Breeding ecology of Horned Puffins ( Fratercula corniculata) in Alaska: annual variation and effects of El Niño
Both within and among seabird species, different aspects of breeding biology may respond to changes in prey availability in distinct ways, and the identification of species-specific breeding parameters that are sensitive to food availability is useful for monitoring purposes. We present data from a...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2003
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z03-075 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z03-075 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z03-075 2024-06-23T07:52:54+00:00 Breeding ecology of Horned Puffins ( Fratercula corniculata) in Alaska: annual variation and effects of El Niño Harding, A MA Piatt, J F Hamer, K C 2003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z03-075 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z03-075 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 81, issue 6, page 1004-1013 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2003 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z03-075 2024-06-13T04:10:51Z Both within and among seabird species, different aspects of breeding biology may respond to changes in prey availability in distinct ways, and the identification of species-specific breeding parameters that are sensitive to food availability is useful for monitoring purposes. We present data from a 5-year study (19951999) of the breeding ecology of Horned Puffins (Fratercula corniculata) in Alaska. The El Niño Southern Oscillation event of 19971998 provided an opportunity to examine the sensitivity of various breeding parameters to a reduction in prey availability caused by the anomalous oceanographic conditions of 1998. Horned Puffins were able to maintain high fledging success (8397%) over the 5 years of the study, despite the poor local feeding conditions in 1998. The rate of increase in chick mass was lowest in 1998, and evidence suggests that chicks also fledged at the youngest ages in that year. The impacts of reduced food availability on growth varied among body structures, suggesting differential allocation of energy and nutrients. There was no variation among years in either chick diet or the mass of food loads delivered by adults. We suggest that rates of chick growth, specifically mass increase, may be a good parameter to measure for use in monitoring Horned Puffins. Article in Journal/Newspaper fratercula Alaska Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 81 6 1004 1013 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Both within and among seabird species, different aspects of breeding biology may respond to changes in prey availability in distinct ways, and the identification of species-specific breeding parameters that are sensitive to food availability is useful for monitoring purposes. We present data from a 5-year study (19951999) of the breeding ecology of Horned Puffins (Fratercula corniculata) in Alaska. The El Niño Southern Oscillation event of 19971998 provided an opportunity to examine the sensitivity of various breeding parameters to a reduction in prey availability caused by the anomalous oceanographic conditions of 1998. Horned Puffins were able to maintain high fledging success (8397%) over the 5 years of the study, despite the poor local feeding conditions in 1998. The rate of increase in chick mass was lowest in 1998, and evidence suggests that chicks also fledged at the youngest ages in that year. The impacts of reduced food availability on growth varied among body structures, suggesting differential allocation of energy and nutrients. There was no variation among years in either chick diet or the mass of food loads delivered by adults. We suggest that rates of chick growth, specifically mass increase, may be a good parameter to measure for use in monitoring Horned Puffins. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Harding, A MA Piatt, J F Hamer, K C |
spellingShingle |
Harding, A MA Piatt, J F Hamer, K C Breeding ecology of Horned Puffins ( Fratercula corniculata) in Alaska: annual variation and effects of El Niño |
author_facet |
Harding, A MA Piatt, J F Hamer, K C |
author_sort |
Harding, A MA |
title |
Breeding ecology of Horned Puffins ( Fratercula corniculata) in Alaska: annual variation and effects of El Niño |
title_short |
Breeding ecology of Horned Puffins ( Fratercula corniculata) in Alaska: annual variation and effects of El Niño |
title_full |
Breeding ecology of Horned Puffins ( Fratercula corniculata) in Alaska: annual variation and effects of El Niño |
title_fullStr |
Breeding ecology of Horned Puffins ( Fratercula corniculata) in Alaska: annual variation and effects of El Niño |
title_full_unstemmed |
Breeding ecology of Horned Puffins ( Fratercula corniculata) in Alaska: annual variation and effects of El Niño |
title_sort |
breeding ecology of horned puffins ( fratercula corniculata) in alaska: annual variation and effects of el niño |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z03-075 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z03-075 |
genre |
fratercula Alaska |
genre_facet |
fratercula Alaska |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 81, issue 6, page 1004-1013 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z03-075 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
81 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1004 |
op_container_end_page |
1013 |
_version_ |
1802644331499094016 |