Dataset Information

The blubber adipocyte index: A nondestructive biomarker of adiposity in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).

ABSTRACT: The ability to accurately evaluate the energetic health of wildlife is of critical importance, particularly under conditions of environmental change. Despite the relevance of this issue, currently there are no reliable, standardized, nonlethal measures to assess the energetic reserves of large, free-roaming marine mammals such as baleen whales. This study investigated the potential of adipocyte area analysis and further, a standardized adipocyte index (AI), to yield reliable information regarding humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) adiposity. Adipocyte area and AI, as ascertained by image analysis, showed a direct correlation with each other but only a weak correlation with the commonly used, but error prone, blubber lipid-percent measure. The relative power of the three respective measures was further evaluated by comparing humpback whale cohorts at different stages of migration and fasting. Adipocyte area, AI, and blubber lipid-percent were assessed by binary logistic regression revealing that adipocyte area had the greatest probability to predict the migration cohort with a high level of redundancy attributed to the AI given their strong linear relationship (r = -.784). When only AI and lipid-percent were assessed, the performance of both predictor variables was significant but the power of AI far exceeded lipid-percent. The sensitivity of adipocyte metrics and the rapid, nonlethal, and inexpensive nature of the methodology and AI calculation validate the inclusion of the AI in long-term monitoring of humpback whale population health, and further raises its potential for broader wildlife applications.

SUBMITTER: Castrillon J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5528216 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The blubber adipocyte index: A nondestructive biomarker of adiposity in humpback whales (<i>Megaptera novaeangliae</i>).

Castrillon Juliana J Huston Wilhelmina W Bengtson Nash Susan S

Ecology and evolution 20170604 14

The ability to accurately evaluate the energetic health of wildlife is of critical importance, particularly under conditions of environmental change. Despite the relevance of this issue, currently there are no reliable, standardized, nonlethal measures to assess the energetic reserves of large, free-roaming marine mammals such as baleen whales. This study investigated the potential of adipocyte area analysis and further, a standardized adipocyte index (AI), to yield reliable information regardin ...[more]

PMID: 28770053

Similar Datasets

Project description:Animal culture and social bonds are relevant to wildlife conservation because they influence patterns of geography, behavior, and strategies of survival. Numerous examples of socially-driven habitat partitioning and ecological-niche specialization can be found among vertebrates, including toothed whales. But such social-ecological dynamics, described here as 'social niche partitioning', are not known among baleen whales, whose societies-particularly on foraging grounds-are largely perceived as unstructured and incidental to matters of habitat use and conservation. However, through 16 years of behavioral observations and photo-identifications of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) feeding within a fjord system in the Canadian Pacific (primarily within Gitga'at First Nation waters), we have documented long-term pair bonds (up to 12 years) as well as a complex societal structure, which corresponds closely to persistent patterns in feeding strategy, long-term site fidelity (extended occupancy and annual rate of return up to 75%), specific geographic preferences within the fjord system, and other forms of habitat use. Randomization tests of network congruency and clustering algorithms were used to test for overlap in patterns of social structure and habitat use, which confirmed the occurrence of social niche partitioning on the feeding grounds of this baleen whale species. In addition, we document the extensive practice of group bubble net feeding in Pacific Canada. This coordinated feeding behavior was found to strongly mediate the social structure and habitat use within this humpback whale society. Additionally, during our 2004-2019 study, we observed a shift in social network structure in 2010-2012, which corresponded with environmental and demographic shifts including a sudden decline in the population's calving rate. Our findings indicate that the social lives of humpback whales, and perhaps baleen whales generally, are more complex than previously supposed and should be a primary consideration in the assessment of potential impacts to important habitat.

Dataset Information

The blubber adipocyte index: A nondestructive biomarker of adiposity in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).

Publications

The blubber adipocyte index: A nondestructive biomarker of adiposity in humpback whales (<i>Megaptera novaeangliae</i>).

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets