Apex predators play pivotal roles in marine ecosystems, mediated principally through diet and nutrition. Yet, compared with terrestrial animals, the nutritional ecology of marine predators is poorly understood. One reason is that the field has adhered to an approach that evaluates diet principally in terms of energy gain. Studies in terrestrial systems, by contrast, increasingly adopt a multidimensional approach, the nutritional geometry framework, that distinguishes specific nutrients and calories. We provide evidence that a nutritional approach is likewise relevant to marine apex predators, then demonstrate how nutritional geometry can characterize the nutrient and energy content of marine prey. Next, we show how this framework can be used to reconceptualize ecological interactions via the ecological niche concept, and close with a consideration of its application to problems in marine predator research.

中文翻译：

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海洋尖顶捕食者的营养生态学。

尖顶掠食者在海洋生态系统中起着关键作用，主要通过饮食和营养来介导。然而，与陆生动物相比，对海洋捕食者的营养生态学知之甚少。一个原因是该领域坚持了一种主要从能量获取方面评估饮食的方法。相比之下，陆地系统的研究越来越多地采用多维方法（即营养几何学框架）来区分特定的营养物质和卡路里。我们提供的证据表明，营养方法也与海洋先头动物有关，然后证明营养几何学如何表征海洋猎物的营养和能量含量。接下来，我们展示如何使用此框架通过生态位概念重新概念化生态相互作用，