Searching for the true diet of marine predators: incorporating Bayesian priors into stable isotope mixing models

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 25;9(3):e92665. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092665. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Reconstructing the diet of top marine predators is of great significance in several key areas of applied ecology, requiring accurate estimation of their true diet. However, from conventional stomach content analysis to recent stable isotope and DNA analyses, no one method is bias or error free. Here, we evaluated the accuracy of recent methods to estimate the actual proportion of a controlled diet fed to a top-predator seabird, the Little penguin (Eudyptula minor). We combined published DNA data of penguins scats with blood plasma δ(15)N and δ(13)C values to reconstruct the diet of individual penguins fed experimentally. Mismatch between controlled (true) ingested diet and dietary estimates obtained through the separately use of stable isotope and DNA data suggested some degree of differences in prey assimilation (stable isotope) and digestion rates (DNA analysis). In contrast, combined posterior isotope mixing model with DNA Bayesian priors provided the closest match to the true diet. We provided the first evidence suggesting that the combined use of these complementary techniques may provide better estimates of the actual diet of top marine predators- a powerful tool in applied ecology in the search for the true consumed diet.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Aquatic Organisms / physiology*
  • Food Chain*
  • Models, Biological*
  • Predatory Behavior / physiology*
  • Spheniscidae / physiology*

Grants and funding

Several grants received to support this collaborative research: Penguin Foundation, Junta Andalucía, Spain, European Union Research Fund and Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia de España. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.