A mechanistic link between chick diet and decline in seabirds?

Kitaysky, Alexander S.; Kitaiskaia, Evgenia V.; Piatt, John F.; Wingfield, John C.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3351

Cited by 154 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

117

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…On the other hand, we do not know whether and to what extent the increased corticosterone level compromises the birds' future fitness. A nutritional deficit during development can affect the quality of nestlings, which is likely to compromise their cognitive abilities, immune function, and results in increased mortality (Kitaysky et al 2003(Kitaysky et al , 2006Loiseau et al 2008). Therefore, when the fitness costs are higher than the benefits, a reduced parental investment might be adaptive (Angelier et al 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent-offspring interactions in a long-lived seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle): begging and provisioning under simulated stress

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Long-lived seabirds are good models to study the mechanisms that mediate the parent-offspring interactions. Contrary to studies under natural conditions, experimental manipulations allow us to assess the birds' reactions in a short time period. We used the stress hormone corticosterone as an independent experimental factor to simulate the stress reaction, to examine changes in the behaviour of Little Auk chicks and parent birds. In the first experiment, we hypothesised that after enhancement of the corticosterone level Little Auk (Alle alle) chicks intensify their begging performance and attain a higher pre-fledging body mass than the control chicks. In the second experiment, we hypothesized that parent Little Auks with an increased corticosterone level feed their chicks less frequently and spend less time at the colony than their untreated partners and the control birds. We also expected that chicks with one parent implanted with corticosterone fledge later and with a lower body mass than chicks of two untreated parents. The obtained results supported the above hypotheses. We demonstrated that modification of begging performance in Little Auks constitutes an adaptive mechanism that guards against the decrease in the chicks' body condition during stressful periods. Even though the provisioning rate in Little Auks can be regulated according to the chick's needs (expressed by the intensity of the begging display), it appears that adult birds regulate their provisioning strategy primarily according to their body state. The results suggest that parent Little Auks under stressful conditions will decrease their parental effort and redirect the available energy towards self-maintenance. The study provides novel insights into the behaviour of long-lived alcids using an experimental approach on free-living birds.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent-offspring interactions in a long-lived seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle): begging and provisioning under simulated stress

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Such food has only half the calorific value of Cape gannets' natural prey (Batchelor & Ross 1984). In this context, the junk-food hypothesis ( JFH) posits that seabirds feeding on prey of low energy and nutrient content have reduced reproductive success (Piatt & Anderson 1996), because such a diet affects the growth patterns and the cognitive abilities of their offspring (Kitaysky et al 2005;Wanless et al 2005). The JFH has so far been tested for seabirds and marine mammals facing natural changes in diet quality, for instance after an ecosystem shift (Rosen & Trites 2000;Litzow et al 2002;Jodice et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A junk-food hypothesis for gannets feeding on fishery waste

et al. 2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Worldwide fisheries generate large volumes of fishery waste and it is often assumed that this additional food is beneficial to populations of marine top-predators. We challenge this concept via a detailed study of foraging Cape gannets Morus capensis and of their feeding environment in the Benguela upwelling zone. The natural prey of Cape gannets (pelagic fishes) is depleted and birds now feed extensively on fishery wastes. These are beneficial to non-breeding birds, which show reduced feeding effort and high survival. By contrast, breeding gannets double their diving effort in an attempt to provision their chicks predominantly with high-quality, live pelagic fishes. Owing to a scarcity of this resource, they fail and most chicks die. Our study supports the junk-food hypothesis for Cape gannets since it shows that non-breeding birds can survive when complementing their diet with fishery wastes, but that they struggle to reproduce if live prey is scarce. This is due to the negative impact of low-quality fishery wastes on the growth patterns of gannet chicks. Marine management policies should not assume that fishery waste is generally beneficial to scavenging seabirds and that an abundance of this artificial resource will automatically inflate their populations.

show abstract

“…Rissa brevirostris Kitaysky et al 2005 Klaassen & Bech 1992; Øyan & Anker-Nilssen 1996;Kitaysky 1999;Mullers et al 2009 Cerorhinca monocerata 480-620 g…”

Section: ; Niizuma and Yamamura 2004mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assimilation efficiency and growth of Rhinoceros Auklet chicks fed with Japanese Sand Lance and krill

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The assimilation efficiency and growth of Rhinoceros AukletThe assimilation efficiency (corrected with nitrogen retention) of the sand lance-fed chicks (82.8 0.5 ) was significantly higher than the krill-fed chicks (76.6 0.6 ). During the experiment, daily mass increments of the sand lance-fed chicks were 11.0 4.7 (g/d, n 12) and of the krill-fed chicks 9.7 2.7 (g/d, n 14). Sand lance-fed chicks gained body mass significantly faster than did krill-fed chicks after controlling for the significant age effect. Krill may be inadequate for chick growth of the auklets due to the poorer lipid content, compared with sand lance.

show abstract

A mechanistic link between chick diet and decline in seabirds?

Cited by 154 publications

References 21 publications

Parent-offspring interactions in a long-lived seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle): begging and provisioning under simulated stress

Parent-offspring interactions in a long-lived seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle): begging and provisioning under simulated stress

A junk-food hypothesis for gannets feeding on fishery waste

Assimilation efficiency and growth of Rhinoceros Auklet chicks fed with Japanese Sand Lance and krill

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About