Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/2440/90608
Citations | ||
Scopus | Web of Science® | Altmetric |
---|---|---|
?
|
?
|
Type: | Journal article |
Title: | Steady as he goes: at-sea movement of adult male Australian sea lions in a dynamic marine environment |
Author: | Lowther, A. Harcourt, R. Page, B. Goldsworthy, S. |
Citation: | PLoS One, 2013; 8(9):e74348-1-e74348-13 |
Publisher: | Public Library of Science |
Issue Date: | 2013 |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 1932-6203 |
Editor: | Sueur, C. |
Statement of Responsibility: | Andrew D. Lowther, Robert G. Harcourt, Bradley Page, Simon D. Goldsworthy |
Abstract: | The southern coastline of Australia forms part of the worlds' only northern boundary current system. The Bonney Upwelling occurs every austral summer along the south-eastern South Australian coastline, a region that hosts over 80% of the worlds population of an endangered endemic otariid, the Australian sea lion. We present the first data on the movement characteristics and foraging behaviour of adult male Australian sea lions across their South Australian range. Synthesizing telemetric, oceanographic and isotopic datasets collected from seven individuals enabled us to characterise individual foraging behaviour over an approximate two year time period. Data suggested seasonal variability in stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes that could not be otherwise explained by changes in animal movement patterns. Similarly, animals did not change their foraging patterns despite fine-scale spatial and temporal variability of the upwelling event. Individual males tended to return to the same colony at which they were tagged and utilized the same at-sea regions for foraging irrespective of oceanographic conditions or time of year. Our study contrasts current general assumptions that male otariid life history strategies should result in greater dispersal, with adult male Australian sea lions displaying central place foraging behaviour similar to males of other otariid species in the region. |
Keywords: | Sea Lions |
Rights: | © 2013 Lowther et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0074348 |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074348 |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest 2 Ecology, Evolution and Landscape Science publications |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
hdl_90608.pdf | Published version | 2.53 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.