Relationships between isotopic ratios, body condition and breeding success in a High Arctic seabird community
| Autor: | Arnaud Tarroux, Manuela G. Forero, Sébastien Descamps, Johanna E. H. Hovinen, Francisco Ramírez |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Universitat de Barcelona |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Reproductive output
Nitrogen chemistry.chemical_element Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 [VDP] Aquatic Science Trophic level Svalbard Animal nutrition Marine birds Ocells marins biology.animal parasitic diseases Arctic Ocean Carry-over effects Nutrició animal skin and connective tissue diseases Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Stable isotopes Àrtic Oceà Ecology biology Stable isotope ratio fungi Sea birds Carbon Diet chemistry Arctic Environmental science sense organs Seabird Body condition |
| Zdroj: | Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya instname Dipòsit Digital de la UB Universidad de Barcelona Marine Ecology Progress Series |
| ISSN: | 1616-1599 0171-8630 |
| DOI: | 10.3354/meps12886 |
| Popis: | Predators such as seabirds are often used as bio-indicators of the marine environment. This is based on the assumption that changes in seabird populations are driven by changes in their prey. We tested this assumption in a High Arctic seabird community by assessing the relationships between the diet, body condition, and breeding performance of 4 ecologically different species: the little auk Alle alle, black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, Brünnich's guillemot Uria lomvia, and glaucous gull Larus hyperboreus, breeding in Svalbard, Norway. Interannual changes in seabird diet (2009-2015) were assessed by estimating their carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios (δ15N and δ13C) during the breeding and non-breeding seasons (i.e. using blood and feather tissues). We found interannual variation in the isotopic ratios during both seasons in all 4 species. These variations differed among species, thus suggesting dietary changes, instead of changes in isotopic baselines, as the most plausible mechanism underlying such patterns. We also found that seabirds had a lower average hatching success when the average δ15N during the previous non-breeding season was higher. Our results suggest that changes in the average prey composition during the non-breeding season may partially explain changes in breeding performance of Svalbard seabirds. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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