IBYME   02675
INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA Y MEDICINA EXPERIMENTAL
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Analysis of environmental correlates of sexual segregation in northern elephant seals using species distribution models. Marine Biology
Autor/es:
GONZALEZ M, CASSINI MH
Revista:
MARINE BIOLOGY
Editorial:
SPRINGER
Referencias:
Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2014 vol. 44 p. 88 - 93
ISSN:
0025-3162
Resumen:
and polygynous species of all mammals. Their foraging grounds occupy a wide area of the world oceans, where they show spatial segregation between males and females. The objective of this paper was to correlate female and male foraging distributions of Mirounga angustirostris with main climatic variables at a biogeographical scale. We used website and bibliographical sources to obtain information on adult elephant seal distribution and environmental predictors (surface and bottom sea temperatures, productivity and bathymetry) and three species distribution models [maximum entropy model, environmental niche factor analysis and based on climatic envelopes (BIOCLIM)] to predict the habitat suitability of ocean regions. BIOCLIM provided the best fit. Sea surface and bottom temperatures were the variables with the highest explanatory power for females, while bathymetry was for males. Predictive maps suggest that low temperatures constrain female, but not male, distribution at high latitudes. We suggest that large size increases foraging efficiency of males because, among other benefits, it augments thermal insulation, improving the use of cold, rich sectors of the ocean. Different thermoregulatory abilities between sexes due to size dimorphism should be a complementary explanation of sexual segregation in elephant seals.