Isotopic niche plasticity in a marine top predator

CIANCIO, JAVIER; YORIO, PABLO; FRERE, ESTEBAN

Viña del Mar

Congreso; 11th International Conference on Applications of Stable Isotope Techniques to Ecological Studies; 2018

The Magellanic Penguin (MP Spheniscusmagellanicus) breeds in a broad latitudinal range(40-55 S) along the Atlantic coast of SouthAmerica. During breeding, this species is a centralplaceforager, and feed mainly on forage fish,anchovy (EA Engraulis anchoita) in the north, andsprat (SF Sprattus fuegensis) in the south. Likemost forage species, both display large recruitmentfluctuations. We use stable isotope analysis (SIA)in adults blood from 11 colonies to assess thechanges in trophic level and isotopic niche, asresponse to spatial segregation of forage fish sizeclasses and inter breeding season changes in fishabundance.