Constancy and change in marine predator diets across a shift in oceanographic conditions in the Northern California Current

Variable ocean conditions can greatly impact prey assemblages and predator foraging in marine ecosystems. Our goal was to better understand how a change in ocean conditions influenced dietary niche overlap among a suite of midtrophic-level predators. We examined the diets of three fishes and one sea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine biology 2014-04, Vol.161 (4), p.837-851
Main Authors: Gladics, Amanda J, Suryan, Robert M, Brodeur, Richard D, Segui, Leah M, Filliger, Laura Z
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Aquatic birds
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Chinook salmon
Diet
El Nino
fish
Food and nutrition
Food chains
Foraging
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
La Nina
Life Sciences
Marine
Marine & Freshwater Sciences
Marine biology
Marine ecosystems
Microbiology
Niches
Ocean currents
Oceanography
Original Paper
Predation
Predators
Prey
Scorpaenidae
Sea water ecosystems
seabirds
summer
surveys
Synecology
Trophic levels
Upwelling
Zoology
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Summary:Variable ocean conditions can greatly impact prey assemblages and predator foraging in marine ecosystems. Our goal was to better understand how a change in ocean conditions influenced dietary niche overlap among a suite of midtrophic-level predators. We examined the diets of three fishes and one seabird off central Oregon during two boreal summer upwelling periods with contrasting El Niño (2010) and La Niña (2011) conditions. We found greater niche specialization during El Niño and increased niche overlap during La Niña in both the nekton and micronekton diet components, especially in the larger, more offshore predators. However, only the two smaller, more nearshore predators exhibited interannual variation in diet composition. Concurrent trawl surveys confirmed that changes in components of predator diets reflected changes in the prey community. Using multiple predators across diverse taxa and life histories provided a comprehensive understanding of food-web dynamics during changing ocean conditions.
ISSN:0025-3162
1432-1793
DOI:10.1007/s00227-013-2384-4