Tracing Seal Predation Back to the Source Colony of Their Penguin Prey: A Trace Element and Stable Isotope Analysis

Reinhold, Sarah-Lena; Goldsworthy, Simon; Arnould, John P. Y.; Gillanders, Bronwyn M.; Connell, Sean D.; McIntosh, Rebecca R.

doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.813106

Cited by 1 publication

(4 citation statements)

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“…Experiments performed on seals have shown relationships between relative read abundance and the ranked importance of prey species, and correlations with biomass consumed such that it is possible to develop correction factors (Deagle et al, 2005;Thomas et al, 2014Thomas et al, , 2016Deagle et al, 2019). It may become relevant to develop genetic tissue correction factors through experimental diet studies (similar to Reinhold et al, 2022) for this wildlife conflict scenario. Therefore, publishing all sound information on predation of seabirds by long-nosed fur seals will be useful to future investigations of this species interaction scenario.…”

Section: Important Methodological Considerations and Improvementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Improving confidence in the results of these assays requires longer-term replication of the work and ongoing monitoring of this wildlife conflict using multiple surveillance techniques, paired with experimentation (for example Reinhold et al, 2022) to ascertain the closest to reality estimate of consumption of a species of conservation concern. Notably, when using relative read abundance information, we provided a more conservative estimate of predation incidence based on samples that contained large quantities of DNA and thus likely to represent a fresher meal and more recent predation event.…”

Section: Implications For Long-nosed Fur Seal and Little Penguin Inte...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Little penguins and other seabirds were identified in juvenile, sub-adult, and adult male long-nosed fur seal diets, at two locations in southern Australia and at low occurrence frequencies (Page et al, 2005;Hardy et al, 2017;Goldsworthy et al, 2019). Across several sites in Bass Strait and Eastern Victoria, long-nosed fur seals were more likely to predate little penguins originating from sites in closest proximity to them (Reinhold et al, 2022). However, beyond the presence of diagnostic remains in scat samples, we fundamentally lacked any further quantitative information on this predator-prey interaction, particularly for 'unquantifiable remains', such as feathers and when prey are not consumed whole.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In southeastern Australia, the recovery of long-nosed fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri) could cumulatively threaten populations of little penguins (Eudyptula minor) in addition to other known stressors (Reinhold et al, 2022). Both species are federally protected and garner significant cultural and conservation value (Introduced by Bill Heffernan, Ian Campbell., 1975 andIntroduced by Bill Heffernan, Ian Campbell., 1999), albeit listed as 'Least Concern' by the IUCN Redlist (IUCN, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying wildlife conflicts with metabarcoding and traditional dietary analyses: applied to seabird predation by long-nosed fur seals

Hardy,

Berry,

Bunce

et al. 2024

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Wildlife conflicts require robust quantitative data on incidence and impacts, particularly among species of conservation and cultural concern. We apply a multi-assay framework to quantify predation in a southeastern Australian scenario where complex management implications and calls for predator culling have grown despite a paucity of data on seabird predation by recovering populations of long-nosed fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri). We apply two ecological surveillance techniques to analyze this predator’s diet – traditional morphometric (prey hard-part) and environmental DNA metabarcoding (genetic) analyses using an avian specific primer for the 12S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene – to provide managers with estimated predation incidence, number of seabird species impacted and inter-prey species relative importance to the predator. DNA metabarcoding identified additional seabird taxa and provided relative quantitative information where multiple prey species occur within a sample; while parallel use of both genetic and hard-part analyses revealed a greater diversity of taxa than either method alone. Using data from both assays, the estimated frequency of occurrence of predation on seabirds by long-nosed fur seals ranged from 9.1–29.3% of samples and included up to 6 detected prey species. The most common seabird prey was the culturally valued little penguin (Eudyptula minor) that occurred in 6.1–25.3% of samples, higher than previously reported from traditional morphological assays alone. We then explored DNA haplotype diversity for little penguin genetic data, as a species of conservation concern, to provide a preliminary estimate of the number of individuals consumed. Polymorphism analysis of consumed little penguin DNA identified five distinct mitochondrial haplotypes – representing a minimum of 16 individual penguins consumed across 10 fur seal scat samples. We recommend rapid uptake and development of cost-effective genetic techniques and broader spatiotemporal sampling of fur seal diets to further quantify predation and hotspots of concern for wildlife conflict management.

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