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.

该项目将调查种群身份，联系，人口统计学和栖息地，在最近重殖的喂养场上使用座头驼的偏好，并将其与鲸鱼骨收藏中的20世纪初期的模式进行比较。将使用多种遗传标记来研究人口起源，以评估乔治亚州南大西洋与低纬度冬季地面的关联。人口统计学将通过使用表观遗传学方法估算鲸鱼年龄来衡量，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少年。一个多世纪的海洋环境变化，座头鲸的喂食偏好也可能发生了变化。使用稳定的同位素，该项目将将现代样品与局部猎物以及历史座头骨骨头进行比较，以识别和比较随着时间的流逝。