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  • Signals from the south; humpback whales carry messages of Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem variability

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    Bengtson NashPUB6586.pdf (828.6Kb)
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    Accepted Manuscript (AM)
    Author(s)
    Nash, Susan M Bengtson
    Castrillon, Juliana
    Eisenmann, Pascale
    Fry, Brian
    Shuker, Jon D
    Cropp, Roger A
    Dawson, Amanda
    Bignert, Anders
    Bohlin-Nizzetto, Pernilla
    Waugh, Courtney A
    Polkinghorne, Bradley J
    Dalle Luche, Greta
    McLagan, David
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Cropp, Roger A.
    Shuker, Jon D.
    Waugh, Carolyn
    Dawson, Amanda L.
    McLagan, David S.
    Polkinghorne, Susan M.
    Fry, Brian D.
    Eisenmann, Pascale
    Castrillon Posada, Juliana
    Dalle Luche, Greta
    Year published
    2018
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Southern hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) rely on summer prey abundance of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) to fuel one of the longest‐known mammalian migrations on the planet. It is hypothesized that this species, already adapted to endure metabolic extremes, will be one of the first Antarctic consumers to show measurable physiological change in response to fluctuating prey availability in a changing climate; and as such, a powerful sentinel candidate for the Antarctic sea‐ice ecosystem. Here, we targeted the sentinel parameters of humpback whale adiposity and diet, using novel, as well as established, ...
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    Southern hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) rely on summer prey abundance of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) to fuel one of the longest‐known mammalian migrations on the planet. It is hypothesized that this species, already adapted to endure metabolic extremes, will be one of the first Antarctic consumers to show measurable physiological change in response to fluctuating prey availability in a changing climate; and as such, a powerful sentinel candidate for the Antarctic sea‐ice ecosystem. Here, we targeted the sentinel parameters of humpback whale adiposity and diet, using novel, as well as established, chemical and biochemical markers, and assembled a time trend spanning 8 years. We show the synchronous, inter‐annual oscillation of two measures of humpback whale adiposity with Southern Ocean environmental variables and climate indices. Furthermore, bulk stable isotope signatures provide clear indication of dietary compensation strategies, or a lower trophic level isotopic change, following years indicated as leaner years for the whales. The observed synchronicity of humpback whale adiposity and dietary markers, with climate patterns in the Southern Ocean, lends strength to the role of humpback whales as powerful Antarctic sea‐ice ecosystem sentinels. The work carries significant potential to reform current ecosystem surveillance in the Antarctic region.
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    Journal Title
    Global Change Biology
    Volume
    24
    Issue
    4
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14035
    Copyright Statement
    © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Signals from the south; humpback whales carry messages of Antarctic sea‐ice ecosystem variability, Global Change Biology, Volume 24, Issue 4, Pages 1500-1510, 2018 which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14035. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving (http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-828039.html)
    Subject
    Environmental sciences
    Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified
    Biological sciences
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/380357
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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