Variability in foraging behaviour of chick-rearing macaroni penguins Eudyptes chrysolophus and its relation to diet

Deagle, Bruce E.; Gales, Nicholas J.; Hindell, Mark A.

doi:10.3354/meps07307

Cited by 29 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Organisms that can effectively buffer the effects of low prey quality by increasing the quantity consumed may be able to overcome the mobility limita- Variation in prey selectivity and compensatory foraging strategies have been described in seabirds at both the individual (Elliott et al 2009) and colony (Miller & Trivelpiece 2008) level. Birds can also use different strategies during different stages of the chick-rearing cycle (Deagle et al 2008). Adaptability in foraging strategy is also evident in other marine organisms, such as sharks (Lucifora et al 2006, Baremore et al 2008) and marine mammals (Boyd et al 1994, Skern-Mauritzen et al 2009, Arnould et al 2011.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compensation can take a variety of forms, such as a bimodal foraging strategy (Chaurand & Weimerskirch 1994, Weimerskirch et al 2003, Welcker et al 2009a), individual differences in foraging habitats (Elliott et al 2008b(Elliott et al , 2009, or simply an increase in trip duration and/or foraging distance (Suryan et al 2002, Burke & Montevecchi 2009, Pichegru et al 2010. In some cases adults expend more energy to increase feeding rates and/or take higher quality prey (Jodice et al 2006, Deagle et al 2008, Welcker et al 2009b; but see Welcker et al 2010). To successfully fledge chicks, any seabird must ultimately maintain a minimum rate of energy (calories from food) delivery to the colony.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trade-offs in prey quality and quantity revealed through the behavioral compensation of breeding seabirds

Schrimpf¹,

Parrish²,

Pearson³

2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Many productive ocean ecosystems are also highly variable, resulting in complex trophic interactions. We analyzed interannual patterns in the diet of a seabird, the common murre Uria aalge, in a region of high oceanographic productivity, the northern California Current, to investigate how these top predators adjust their chick provisioning to cope with environmental variability. Murres relied chiefly on Pacific herring Clupea harengus pallasi and surf smelt Hypomesus pretiosus to provision chicks, although they regularly returned 8 other fish taxa. Provisioning success was measured by the energy return rate to chicks, which in turn was disarticulated into energy per meal (quality) and meal delivery rate (quantity). Parents exhibited 'compensation' during 2 years in which smaller, low quality prey were returned more quickly than in years with normal (i.e. 'good') provisioning. Despite the increased delivery rate, energy return rates were still lower in 'compensation' vs. 'good' years. The lowest energy return rates occurred in 3 'poor' years, during which ocean productivity was also depressed. Our results suggest that murres in this system have the ability to shift provisioning strategies to deal with some variability in prey resources, but not when limited by exceptionally poor environmental conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade-offs in prey quality and quantity revealed through the behavioral compensation of breeding seabirds

Schrimpf¹,

Parrish²,

Pearson³

2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…more than 13% of the total amount of food taken by the world's seabirds (Brooke 2004). It feeds mainly on crustaceans and myctophid fish (Croxall & Prince 1980, Ridoux 1994, Deagle et al 2008. Macaroni penguins breed on subantarctic islands, in small to huge colonies, such as those found at South Georgia and at the Crozet and Kerguelen archipelagos.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inter-population segregation in the wintering areas of macaroni penguins

Thiebot¹,

Cherel²,

Trathan³

et al. 2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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How top avian predators are distributed at sea during the inter-breeding period remains poorly known. Here we focused on the pelagic seabird that is the single greatest avian consumer of marine resources: the macaroni penguin. Our aims were (1) to investigate where these penguins are distributed whilst at sea during winter, and (2) to determine how their distribution and trophic ecology varies in 1 colony between successive years and between 2 colonies from neighbouring localities at the same time. We surveyed a total of 30 penguins from Crozet and Kerguelen Islands (southern Indian Ocean). Penguins from Kerguelen were tracked in 2006 and 2007, and those from Crozet in 2007. Habitat use was investigated using miniaturised light-based geolocators, and trophic ecology by the use of stable isotope analyses. Results showed large-scale patterns of distribution over deep oceanic waters of the Polar Frontal Zone characterised by a temperature of 3.0 to 3.5°C during July. Birds from Kerguelen had a consistent inter-annual winter distribution at the population level. Birds tracked from Crozet were distributed in distinct areas, separate from the birds from Kerguelen. Trophic ecology (blood δ 15 N value) was very similar between years and colonies, and indicated that these penguins preyed upon low trophic level prey, most probably swarming crustaceans, at the end of winter. We conclude that inter-annual fidelity in winter habitat provides evidence of highly favourable and predictable foraging areas, while the distinct inter-colony distributions suggest very heterogeneous distribution of profitable feeding areas for this species in the southern Indian Ocean.

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“…These complementary studies have provided important advances in understanding about predator-prey dynamics as well as identifying regional contrasts and similarities. For example, studies from East Antarctica by Deagle et al (2007Deagle et al ( , 2008 have shown that DNA analysis of faecal material from macaroni penguins accords well with dietary studies based on other analysis techniques. Similarly, Jarman et al (2013) used DNA analysis of faecal material from Adélie penguins Pygoscelis adelie to show spatial and temporal changes in diet from 12 populations and that prey diversity was greater than previously thought.…”

Section: Regional Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 84%

The Importance of Krill Predation in the Southern Ocean

Trathan

Hill

2016

Advances in Polar Ecology

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Antarctic krill is a major prey species for a diverse array of Southern Ocean predators. The amount of krill that predators consume, and how this changes over space and time, is a key issue in understanding both regional and circumpolar aspects of the Southern Ocean foodweb. We assess current knowledge of consumption by the various predator groups, and the ecological processes through which krill and its predators influence each other. Knowledge has improved greatly over recent decades and has revealed a high level of complexity in the processes that govern krill consumption. We focus on the Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Sea region where both krill and its consumers occur in significant concentrations and where an updated estimate of krill consumption by the main vertebrate groups is 55 million tonnes per year. Research has mainly focused on mammalian and avian predators of post-larval krill, particularly penguins. Potentially important consumer groups like fish, cephalopods and carnivorous zooplankton remain poorly understood, as does consumption of the early life stages of krill. As a consequence of these knowledge gaps and the variability that arises from complexity, a reliable seasonally, spatially or taxonomically resolved description of krill consumption remains elusive. One of the key motivations for attempting to estimate krill consumption is to understand how changes in krill availability impact predator populations.Such understanding is an important requirement for ecosystem based management of the Antarctic krill fishery. We therefore propose that integrated study areas in strategic fishing locations should be developed to directly assess the response of krill predators to changes in krill availability.

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Variability in foraging behaviour of chick-rearing macaroni penguins Eudyptes chrysolophus and its relation to diet

Cited by 29 publications

References 45 publications

Trade-offs in prey quality and quantity revealed through the behavioral compensation of breeding seabirds

Trade-offs in prey quality and quantity revealed through the behavioral compensation of breeding seabirds

Inter-population segregation in the wintering areas of macaroni penguins

The Importance of Krill Predation in the Southern Ocean

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