A lifetime at depth: vertical distribution of southern elephant seals in the water column
A lifetime at depth: vertical distribution of southern elephant seals in the water column
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s00300-010-0782-3
复制
发表时间：
2010-08-01
期刊：
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
Tosh, C. A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
McIntyre, T.;de Bruyn, P. J. N.;Tosh, C. A.
虽然许多研究都涉及南象海豹（Mirounga leonina）的迁移和潜水行为，但关于它们在海洋环境中的栖息地使用仍然存在问题。我们报告的垂直使用的水柱的物种和潜在的寿命的影响，从马里恩岛南部象海豹。长期的标记数据被用来补充35个已知的个人与卫星中继数据记录器标记的垂直生境的使用，从而导致累积深度使用推断每个人在其估计寿命。海豹一生中平均有77.59%的时间在海上潜水，7.06%在海面上，15.35%在陆地上。一些隔离观察到最大潜水深度和深度使用之间的男性和女性的动物，男性显然是生理上更有能力利用增加的深度。雌性和雄性分别有86.98%和80.89%的生命在海上度过。在海上，所有动物在300至400米深度之间花费的时间比任何其他深度类别都多。男性和女性在100米深度以下度过的生命百分比相当（男性：65.54%;女性：68.92%），尽管男性在超过700米的深度度过了8.98%的生命，而女性则为1.84%。成年雄性经常进行超过2 000米的海底潜水，包括已知有记录的任何呼吸空气的脊椎动物的最深潜水（> 2 133米）。我们的研究结果提供了一个密切的近似南象海豹的垂直栖息地使用，外推到他们的寿命，我们讨论了一些生理和发育的影响，他们的可变深度的使用。
Although numerous studies have addressed the migration and dive behaviour of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), questions remain about their habitat use in the marine environment. We report on the vertical use of the water column in the species and the potential lifetime implications for southern elephant seals from Marion Island. Long-term mark-resight data were used to complement vertical habitat use for 35 known individuals tagged with satellite-relay data loggers, resulting in cumulative depth use extrapolated for each individual over its estimated lifespan. Seals spent on average 77.59% of their lives diving at sea, 7.06% at the sea surface, and 15.35% hauled out on land. Some segregation was observed in maximum dive depths and depth use between male and female animals-males evidently being physiologically more capable of exploiting increased depths. Females and males spent 86.98 and 80.89% of their lives at sea, respectively. While at sea, all animals spent more time between 300 and 400 m depth, than any other depth category. Males and females spent comparable percentages of their lifetimes below 100 m depth (males: 65.54%; females: 68.92%), though males spent 8.98% of their lives at depths in excess of 700 m, compared to females' 1.84% at such depths. Adult males often performed benthic dives in excess of 2,000 m, including the deepest known recorded dive of any air-breathing vertebrate (> 2,133 m). Our results provide a close approximation of vertical habitat use by southern elephant seals, extrapolated over their lifespans, and we discuss some physiological and developmental implications of their variable depth use.