近日，美国斯坦福大学Matthew S. Savoca等研究人员揭示须鲸的食物消耗量。相关论文发表在2021年11月3日出版的《自然》杂志上。
研究人员使用部署在七种须鲸（Mysticeti）物种上的标签（n=321个标签部署），并结合猎物密度的声学测量，来计算了大西洋、太平洋和南大洋每日至每年的猎物消耗量。结果表明，以前的研究在一些生态系统中低估了须鲸的猎物消耗量，甚至超过了三倍。仅在南大洋，研究人员计算出捕鲸前的须鲸种群每年消耗4.3亿吨南极磷虾（Euphausia superba），是目前估计的E. superba总生物量的两倍，也是目前全球海洋渔业捕捞量的两倍多。更大的鲸鱼种群可能通过加强营养物质的循环来支持大型海洋区域更高的生产力。
这项研究结果表明，在捕鲸之前，须鲸在南大洋循环了1.2×104吨铁/年，而现在的鲸鱼回收的铁为1.2×103吨/年。须鲸的恢复和它们的营养物质循环服务可以提高生产力，并恢复20世纪捕鲸期间失去的生态系统功能。
据介绍，须鲸通过巨大的猎物消耗和营养物质循环影响其生态系统。如果不测量摄食率和消耗的猎物，就很难准确衡量它们目前或历史上的生态系统作用的大小。迄今为止，最大物种的猎物消耗量是利用代谢模型，这是基于缺乏经验验证的推断而估算的。
附：英文原文
Title: Baleen whale prey consumption based on high-resolution foraging measurements
Author: Savoca, Matthew S., Czapanskiy, Max F., Kahane-Rapport, Shirel R., Gough, William T., Fahlbusch, James A., Bierlich, K. C., Segre, Paolo S., Di Clemente, Jacopo, Penry, Gwenith S., Wiley, David N., Calambokidis, John, Nowacek, Douglas P., Johnston, David W., Pyenson, Nicholas D., Friedlaender, Ari S., Hazen, Elliott L., Goldbogen, Jeremy A.
Issue&Volume: 2021-11-03
Abstract: Baleen whales influence their ecosystems through immense prey consumption and nutrient recycling1,2,3. It is difficult to accurately gauge the magnitude of their current or historic ecosystem role without measuring feeding rates and prey consumed. To date, prey consumption of the largest species has been estimated using metabolic models3,4,5,6,7,8,9 based on extrapolations that lack empirical validation. Here, we used tags deployed on seven baleen whale (Mysticeti) species (n=321 tag deployments) in conjunction with acoustic measurements of prey density to calculate prey consumption at daily to annual scales from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans. Our results suggest that previous studies3,4,5,6,7,8,9 have underestimated baleen whale prey consumption by threefold or more in some ecosystems. In the Southern Ocean alone, we calculate that pre-whaling populations of mysticetes annually consumed 430 million tonnes of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), twice the current estimated total biomass of E. superba10, and more than twice the global catch of marine fisheries today11. Larger whale populations may have supported higher productivity in large marine regions through enhanced nutrient recycling: our findings suggest mysticetes recycled 1.2×104tonnesironyr1 in the Southern Ocean before whaling compared to 1.2×103tonnesironyr1 recycled by whales today. The recovery of baleen whales and their nutrient recycling services2,3,7 could augment productivity and restore ecosystem function lost during 20th century whaling12,13.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03991-5
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03991-5
Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html
本期文章：《自然》：Online/在线发表
