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My research focuses on the development of multidisciplinary, non-invasive sampling approaches to study the ecology and physiology of mammals by combining of biochemical and zoological principles. Stable isotope ratios and glucocorticoids levels captured along the length of growing hair and whiskers provide information regarding the diet, nutritional status, and the amount of stress experienced by an individual. The long-term (1983 – present), the on-going mark-recapture study of southern elephant seal (SES), Mirounga leonina, from Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean, provides the backbone for my research. My current PhD thesis investigates how different foraging strategies (niche breadth, habitat use, trophic level occupied) might relate to the recently identified atypical, intermittent adult female SES reproduction pattern (www.marionseals.com). This study combines endocrinological data with nitrogen and carbon stable isotope values, extracted chronologically along the length of their whiskers, to investigate the ecophysiological response of the seals to potential resource limitations. |
