Dear all, We are pleased to announce the publication of the following paper in "Marine Ecology Progress Series":
Giménez, J., Cañadas, A., Ramírez, F., Afán, I., García-Tiscar, S., Fernández-Maldonado, C., Castillo, JJ & de Stephanis, R. (2017). Intra-and interspecific niche partitioning in striped and common dolphins inhabiting the southwestern Mediterranean Sea. *Marine Ecology Progress Series*, *567*, 199-210. *Abstract:*Community structure and functioning is shaped by resource partitioning between co-occurring species. Niche differentiation among sympatric species can be reached through trophic, spatial or temporal segregation to avoid competitive exclusion. Intraspecific segregation in the use of habitats and resources might determine, in turn, a population’s niche width and interspecific segregation. The Alboran Sea is the only area in the Mediterranean where common and striped dolphins coexist abundantly. Therefore, these putative competing species provided the opportunity to investigate niche partitioning through spatial modelling and trophic analysis. Density surface modelling and nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) were used to investigate spatial and trophic niche partitioning at inter- and intraspecific levels. The 2 species showed high isotopic overlap. However, we could not rule out the possibility of interspecific trophic segregation, as isotopic similarity does not necessarily mean true ecological or dietary similarity. Among conspecifics, variations in δ15N and δ13C values with dolphin length pointed to ontogenetic dietary changes in striped dolphins, while sex played only a minor role in δ13C values. Spatially, these species tended to segregate their core areas of distribution, with common dolphins being more coastal than striped dolphins, which occupied adjacent, deeper waters. Overall, the main enabler for the coexistence of common and striped dolphins in the Alboran Sea was spatial segregation. You can download the paper in: http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v567/p199-210/ or visit my ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joan_Gimenez <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joan_Gimenez2>) Kind Regards, -- *Joan Giménez Verdugo* *PhD Student* *Severo Ochoa* Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC) Department of Conservation Biology Americo Vespucio Ave, s/n 41092 Sevilla (Spain) www.ebd.csic.es --- Research Gate: Joan Giménez <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joan_Gimenez2> Phone: +34 619 176 849 ü Please consider the environment before printing this E-mail ;
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