Stable Isotopes Confirm Community Patterns in Foraging Among Hawaiian Procellariiformes

Bond, Alexander L.; McClelland, Gregory T. W.; Jones, Ian L.; Lavers, Jennifer L.; Kyser, T. Kurt

doi:10.1675/063.033.0106

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 93 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Chicks often exhibit higher d 15 N signatures than adults, usually between 1.0 and 2.0 %, and these age differences are often quoted as an indication that adult fed their chicks with higher-trophic-level prey than they assimilated themselves (Hodum and Hobson 2000;Cherel et al 2005aCherel et al , 2008Forero et al 2005;Richoux et al 2010). Age differences in d 13 C signatures do not present any obvious trend and generally are of a smaller magnitude (less than 1 %) (Hodum and Hobson 2000;Forero et al 2005;Cherel et al 2008Bond et al 2010;Richoux et al 2010; but see Cherel et al 2005a). The uncritical interpretation of differences in chick and adult isotope levels as evidence of dietary segregation may present some problems, as explained below.…”

Section: Metabolic Issuesmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Nitrogen stable isotopes increase in a predictable manner between trophic levels and thus indicate the trophic position of consumers (Kelly 2000;Bearhop et al 2004). Recently, SIA has provided evidence for a dietary segregation between adults and chicks in a wide range of pelagic seabirds (Hodum and Hobson 2000;Forero et al 2005;Cherel et al 2005aCherel et al , 2008Bond et al 2010;Richoux et al 2010). However, most of the mentioned studies could not assess the biological significance of the isotopic differences between adults and growing chicks (but see Cherel et al 2005a;Forero et al 2005) as isotopic fractionation differs between them, as a result of growth or nutritional stress effects (Williams et al 2007;Sears et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Parent–offspring dietary segregation of Cory’s shearwaters breeding in contrasting environments

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In pelagic seabirds, who often explore distant food resources, information is usually scarce on the level of trophic segregation between parents and their offspring. To investigate this issue, we used GPS tracking, stable isotopes and dietary information of Cory's shearwaters Calonectris diomedea breeding in contrasting environments. Foraging trips at Selvagem Grande (an oceanic island) mainly targeted the distant African coast, while at Berlenga island (located on the continental shelf), shearwaters foraged mainly over nearby shelf waters. The degree of isotopic segregation between adults and chicks, based on d 13 C, differed markedly between the two sites, indicating that adult birds at Selvagem fed their chicks with a mixture of shelf and offshore pelagic prey but assimilated more prey captured on coastal shelf waters. Isotopic differences between age classes at Berlenga were much smaller and may have resulted from limited dietary segregation or from age-related metabolic differences. The diet of shearwaters was also very different between the two colonies, with offshore pelagic prey only being detected at Selvagem Grande. Our findings suggest that spatial foraging constraints influence resource partitioning between pelagic seabirds and their offspring and can lead to a parent-offspring dietary segregation.

show abstract

Section: Metabolic Issuesmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent–offspring dietary segregation of Cory’s shearwaters breeding in contrasting environments

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the western North Pacific Ocean, both δ 15 N and δ 13 C values are higher on the Japanese shelf and lower in the Oyashio current and the North Pacific Transition Zone [ 73 ]. Isotope values of seabirds follow these same geographic trends: higher among the neritic seabird guilds of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean [ 47 – 48 ] relative to the pelagic seabird guilds of the central North Pacific Ocean [ 41 ], [ 74 – 75 ]. In this study, Laysan albatross salvaged from Alaskan fisheries had considerably higher δ 15 N values and tended toward having higher δ 13 C values than Laysan albatross salvaged from Hawaiian fisheries, as predicted based on identifiable oceanographic gradients [ 52 – 54 ], [ 71 – 73 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Foraging Strategies of Laysan Albatross Inferred from Stable Isotopes: Implications for Association with Fisheries

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fatal entanglement in fishing gear is the leading cause of population decline for albatross globally, a consequence of attraction to bait and fishery discards of commercial fishing operations. We investigated foraging strategies of Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis), as inferred from nitrogen and carbon isotope values of primary feathers, to determine breeding-related, seasonal, and historic factors that may affect the likelihood of association with Alaskan or Hawaiian longline fisheries. Feather samples were collected from live birds monitored for breeding status and breeding success on Midway Atoll in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, birds salvaged as fisheries-bycatch, and birds added to museum collections before 1924. During the chick-rearing season (sampled April-May), means and variances of stable isotope values of birds with the highest, most consistent reproductive success were distinct from less productive conspecifics and completely different from birds caught in Hawaiian or Alaskan longline fisheries, suggesting birds with higher multi-annual reproductive success were less likely to associate with these fisheries. Contemporary birds with the highest reproductive success had mean values most similar to historic birds. Values of colony-bound, courting prebreeders were similar to active breeders but distinct from prebreeders caught in Alaskan longline fisheries. During the breeding season, δ15N values were highly variable for both contemporary and historic birds. Although some historic birds exhibited extremely low δ15N values unmatched by contemporary birds (< 11.2‰), others had values as high as the highest fishery-associated contemporary birds. During the non-breeding season (sampled July-September), isotopic variability coalesced into a more narrow set of values for both contemporary and historic birds. Our results suggest that foraging strategies of Laysan albatross are a complex function of season, breeding status, and multi-annual breeding success, factors that likely affect the probability of association with fisheries.

show abstract

“…Streaked shearwaters ( Calonectris leucomelas ), which are widely distributed around Japanese islands, change their foraging areas in response to seasonal changes in the marine environment [ 70 ]. There are also some studies targeting wedge-tailed shearwaters at other breeding sites [ 60 , 75 – 77 ]. It is known that wedge-tailed shearwaters change foraging areas and strategies depending on the purpose of foraging, whether it is provision for themselves or their chicks [ 60 , 76 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This result may indicate that wedge-tailed shearwaters needed to forage for a variety of prey items or expand their foraging area, perhaps because prey biomass decreased during the rearing period [ 78 ] or the nutrient requirements of chicks changed [ 79 ]. It is known that wedge-tailed shearwaters perform dual foraging excursion, which is a combination of long and short trips [ 75 , 77 ]. Increases in prey diversity during the rearing period may be caused by dual foraging excursions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA barcoding reveals seasonal shifts in diet and consumption of deep-sea fishes in wedge-tailed shearwaters

Komura

Ando

Horikoshi³

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The foraging ecology of pelagic seabirds is difficult to characterize because of their large foraging areas. In the face of this difficulty, DNA metabarcoding may be a useful approach to analyze diet compositions and foraging behaviors. Using this approach, we investigated the diet composition and its seasonal variation of a common seabird species on the Ogasawara Islands, Japan: the wedge-tailed shearwater Ardenna pacifica. We collected fecal samples during the prebreeding (N = 73) and rearing (N = 96) periods. The diet composition of wedge-tailed shearwater was analyzed by Ion Torrent sequencing using two universal polymerase chain reaction primers for the 12S and 16S mitochondrial DNA regions that targeted vertebrates and mollusks, respectively. The results of a BLAST search of obtained sequences detected 31 and 1 vertebrate and mollusk taxa, respectively. The results of the diet composition analysis showed that wedge-tailed shearwaters frequently consumed deep-sea fishes throughout the sampling season, indicating the importance of these fishes as a stable food resource. However, there was a marked seasonal shift in diet, which may reflect seasonal changes in food resource availability and wedge-tailed shearwater foraging behavior. The collected data regarding the shearwater diet may be useful for in situ conservation efforts. Future research that combines DNA metabarcoding with other tools, such as data logging, may provide further insight into the foraging ecology of pelagic seabirds.

show abstract

Stable Isotopes Confirm Community Patterns in Foraging Among Hawaiian Procellariiformes

Cited by 20 publications

References 93 publications

Parent–offspring dietary segregation of Cory’s shearwaters breeding in contrasting environments

Parent–offspring dietary segregation of Cory’s shearwaters breeding in contrasting environments

Foraging Strategies of Laysan Albatross Inferred from Stable Isotopes: Implications for Association with Fisheries

DNA barcoding reveals seasonal shifts in diet and consumption of deep-sea fishes in wedge-tailed shearwaters

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About