furseals {ecotraj}

furseals dataset

Description

This is a subset of a data sets from Kernaléguen et al. (2015).

Format

furseals is an object of class data.frame composed of 1414 observations and 8 variables.

ID_SITA

Fur seal ID used by Sturbois et al. (under review), from 1 to 47

ID

Fur seal ID used by Kernaléguen et al. (2015) in the initial data set.

Species

Fur seal species: the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella or the subantarctic fur seal A. tropicalis.

Sexe

Fur seal gender, either 'Male' or 'Female'.

Time

Number of the whisker sections from 1 to 30.

Place

Breeding place: Crozet, Amsterdam or Kerguelen

d13C

delta 13C value

d15N

delta 15N value

Details

Briefly, fur seals the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella and subantarctic fur seal A. tropicalis whisker SI values yield unique long-term information on individual behaviour which integrates the spatial, trophic and temporal dimensions of the ecological niche. The foraging strategies of this two species of sympatric fur seals were examined in the winter 2001/2002 at Crozet, Amsterdam and Kerguelen Islands (Southern Ocean) using the stable isotope values of serially sampled whiskers. The subset of the initial data set is composed of consecutive whisker sections (3 mm-long) starting from the proximal (facial) end, with the most recently synthesized tissue remaining under the skin. Only individuals (n = 47) with whiskers totalizing at least 30 sections were selected in the initail data, and only those 30 sections were selected.

Author(s)

Kernaléguen, L., Arnould, J.P.Y., Guinet, C., Cherel, Y.

References

Kernaléguen, L., Arnould, J.P.Y., Guinet, C., Cherel, Y., 2015. Determinants of individual foraging specialization inlarge marine vertebrates, the Antarctic and subantarctic fur seals. Journal of Animal Ecology 1081–1091.