| Autor: |
Norio Tokita, Shin-Ichi Hayama, Akinori Takahashi, Yasuaki Niizuma, Noriyasu Sasaki, Yutaka Watanuki |
| Rok vydání: |
2001 |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
Ecological Research. 16:197-203 |
| ISSN: |
0912-3814 |
| DOI: |
10.1046/j.1440-1703.2001.00386.x |
| Popis: |
When rearing chicks, Leach’s storm-petrels (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) commute between foraging areas and breeding colonies with heavy food loads. At this time they should maximize the size of energy-supplying organs in response to increased energy expenditure but minimize total body mass to decrease the energetic cost of flight. Nineteen storm-petrels were killed to examine the changes in body composition and the masses of energy-supplying organs in birds that were incubating and rearing chicks. Parents lost a mean of 7.95 g in body mass between the stages of incubation and chick-rearing mainly via a loss of skin including subcutaneous adipose tissue, and a small fraction of heart and digestive organs, which are considered energy-supplying organs. This mass loss actually enables them to decrease flight cost by 14.4%. The benefits of decreasing flight costs by reducing total body mass are greater than if the energy-supplying organs of birds are enlarged only. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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