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 Downloads3.015.351 (2025)

Volume contents
Mar Ecol Prog Ser 752:169-186 (2025)

Sympatric seabirds: exploring multidimensional niche partitioning among four cormorant species

ABSTRACT: The competitive exclusion theory suggests that closely related and ecologically similar species living in sympatry should differ along some axes of their n-dimensional ecological niches to reduce interspecific competition. Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae) are foot-propelled pursuit-diving aquatic birds that constitute an interesting model to study resource partitioning at a local level, due to their colonial breeding habits and limited foraging ranges. The aim of this study was to investigate the partitioning of the multidimensional niche among 4 cormorant species that coexist within a marine inlet along the Argentine Patagonian coast: red-legged, rock, neotropic, and imperial cormorants. For this, we estimated their diet composition, isotopic niches, foraging areas, and reproductive schedules, while assessing pairwise multidimensional overlap. While our analysis showed some degree of pairwise overlap in certain dimensions—mainly spatial and temporal, and more pronounced between rock and neotropic cormorants—the 4 cormorant species overall exhibited resource partitioning. This study highlights that, despite residing and foraging in close proximity in a spatially delimited coastal inlet situated at a latitude marked by strong seasonality, the studied seabirds, belonging to the same guild, clearly partitioned the use of their trophic resources by occupying different volumes, or combinations of dimensions, within the ecological niche. The cumulative effect of the pairwise segregations found in trophic, spatial, and temporal dimensions was the key to determining the overall niche partitioning between these sympatric seabird species.

KEYWORDS

Annick Morgenthaler (Corresponding Author)

  • Centro de Investigaciones de Puerto Deseado, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral, 9050 Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina
  • Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), 9050 Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina
annick.morgenthaler@gmail.com

Ana Millones (Co-author)

  • Centro de Investigaciones de Puerto Deseado, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral, 9050 Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina

Patricia Gandini (Co-author)

  • Centro de Investigaciones de Puerto Deseado, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral, 9050 Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina
  • Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), 9050 Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina

Diego Procopio (Co-author)

  • Centro de Investigaciones de Puerto Deseado, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral, 9050 Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina

Esteban Frere (Co-author)

  • Centro de Investigaciones de Puerto Deseado, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral, 9050 Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina
  • Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), 9050 Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina