Publications by authors named "Laetitia Kernaleguen"
Article Synopsis
- The study examines sexual and individual niche segregation in Australian fur seals, focusing on how local environments influence resource partitioning between males and females throughout the year.
- Tracking data revealed that during winter, males and females foraged in overlapping habitats, but males showcased more varied foraging patterns, likely due to their mobility compared to females, who are tied to pup rearing.
- Despite the differences in foraging habitats, dietary sexual segregation was low, with both sexes showing similar nitrogen isotope values, though males generally consumed a higher proportion of higher trophic level prey than females.
Article Synopsis
- The study explores individual foraging specialization in female Australian fur seals by combining video cameras, GPS, and stable isotope analysis over varying time periods.
- Findings reveal both short-term dietary variation among seals and the potential for short timeframes to exaggerate perceived specialization, as not all dietary habits are captured.
- The research emphasizes the importance of integrating different methods and timescales to obtain a more accurate understanding of foraging behavior, highlighting long-term patterns of specialization observed in isotopic data.
The degree of individual specialization in resource use differs widely among wild populations where individuals range from fully generalized to highly specialized. This interindividual variation has profound implications in many ecological and evolutionary processes. A recent review proposed four main ecological causes of individual specialization: interspecific and intraspecific competition, ecological opportunity and predation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvestigating wild animals while minimizing human disturbance remains an important methodological challenge. When approached by a remote-operated vehicle (rover) which can be equipped to make radio-frequency identifications, wild penguins had significantly lower and shorter stress responses (determined by heart rate and behavior) than when approached by humans. Upon immobilization, the rover-unlike humans-did not disorganize colony structure, and stress rapidly ceased.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Individual variations in the use of the species niche are an important component of diversity in trophic interactions. A challenge in testing consistency of individual foraging strategy is the repeated collection of information on the same individuals.
Methodology/principal Findings: The foraging strategies of sympatric fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella and A.