Studying Trophic Ecology in Marine Ecosystems Using Fatty Acids: A Primer on Analysis and Interpretation

Budge, Suzanne M.; Iverson, Sara J.; Koopman, Heather N.

doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00079.x

Cited by 544 publications

(623 citation statements)

References 121 publications

(190 reference statements)

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“…Our findings strongly suggests that sponge use in dolphins allows the exploitation of a novel niche and also leads to a significant long-term difference in diet between dolphins that use sponges and those that do not. Based on a widely recognized dietary analysis test [34], we were able to infer that a culturally transmitted foraging tactic can lead to exploitation of a niche that does not seem to be accessible to dolphins that do not use sponges.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In WSB, sampling occurred randomly with respect to time and habitat over two consecutive Austral winters. Thus, the key finding of a difference in FA profiles between spongers and non-spongers using the same habitat in WSB is likely to be a genuine reflection of long-term dietary differences [34].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, the analysis of fatty acids (FAs) has been shown to provide a powerful tool in diet studies [31][32][33]. The underlying premise is that FAs of consumed prey are deposited in a predictable manner into the adipose tissue of predators, thereby creating a unique profile of a number of FAs in various proportions, reflecting long-term diet [34]. As FA biosynthesis in animals is limited to saturated and mono-unsaturated FAs, those of dietary and non-dietary origin can be delineated and so serve as powerful biochemical tracers [34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cultural transmission of tool use by Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiopssp.) provides access to a novel foraging niche

et al. 2014

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Culturally transmitted tool use has important ecological and evolutionary consequences and has been proposed as a significant driver of human evolution. Such evidence is still scarce in other animals. In cetaceans, tool use has been inferred using indirect evidence in one population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.), where particular dolphins ('spongers') use marine sponges during foraging. To date, evidence of whether this foraging tactic actually provides access to novel food items is lacking. We used fatty acid (FA) signature analysis to identify dietary differences between spongers and non-spongers, analysing data from 11 spongers and 27 non-spongers from two different study sites. Both univariate and multivariate analyses revealed significant differences in FA profiles between spongers and non-spongers between and within study sites. Moreover, FA profiles differed significantly between spongers and non-spongers foraging within the same deep channel habitat, whereas the profiles of non-spongers from deep channel and shallow habitats at this site could not be distinguished. Our results indicate that sponge use by bottlenose dolphins is linked to significant differences in diet. It appears that cultural transmission of tool use in dolphins, as in humans, allows the exploitation of an otherwise unused niche.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cultural transmission of tool use by Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiopssp.) provides access to a novel foraging niche

et al. 2014

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“…Other methods of diet analysis (e.g., stable isotopes and fatty acids) result in qualitative information regarding trophic level and general categories of prey. Quantitative information from these indirect approaches require complete prey libraries (often diffi cult to obtain) in order to interpret diet to the species level (Budge et al, 2006;Newsome et al, 2010).…”

Section: Data Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, in Alaska from stomach contents, March-November

Quakenbush¹,

Suydam²,

Brown³

et al. 2015

MFR

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“…FA analysis for dietary study is based on the principle that the FA composition of prey will match that of the predator (Iverson 1993;Budge et al 2006). Budge et al (2006) claimed that de novo synthesis, biosynthesis-like elongation or desaturation of FAs, is restricted to mammals foraging for a high-fat diets or fasting feeding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet of long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) in the East Sea, Korea

Ahn

Kim

et al. 2014

Animal Cells and Systems

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The long-beaked common dolphin is one of the most abundant cetaceans in Korean waters, and their population has been estimated to comprise of more than 35,000 individuals. Delphinus capensis generally appear close to the coast and primarily feed on epipelagic small fishes and cephalopods. Thirty long-beaked common dolphins were collected from the East Sea from February to September in 2012. For stomach content analysis (SCA), the fresh prey items were identified to their lowest taxonomic level, and unidentified preys due to digestion were identified using remnants such as fish otoliths and cephalopod beaks. Fatty acid (FA) patterns of 20 dolphins from the inner layer of blubber were compared with those in samples of prey items. Enoploteuthis chunii was the dominant prey in SCA, representing 55.8% by number and 75.9% by occurrence. Common squid (Todarodes pacificus) and Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) were the next major preys at more than 80% occurrence. Even though a distinctive difference was not observed between genders, there was a significant diet variation related to maturity. Immature dolphins consumed a higher diversity of prey, and consumed more equally than the sexually mature group, who showed a high dominance of cephalopods. Furthermore, this result fairly corresponded to FAs composition of mature dolphins with the raised percent of 20:6n-3, which is relatively abundant in T. pacificus.

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Studying Trophic Ecology in Marine Ecosystems Using Fatty Acids: A Primer on Analysis and Interpretation

Cited by 544 publications

References 121 publications

Cultural transmission of tool use by Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiopssp.) provides access to a novel foraging niche

Cultural transmission of tool use by Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiopssp.) provides access to a novel foraging niche

Diet of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, in Alaska from stomach contents, March-November

Diet of long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) in the East Sea, Korea

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