BC303: *Priority CASE Project* Population identity and foraging ecology of South Georgia humpback whales

BC303：*优先 CASE 项目* 南乔治亚座头鲸的种群特征和觅食生态

• 批准号: 2821589
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Cambridge
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2821589
• 关键词: BC303; Priority; CASE; Project; Population

This project will investigate the population identity, connectedness, demography and habitat use preferences of humpbacks on a recently recolonised feeding ground and compare these with early 20th century patterns from whalebone collections. Population origins will be investigated, using multiple genetic markers to assess the association of South Georgia with low latitude wintering grounds across the South Atlantic. Population demography will be measured by estimating whale ages using epigenetic methods, establishing if patterns mirror those from the whaling period, or if the colonisers are predominantly juveniles. Over a century of oceanic environmental change, humpback whale feeding preferences may also have shifted; using stable isotopes, this project will compare modern samples with local prey, and with historical humpback bones, to identify and compare trophic patterns over time.

该项目将调查最近重新定居的觅食地座头鲸的种群特征、连通性、人口统计学和栖息地使用偏好，并将这些与20世纪初收集的鲸骨模式进行比较。种群起源将被调查，使用多种遗传标记来评估南乔治亚岛与南大西洋低纬度越冬地的联系。人口统计将通过使用表观遗传学方法估计鲸鱼的年龄来测量，确定模式是否反映了捕鲸时期的模式，或者殖民者是否主要是幼鲸。在一个多世纪的海洋环境变化中，座头鲸的进食偏好可能也发生了变化；该项目将使用稳定同位素，将现代样本与当地猎物以及历史上的座头鲸骨骼进行比较，以确定和比较长期以来的营养模式。