHELLI. 1994. Using stable isotopes to determine seabird trophic relationships. Journal of Animal Ecology 63:786-798.
16. HOBSON, K. A., D. M. SCHELL, D. RENOUF AND E. NOSEWORTHY. 1996. Stable-carbon and nitrogen fractionation between diet and tissues of captive seals: Implications for dietary reconstructions involving marine mammals. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53:528-533.
17. HUTCHINGS, J. A. 1996. Spatial and temporal variation in the density of northern cod and a review of hypotheses for the stock's collapse. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53:943-962.
18. IVERSON, S. J., K. J. FROST AND L. F. LOWRY. 1997. Fatty acid signatures reveal fine scale structure of foraging distribution of harbor seals and their prey in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Marine Ecology Progress Series 151:255-271.
19. KROCKENBERGER, M. B., AND M. M. BRYDEN. 1994. Rate of passage of digesta through the alimentary tract of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) (Carnivora, Phocidae). Journal of Zoology (London) 234:229-237.
20. KULKA, D. W., J. S. WROBLEWSKI AND S. NARAYANAN. 1995. Recent changes in the winter distribution and movements of northern Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758) on the Newfoundland-Labrador Shelf. ICES Journal of Marine Science 52:889-902.
21. LAVIGNE, D. M. 1995. Ecological interactions between marine mammals, commercial fisheries and their prey: unravelling the tangled web. Technical Report 95-02. International Marine Mammal Association Inc. 22 pp. Available from International Marine Mammal Association, 1474 Gordon Street, Guelph, ON N1H 1C8, Canada.
22. LAWSON, J. W., AND G. B. STENSON. 1995. Historic variation in the diet of harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) in the northwest Atlantic. Pages 261-269 in A. S. Blix, L. Walløe and Ø. Ultang, eds. Whales, seals, fish and man. Elsevier Science B.V., Tromsø, Norway.
23. LAWSON, J. W., AND G. B. STENSON. 1997. Diet of northwest Atlantic harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) in offshore areas. Canadian Journal of Zoology 75:2095-2106.
24. LAWSON, J. W., G. B. STENSON AND D. G. MCKINNON. 1995. Diet of harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) in nearshore waters of the northwest Atlantic during 1990-93. Canadian Journal of Zoology 73:1805-1818.
25. LAWSON, J. W., J. T. ANDERSON, E. L. DALLEY AND G. B. STENSON. 1998a. Selective foraging by harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) in nearshore and offshore waters of Newfoundland, 1993-94. Marine Ecology Progress Series 163:1-10.
26. LAWSON, J. W., A. MAGALHÃES AND E. H. MILLER. 1998b. Important prey species of marine vertebrate predators in the northwest Atlantic: Proximate composition and energy density. Marine Ecology Progress Series 164:13-20.
27. LILLY, G. R., H. HOP, D. E. STANSBURY AND C. A. BISHOP. 1994. Distribution and abundance of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) off southern Labrador and eastern Newfoundland. C.M. 1994/O:6 Theme Session on Non-target Species. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. 21 pp.
28. MARKUSSEN, N. H. 1993. Transit time of digesta in captive harbour seals (Phoca vitulina). Canadian Journal of Zoology 71:1071-1073.
29. MICHENER, R. H., AND D. M. SCHELL. 1994. Stable isotope ratios as tracers in marine aquatic food webs. Pages 138-157 in K. Lajtha and R. H. Michener, eds. Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
30. OSTROM, P. H., J. LIEN AND S. A. MACKO. 1993. Evaluation of the diet of Sowerby's beaked whale, Mesoplodon bidens, based on isotopic comparisons among northwestern Atlantic cetaceans. Canadian Journal of Zoology 71:858-861.
31. PETERSON, B. J., AND B. FRY. 1987. Stable isotopes in ecosystems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 18:293-320.
32. SCHELL, D. M., B. A. BARNETT AND K. A. VINETTE. 1998. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in zooplankton of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 162:11-23.
33. SMITH, R. J., K. A. HOBSON, H. N. KOOPMAN AND D. M. LAVIGNE. 1996. Distinguishing between populations of fresh-and salt-water harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) using stable isotope ratios and fatty acid profiles. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53:272-279.
34. STENSON, G. B., M. O. HAMMILL AND J. W. LAWSON. 1997. Predation by harp seals in Atlantic Canada: Preliminary consumption estimates for Arctic cod, capelin, and Atlantic cod. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Science 22:137-154.
35. TOLLIT, D. J., M. J. STEWARD, P. M. THOMPSON, G. J. PIERCE, M. B. SANTOS AND S. HUGHES. 1997. Species and size differences in the digestion of otoliths and beaks: Implications for estimates of pinniped diet composition. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54:105-119.
36. UGLAND, K. I., K. A. JODESTOL, P. E. ASPHOLM, A. B. KROYER AND T. JAKOBSEN. 1993. Fish consumption by invading harp seals off the Norwegian coast in 1987 and 1988. ICES Journal of Marine Science 50:27-38.
37. WALLACE, S. D., AND J. W. LAWSON. 1997. A review of stomach contents of harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) from the Northwest Atlantic: An update. Technical Report 97-01. International Marine Mammal Association. 101 pp. Available from International Marine Mammal Association, 1474 Gordon Street, Guelph, ON N1H 1C8, Canada.