MEPS

Marine Ecology Progress Series

MEPS is a leading hybrid research journal on all aspects of marine, coastal and estuarine ecology. Priority is given to outstanding research that advances our ecological understanding.

Online: ISSN 1616-1599

Print: ISSN 0171-8630

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps

Impact Factor2.1 (JCR 2025 release)

Article Acceptance Rate52.2% (2024)

Average Time in Review216 days (2024)

Total Annual Downloads3.004.533 (2025)

Volume contents
Mar Ecol Prog Ser 702:139-152 (2022)

Insights into the trophic ecology of white-beaked dolphins Lagenorhynchus albirostris and harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena in Iceland

ABSTRACT: Sympatric organisms can avoid competition by occupying different ecological niches, a mechanism known as niche partitioning. In Iceland, white-beaked dolphins Lagenorhynchus albirostris and harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena are the most common small cetaceans observed but their trophic ecology remains understudied, including the potential for resource competition. In this study, we measured δ15N and δ13C values from white-beaked dolphin (n = 28) and harbour porpoise (n = 29) muscle samples collected over a 33 yr period (1987-2019) to compare isotopic niche width and overlap of both species, as well as diet composition. We also tested for within-species effects of sex, age class, body length, year of sampling and origin (bycatch vs. stranding) on the δ13C and δ15N values. Intra-species variations included differences between stranded and bycaught white-beaked dolphins and ontogenetic variations in both species, but further studies are necessary to investigate the factors that might explain these results. Inter-species comparisons showed that harbour porpoises and white-beaked dolphins had non-overlapping isotopic niches, with harbour porpoises exhibiting smaller niche widths (corrected standard ellipse area, SEAc: 1.25 vs. 2.13‰2). While white-beaked dolphins had a broader diet, composed primarily of gadoids but with contributions of other fish species, harbour porpoises fed almost exclusively on capelin Mallotus villosus, suggesting niche segregation and width is largely maintained by targeting different prey resources. Both species also showed no long-term changes in trophic ecology, despite recent ecosystem changes in this region, possibly a result of adapting to spatial changes in prey distribution or shifts to other prey at similar trophic levels.

KEYWORDS

Filipa I. P. Samarra (Corresponding Author)

  • Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, 220 Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
  • University of Iceland’s Institute of Research Centres, 900 Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland
fips@hi.is

Asunción Borrell (Co-author)

  • Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, and Institute of Biodiversity Research (IRBio), Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Anna Selbmann (Co-author)

  • Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavík, Iceland

Sverrir D. Halldórson (Co-author)

  • Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, 220 Hafnarfjörður, Iceland

Christophe Pampoulie (Co-author)

  • Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, 220 Hafnarfjörður, Iceland

Valérie Chosson (Co-author)

  • Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, 220 Hafnarfjörður, Iceland

Thorvaldur Gunnlaugsson (Co-author)

  • Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, 220 Hafnarfjörður, Iceland

Guðjón M. Sigurðsson (Co-author)

  • Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, 220 Hafnarfjörður, Iceland

Alex Aguilar (Co-author)

  • Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, and Institute of Biodiversity Research (IRBio), Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Gísli A. Víkingsson (Co-author)

  • Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, 220 Hafnarfjörður, Iceland