Population structure of the Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) inferred through ecological markers

Historic foraging ecology of the endangered Lahille's bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus gephyreus) inferred by stable isotopes

“…This pattern is also supported by concomitant differences in the diet composition (Rodríguez et al, 2002) and morphometric parameters (Barbato et al, 2012). The application of stable isotope analysis to reveal population structure has been applied to support the genetic structuring observed in other cetaceans such as killer whales (Orcinus orca, Esteban et al, 2016), Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis, Méndez-Fernandez et al, 2020) and other Tursiops truncatus populations (e.g. Borrell et al, 2006;Brotons et al, 2008;Hohn et al, 2017;Giménez et al, 2018), even at a spatial fine-scale (Genoves et al, 2020).…”

A practical guide on stable isotope analysis for cetacean research

“…The associated R package nicheROVER provides directional estimates of niche overlap and accounts for species‐specific distributions in niche space. This approach has been applied to assess niche partitioning amongst northwestern Mediterranean cetaceans (e.g., Borrell et al, 2021), populational structure of the Atlantic spotted dolphins (e.g., Méndez‐Fernandez et al, 2020) and bottlenose dolphins (e.g., Giménez et al, 2018b). The R package rKIN uses the kernel density method (Eckrich et al, 2020; Table 3) and represents an alternative approach to estimate isotopic niche area when data are irregularly distributed within the bivariate space.…”

“…Stable isotope analysis has been successfully applied to answer ecological questions such as resource partitioning (e.g., Borrell et al, 2021; Costa et al, 2020; Giménez et al, 2018a), habitat use (e.g., Lesage et al, 2010; Pinela et al, 2010), individual foraging specialization (e.g., Guerra et al, 2020; Rossman et al, 2015), and ontogenetic (e.g., Newsome et al, 2009; Niño‐Torres et al, 2006) and sexual variation in diet (e.g., Pirotta et al, 2020; Troina et al, 2016) of a wide array of cetacean species. With the improvement of isotopic measurements and the complementarity with other data sources (e.g., fatty acids signature analysis, analysis of prey DNA, compound specific SIA, satellite telemetry, hormones, and persistent organic pollutants), more complex questions about migration patterns (e.g., Gauffier et al, 2020; Watt & Ferguson, 2015), the origin of stocks based on stranded carcasses (e.g., Hohn et al, 2017; Thomas et al, 2017), population identification (e.g., Brotons et al, 2019; Genoves et al, 2020; Méndez‐Fernandez et al, 2020), gestation and weaning age (e.g., Evacitas et al, 2017; Gelippi et al, 2020), and interaction with anthropogenic activities (e.g., Lysiak et al, 2018; Tixier et al, 2019) are now being addressed.…”

Large groups of Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) in a coastal bay from southeastern Brazil

“…While studies have been conducted on many aspects of the biology and ecology of this species (Azevedo et al, 2010; Bisi et al, 2013; Bittencourt, Barbosa, Santos‐Neto, et al, 2020; Caballero et al, 2013; Di Beneditto et al, 2001; Di Tullio et al, 2016; do Amaral et al, 2015; Dorneles et al, 2010; Lavandier et al, 2019; Leonel et al, 2012; Lima et al, 2016; Lopes et al, 2012; Méndez‐Fernandez et al, 2018, 2020; Moreno et al, 2005), information about habitat use, abundance, and behavior are scarce in SWAO. In southeastern Brazil cetaceans face several threats, such as chemical and noise pollution, habitat degradation, and bycatch (Bittencourt, Barbosa, Bisi, et al, 2020; Di Beneditto, 2003; Moreno et al, 2005; Oliveira‐Ferreira et al, 2021; Secchi et al, 2021), and Atlantic spotted dolphins are frequent in this region (Bisi et al, 2013; Moreno et al, 2005).…”