{"title":"A comparative methodological approach to studying the diet of a recovering marine predator, the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus)","authors":"Christina M McCosker, Z. Olson, K. Ono","doi":"10.1139/cjz-2023-0104","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Anthropogenic influences caused depletion and subsequent recovery of marine predators, but ecological consequences of altered predator abundance are not well-understood. Although many methods are used to study predator diets, methodological biases and logistical challenges preclude robust sampling schemes. We aimed to compare two non-invasive methods: metabarcoding scat-derived DNA and hard parts analysis of scat for the Northwest Atlantic grey seal (Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius, 1791)), a species that rebounded after near extirpation. We hypothesized metabarcoding would detect a greater diversity and frequency of prey, and that notable differences in diet will be detected since prior studies. Grey seal scat samples (N = 247) were collected between 2018¬-2019 from Monomoy Island, Massachusetts, USA. Metabarcoding detected greater prey richness on average, with more frequent detections of clupeids (Clupeidae) and flatfish (Pleuronectiformes) whereas hard parts analysis more frequently detected phycid hakes (Urophycis spp. Gill, 1863). Combining methods increased detections of 13 prey taxa, with 32 prey taxa identified overall. Skates (Rajidae), flatfish, clupeids, and sand lance (Ammodytes spp. Linnaeus, 1758) were top-occurring prey. Our study highlights the importance of using multiple methods to characterize generalist predator diets using non-invasive techniques and suggests grey seal diet has changed since the early 2000s.","PeriodicalId":9484,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Zoology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Canadian Journal of Zoology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2023-0104","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ZOOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Anthropogenic influences caused depletion and subsequent recovery of marine predators, but ecological consequences of altered predator abundance are not well-understood. Although many methods are used to study predator diets, methodological biases and logistical challenges preclude robust sampling schemes. We aimed to compare two non-invasive methods: metabarcoding scat-derived DNA and hard parts analysis of scat for the Northwest Atlantic grey seal (Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius, 1791)), a species that rebounded after near extirpation. We hypothesized metabarcoding would detect a greater diversity and frequency of prey, and that notable differences in diet will be detected since prior studies. Grey seal scat samples (N = 247) were collected between 2018¬-2019 from Monomoy Island, Massachusetts, USA. Metabarcoding detected greater prey richness on average, with more frequent detections of clupeids (Clupeidae) and flatfish (Pleuronectiformes) whereas hard parts analysis more frequently detected phycid hakes (Urophycis spp. Gill, 1863). Combining methods increased detections of 13 prey taxa, with 32 prey taxa identified overall. Skates (Rajidae), flatfish, clupeids, and sand lance (Ammodytes spp. Linnaeus, 1758) were top-occurring prey. Our study highlights the importance of using multiple methods to characterize generalist predator diets using non-invasive techniques and suggests grey seal diet has changed since the early 2000s.
期刊介绍:
Published since 1929, the Canadian Journal of Zoology is a monthly journal that reports on primary research contributed by respected international scientists in the broad field of zoology, including behaviour, biochemistry and physiology, developmental biology, ecology, genetics, morphology and ultrastructure, parasitology and pathology, and systematics and evolution. It also invites experts to submit review articles on topics of current interest.