ArticleScientific reports2026
Rising competition among North Sea mammalian top predators: a multi-method perspective on trophic ecology.
Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Abstract
Top predators are crucial in shaping ecosystem dynamics by regulating key processes such as prey populations, energy transfer, and community structure, particularly in systems where multiple species compete for the same resources. Understanding their trophic niches and interactions is essential for effective conservation. In the southern North Sea, harbor seals, gray seals, and harbor porpoises are top predators with overlapping prey. This multi-method study examined resource partitioning using complementary stomach content analysis, metabarcoding, and carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotope analysis to refine habitat use, incorporating sulfur isotopes, for the first time in marine mammals of the southern North Sea. Gastrointestinal data from stranded harbor seals (n = 223), gray seals (n = 87), and harbor porpoises (n = 218), alongside 283 scat samples from wild seals, collected between 2014 and 2021, were analyzed. Harbor seal and gray seal showed high prey similarity (Jaccard index 0.71), while porpoises exhibited lower similarity with both seal species (Jaccard index 0.46 and 0.45). Interactions with prey guilds were strongest for demersal roundfish, flatfish, gobies, and sandeels. Bayesian isotope mixing models revealed consistent trophic differences among the three top predators, with seals occupying higher trophic positions than porpoises and showing minimal dietary change over time. Isotopic niche metrics indicated increasing overlap between porpoises and gray seals, particularly in δ
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