Carbon productivity and flux in the marine ecosystems of the Galapagos Marine Reserve based on cetacean abundances and trophic indices

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Main Author: Juan José Alava
Format: Artículo científico
Language:en
Published: Universidad de Valparaíso 2009
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author Juan José Alava
author_facet Juan José Alava
contents Carbon productivity and flux in the marine ecosystems of the Galapagos Marine Reserve based on cetacean abundances and trophic indices Juan José Alava Ciencias de la Tierra sperm whale killer whale Baleen whales trophic level bottlenosedolphin The role of cetaceans in marine ecosystems and food webs is scarcely known in the southeastern Pacific. Estimates of secondary and tertiary (carbon) production and daily food intake were deduced for five species of representative cetaceans for different marine habitats of the Galapagos by using associated calculations of annual primary production and carbon flux, as well as estimations of relative abundance, biomass, absolute density and trophic levels (TL) reported elsewhere. Under these premises, sperm (Physeter macrocephalus) and carnivore-generalist killer whales (Orcinus orca) for open ocean (i.e. no upwelling regions) had the lowest values of tertiary production at the top predator level (0.01-1.01 gC m-2 yr-1), while Bryde's (Balaenoptera edeni) and blue (B. musculus) whales from upwelling zone located at southwest Galapagos Island yielded the highest cetacean production (13.7 and 35.4 gC m-2 yr-1, respectively). Significant positive correlations at a 15% of efficiency transfer were found between the estimated annual primary production and tertiary production of baleen whales, and between annual primary production and tertiary production of toothed cetaceans. When both groups of cetaceans were combined a no significant correlation was observed between cetacean production and annual primary productivity. This outcome was influenced by their different trophic positions in the food chain and different scenarios values of annual primary productivity of the marine ecosystems selected. More research is needed to determine abundance, prey selection, feeding rates, and fecal matter sinking rates from marine mammals in Galapagos waters, as well as their function in the vertical carbon flux 2009 artículo científico 0717-3326 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=47911450010 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=479 Revista de Biología Marina y Oceanografía application/pdf Universidad de Valparaíso Revista de Biología Marina y Oceanografía (Chile) Num.1 Vol.44
format Artículo científico
id redalyc_47911450010
institution Redalyc
language en
publishDate 2009
publisher Universidad de Valparaíso
spellingShingle Carbon productivity and flux in the marine ecosystems of the Galapagos Marine Reserve based on cetacean abundances and trophic indices
Juan José Alava
Ciencias de la Tierra
sperm whale
killer whale
Baleen whales
trophic level
bottlenosedolphin
Carbon productivity and flux in the marine ecosystems of the Galapagos Marine Reserve based on cetacean abundances and trophic indices Juan José Alava Ciencias de la Tierra sperm whale killer whale Baleen whales trophic level bottlenosedolphin The role of cetaceans in marine ecosystems and food webs is scarcely known in the southeastern Pacific. Estimates of secondary and tertiary (carbon) production and daily food intake were deduced for five species of representative cetaceans for different marine habitats of the Galapagos by using associated calculations of annual primary production and carbon flux, as well as estimations of relative abundance, biomass, absolute density and trophic levels (TL) reported elsewhere. Under these premises, sperm (Physeter macrocephalus) and carnivore-generalist killer whales (Orcinus orca) for open ocean (i.e. no upwelling regions) had the lowest values of tertiary production at the top predator level (0.01-1.01 gC m-2 yr-1), while Bryde's (Balaenoptera edeni) and blue (B. musculus) whales from upwelling zone located at southwest Galapagos Island yielded the highest cetacean production (13.7 and 35.4 gC m-2 yr-1, respectively). Significant positive correlations at a 15% of efficiency transfer were found between the estimated annual primary production and tertiary production of baleen whales, and between annual primary production and tertiary production of toothed cetaceans. When both groups of cetaceans were combined a no significant correlation was observed between cetacean production and annual primary productivity. This outcome was influenced by their different trophic positions in the food chain and different scenarios values of annual primary productivity of the marine ecosystems selected. More research is needed to determine abundance, prey selection, feeding rates, and fecal matter sinking rates from marine mammals in Galapagos waters, as well as their function in the vertical carbon flux 2009 artículo científico 0717-3326 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=47911450010 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=479 Revista de Biología Marina y Oceanografía application/pdf Universidad de Valparaíso Revista de Biología Marina y Oceanografía (Chile) Num.1 Vol.44
title Carbon productivity and flux in the marine ecosystems of the Galapagos Marine Reserve based on cetacean abundances and trophic indices
topic Ciencias de la Tierra
sperm whale
killer whale
Baleen whales
trophic level
bottlenosedolphin
url https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=47911450010