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Macronutrient composition of sea otter diet with respect to recolonization, life history, and season in southern Southeast Alaska

The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) population of Southeast Alaska has been growing at a higher rate than other regions along the Pacific coast. While good for the recovery of this endangered species, rapid population growth of this apex predator can create a human‐wildlife conflict, negatively impacting...

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Autores principales: LaRoche, Nicole L., King, Sydney L., Fergusson, Emily A., Eckert, Ginny L., Pearson, Heidi C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10154889/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37153015
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10042
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author LaRoche, Nicole L.
King, Sydney L.
Fergusson, Emily A.
Eckert, Ginny L.
Pearson, Heidi C.
author_facet LaRoche, Nicole L.
King, Sydney L.
Fergusson, Emily A.
Eckert, Ginny L.
Pearson, Heidi C.
author_sort LaRoche, Nicole L.
collection PubMed
description The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) population of Southeast Alaska has been growing at a higher rate than other regions along the Pacific coast. While good for the recovery of this endangered species, rapid population growth of this apex predator can create a human‐wildlife conflict, negatively impacting commercial and subsistence fishing. Previous foraging studies throughout the sea otter range have shown they will reduce invertebrate prey biomass when recolonizing an area. The goal of this study was to examine and quantify the energy content of sea otter diets through direct foraging observations and prey collection. Our study area, Prince of Wales Island in southern Southeast Alaska, exhibits a gradient of sea otter recolonization, thus providing a natural experiment to test diet change in regions with different recolonization histories. Sea otter prey items were collected in three seasons (spring, summer, and winter) to measure caloric value and lipid and protein content. We observed 3523 sea otter dives during the spring and summer. A majority of the sea otter diet consisted of clams. Sea otters in newly recolonized areas had lower diet diversity, higher energetic intake rates (EIR, kcal/min), and prey had higher energy content (kcal/g). Females with pups had the highest diet diversity and the lowest EIR. Sea otter EIR were higher in the fall and winter vs. spring and summer. Sea cucumber energy and lipid content appeared to correspond with times when sea otters consumed the highest proportion of sea cucumbers. These caloric variations are an important component of understanding ecosystem‐level effects sea otters have in the nearshore environment.
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spelling pubmed-101548892023-05-04 Macronutrient composition of sea otter diet with respect to recolonization, life history, and season in southern Southeast Alaska LaRoche, Nicole L. King, Sydney L. Fergusson, Emily A. Eckert, Ginny L. Pearson, Heidi C. Ecol Evol Research Articles The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) population of Southeast Alaska has been growing at a higher rate than other regions along the Pacific coast. While good for the recovery of this endangered species, rapid population growth of this apex predator can create a human‐wildlife conflict, negatively impacting commercial and subsistence fishing. Previous foraging studies throughout the sea otter range have shown they will reduce invertebrate prey biomass when recolonizing an area. The goal of this study was to examine and quantify the energy content of sea otter diets through direct foraging observations and prey collection. Our study area, Prince of Wales Island in southern Southeast Alaska, exhibits a gradient of sea otter recolonization, thus providing a natural experiment to test diet change in regions with different recolonization histories. Sea otter prey items were collected in three seasons (spring, summer, and winter) to measure caloric value and lipid and protein content. We observed 3523 sea otter dives during the spring and summer. A majority of the sea otter diet consisted of clams. Sea otters in newly recolonized areas had lower diet diversity, higher energetic intake rates (EIR, kcal/min), and prey had higher energy content (kcal/g). Females with pups had the highest diet diversity and the lowest EIR. Sea otter EIR were higher in the fall and winter vs. spring and summer. Sea cucumber energy and lipid content appeared to correspond with times when sea otters consumed the highest proportion of sea cucumbers. These caloric variations are an important component of understanding ecosystem‐level effects sea otters have in the nearshore environment. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2023-05-02 /pmc/articles/PMC10154889/ /pubmed/37153015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10042 Text en © 2023 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Articles
LaRoche, Nicole L.
King, Sydney L.
Fergusson, Emily A.
Eckert, Ginny L.
Pearson, Heidi C.
Macronutrient composition of sea otter diet with respect to recolonization, life history, and season in southern Southeast Alaska
title Macronutrient composition of sea otter diet with respect to recolonization, life history, and season in southern Southeast Alaska
title_full Macronutrient composition of sea otter diet with respect to recolonization, life history, and season in southern Southeast Alaska
title_fullStr Macronutrient composition of sea otter diet with respect to recolonization, life history, and season in southern Southeast Alaska
title_full_unstemmed Macronutrient composition of sea otter diet with respect to recolonization, life history, and season in southern Southeast Alaska
title_short Macronutrient composition of sea otter diet with respect to recolonization, life history, and season in southern Southeast Alaska
title_sort macronutrient composition of sea otter diet with respect to recolonization, life history, and season in southern southeast alaska
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10154889/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37153015
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10042
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