Individual variation in prey selection by sea otters: Patterns, causes and implications

Journal of Animal Ecology

Volumn 72, Issue 1, 2003, Pages 144-155

  Estes, James A ^a   Riedman, M L ^b,c   Staedler, M M ^b   Tinker, M T ^a   Lyon, B E ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b Monterey Bay Aquarium   (United States)

^c Sequoyah Publishing   (United States)

Author keywords

California; Diet; Foraging models; Matrilineal transmission

Indexed keywords

DIET; FORAGING BEHAVIOR; INTRASPECIFIC VARIATION; LEARNING; MUSTELID; PREY SELECTION;

UNITED STATES;

ENHYDRA; ENHYDRA LUTRIS; LUTRINAE; MAMMALIA; MUSTELIDAE;

EID: 0037284063     PISSN: 00218790     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2656.2003.00690.x     Document Type: Article

References (69)

1. Ames, J.A., Hardy, R.A. & Wendell, F.E. (1983) Tagging materials and methods for sea otters, Enhydra lutris. California Fish and Game Quarterly, 69, 243-252.
2. Annett, C.A. & Pierotti, R. (1999) Long-term reproductive output in western gulls: consequences of alternate tactics in diet choice. Ecology, 80, 288-297.
3. Baird, R.W., Abrams, P.A. & Dill, L.M. (1992) Possible indirect interactions between transient and resident killer whales: implications for the evolution of foraging specializations in the genus Orcinus. Oecologia, 89, 125-132.
4. Barbosa, A., Barluenga, M. & Moreno, E. (2000) Effects of body mass on the foraging behaviour of subordinate Coal Tits Parus ater. Ibis, 142, 428-434.
5. Beauchamp, G., Giraldeau, L.A. & Ennis, N. (1997) Experimental evidence for the maintenance of foraging specializations by frequency-dependent choice in flocks of spice finches. Ethology Ecology and Evolution, 9, 105-117.
6. Bekoff, M. & Wells, M.C. (1986) Social ecology and behavior of coyotes Canus latrans. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 16, 251-338.
7. Berlow, E.L., Briggs, C.J., Power, M.E., Navarrete, S.A. & Menge, B.A. (1999) Quantifying variation in the strengths of species interactions. Ecology, 80, 2206-2224.
8. Bodkin, J.L., Burdin, A.M. & Ryazanov, D.A. (2000) Age- and sex-specific mortality and population structure in sea otters. Marine Mammal Science, 16, 201-219.
9. Bolnick, D.I., Svanbäck, R., Fordyce, J.A., Yang, L.H., Davis, J.M., Hulsey, C.D. & Forister, M.L. (2003) The ecology of individuals: incidence and implications of individual specialization. American Naturalist, in press.
10. Bridcut, E.E. & Giller, P.S. (1995) Diet variability and foraging strategies in brown trout (Salmo trutta): an analysis from subpopulations to individuals. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 52, 2543-2552.
11. Caldow, R.W.G., Goss-Custard, J.D., Stillman, R.A. & Dit Durell, S.E.A., Le V., Swinfen, R. & Bregnballe, T. (1999) Individual variation in the competitive ability of interference-prone foragers: the relative importance of foraging efficiency and susceptibility to interference. Journal of Animal Ecology, 68, 869-878.
12. Caraco, T., Martindale, S. & Whitham, T.S. (1980) An empirical demonstration of risk-sensitive foraging preferences. Animal Behaviour, 28, 820-830.
13. Caro, T.M. & Hauser, M.D. (1992) Is there teaching in nonhuman animals? Quarterly Review of Biology, 67, 151-174.
14. Clutton-Brock, T.H., Guiness, F.E. & Albon, S.D. (1982) Red Deer: Behavior and Ecology of Two Sexes. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.
15. Cohen, J. (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edn. L. Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, N.J.
16. Costa, D.P. & Kooyman, G.L. (1982) Oxygen consumption, thermoregulation, and the effect of fur oiling and washing on the sea otter, Enhydra lutris. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 60, 2761-2767.
17. Cronin, G., Schlacher, T., Lodge, D.M. & Siska, E.L. (1999) Intraspecific variation in feeding preference and performance of Galerucella nymphaeae (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) on aquatic macrophytes. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 18, 391-405.
18. Daltry, J.C., Wuster, W. & Thorpe, R.S. (1998) Intraspecific variation in the feeding ecology of the crotaline snake Calloselasma rhodostoma in Southeast Asia. Journal of Herpetology, 32, 198-205.
19. Dawkins, R. (1980) Good strategy or evolutionarily stable strategy? Sociobiolog: Beyond Nature/Nurture? (eds G. W. Barlow & J. Silverberg), pp. 331-367. West-view Press, Boulder, Colorado.
20. Dominey, W.J. (1984) Alternative mating tactics and evolutionary stable strategies. American Zoologist, 24, 385-396.
21. Dukas, R. & Clark, C.W. (1995) Searching for cryptic prey: a dynamic model. Ecology, 76, 1320-1326.
22. Ehlinger, T.J. (1990) Habitat choice and phenotype-limited feeding efficiency in bluegill: individual differences and trophic polymorphism. Ecology, 71, 886-896.
23. Estes, J.A., Jameson, R.J. & Johnson, A.M. (1981) Food selection and some foraging tactics of sea otters. Worldwide Furbearer Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1 (eds J.A. Chapman & D. Pursley), Vol. 1, pp. 606-641. University of Maryland Press, Baltimore, Maryland.
24. Estes, J.A., Tinker, M.T., Williams, T.M. & Doak, D.F. (1998) Killer whale predation on sea otters linking oceanic and nearshore ecosystems. Science, 282, 473-476.
25. Fleming, T.H. & Heithaus, E.R. (1986) Seasonal foraging behavior of the frugivorous bat Carolla perspicillata. Journal of Mammalogy, 67, 660-671.
26. Fretwell, S.D. & Lucas, H.L. (1970) On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution of birds. 1. Theoretical development. Acta Biotheoretica, 19, 16-36.
27. Futuma, D.J. & Moreno, G. (1988) The evolution of ecological specialization. Annual Review of Systematics and Ecology, 19, 207-233.
28. Gillespie, R.G. & Caraco, T. (1987) Risk-sensitive foraging strategies of two spider populations. Ecology, 68, 887-899.
29. Giraldeau, L.A. & Lefebvre, L. (1985) Individual feeding preference in feral groups of rock doves. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 63, 189-191.
30. Grantham, O.K., Moorhead, D.L. & Willig, M.R. (1995) Foraging strategy of the giant rams-horn snail, Marisa cornuarietis: an interpretive model. Oikos, 72, 333-342.
31. Heinrich, B. (1976) The foraging specializations of individual bumblebees. Ecological Monographs, 46, 105-128.
32. Heinrich, B. (1979) Majoring and minoring by foraging bumblebees Bombus vagus - experimental analysis. Ecology, 60, 245-255.
33. Houston, A.I. & McNamara, J.M. (1985) The variability of behavior and constrained optimization. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 112, 265-274.
34. Howard, J.J. (1993) Temporal pattern of resource use and variation in diets of individual grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Journal of Insect Behavior, 6, 441-453.
35. Kenyon, K.W. (1969) The sea otter in the eastern Pacific Ocean. North American Fauna, 68, 1-352.
36. Krebs, J.R. & Davies, N.B. (1987) An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology, 2nd edn. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, UK.
37. Kruuk, H. (1995) Wild Otters: Predation and Populations. Oxford University Press, Inc., Oxford, UK.
38. Kruuk, H. & Moorhouse, A. (1990) Seasonal and spatial differences in food selection by otters (Lutra lutra) in Shetland (Scotland, UK). Journal of Zoology (London), 221, 621-638.
39. Lyons, K.J. (1991) Variation in feeding behavior of female sea otters, Enhydra lutris, between individuals and with reproductive condition. PhD Dissertation. University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA.
40. MacArthur, R.H. (1972) Geographical Ecology. Harper & Row, New York, NY.
41. Magurran, A.E. (1986) Individual differences in fish behavior. The Behavior of Teleost Fishes (ed. T.J. Pitcher), pp. 338-365. Croon Helm Press, London.
42. Mangel, M. & Clark, C. (2000) Dynamic State Variable Models in Ecology: Methods and Applications. Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
43. McLaughlin, R.L. & Grant, J.W.A. (1994) Morphological and behavioural differences among recently-emerged brook char, Salvelinus fontinalis, foraging in slow- vs. fast-running water. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 39, 289-300.
44. McNamara, J.M. & Houston, A.I. (1986) The common currency for behavioral decisions. American Naturalist, 127, 358-378.
45. McNamara, J.M. & Houston, A.I. (1992) Risk-sensitive foraging: a review of the theory. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 54, 355-378.
46. Monson, D.H., Estes, J.A., Bodkin, J.L. & Siniff, D.B. (2000) Life history plasticity and population regulation in sea otters. Oikos, 90, 457-468.
47. Norton-Griffith, M. (1967) Some ecological aspects of the feeding behaviour of the oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus on the edible mussel Mytilus edulis. Ibis, 109, 412-424.
48. Partridge, L. (1976) Individual differences in feeding efficiencies and feeding preferences of captive great tits. Animal Behaviour, 24, 230-240.
49. Partridge, L. & Green, P. (1985) Intraspecific feeding specializations and population dynamics. Behavioral Ecology (eds R.M. Sibley & R.H. Smith), pp. 207-226. Blackwell Press, Oxford, UK.
50. Pearse, J.S. & Hines, A.H. (1987) Long term population dynamics of sea urchins in a central California kelp forest: rare recruitment and rapid decline. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 39, 275-283.
51. Pfennig, D.W. (1992) Polyphenism in spadefoot toads as a locally adjusted evolutionarily stable strategy. Evolution, 46, 1408-1420.
52. Polis, G.A., Sears, A.L.W., Huxel, G.R., Strong, D.R. & Maron, J. (2000) When is atrophic cascade atrophic cascade? Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 15, 473-475.
53. Ragg, J.R. (1998) Intraspecific and seasonal differences in the diet of feral ferrets (Mustela furo) in a pastoral habitat, East Otago, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 22, 113-119.
54. Ralls, K., Eagle, T.C. & Siniff, D.B. (1996) Movement and spatial use patterns of California sea otters. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 74, 1841-1849.
55. Riedman, M.L. & Estes, J.A. (1990) The Sea Otter Enhydra lutris: Behavior, Ecology and Natural History. US Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Report, 90, I-III, 1-126.
56. Robinson, B.W. & Wilson, D.S. (1994) Character release and displacement in fishes: a neglected literature. American Naturalist, 144, 596-627.
57. Rosenthal, G.A. & Janzen, D.H. (1979) Herbivores: Their Interaction with Secondary Plant Metabolites. Academic Press, New York, NY.
58. Roughgarden, J. (1972) Evolution of niche width. American Naturalist, 106, 683-718.
59. Schindler, D., Hodgson, J.R. & Kitchell, J.F. (1997) Density-dependent changes in individual foraging specialization of largemouth bass. Oecologia (Berlin), 110, 592-600.
60. Schoener, T.W. (1986) Resource partitioning. Community Ecology. Pattern and Process (eds J. Kikkawa & D.J. Anderson), pp. 91-126. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Boston, MA.
61. Smith, T.B. (1987) Bill size polymorphism and intraspecific niche utilization in an African finch. Nature, 329, 717-719.
62. Smith, T.B. & Skúlason, S. (1996) Evolutionary significance of resource polymorphisms in fishes, amphibians and birds. Annual Review of Systematics and Ecology, 27, 111-133.
63. Stephens, D.W. & Krebs, J.R. (1986) Foraging Theory. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
64. Stillman, R.A., Caldow, R.W.G., Goss-Custard, J.D. & Alexander, M.J. (2000) Individual variation in intake rate: the relative importance of foraging efficiency and dominance. Journal of Animal Ecology, 69, 484-493.
65. Thomas, C.D. (1987) Behavioral determination of diet breadth in insect herbivores: the effect of leaf age on choice of host species by beetles feeding on Passiflora vines. Oikos, 48, 211-216.
66. Watt, J., Siniff, D.B. & Estes, J.A. (2000) Inter-decadal patterns of population and dietary change in sea otters at Amchitka Island, Alaska. Oecologia (Berlin), 124, 289-298.
67. Werner, T.K. & Sherry, T.W. (1987) Behavioral feeding specialization in Pinaroloxias inornata, the 'Darwin's Finch' of Cocos Island, Costa Rica. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 84, 5506-5510.
68. West, L. (1986) Interindividual variation in prey selection by the snail Nucella emarginata. Ecology, 67, 798-809.
69. West, L. (1988) Prey selection by the tropical snail Thais melones: a study of interindividual variation. Ecology, 69, 1839-1854.