Nutritional stress and body condition in the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa ) during winter irruptive migrations
The largest irruptive migration of the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa Forster, 1772) recorded since 1831 occurred in Minnesota, USA, during the winter of 2004–2005. We tested the hypothesis that morphometric indicators of nutritional stress covary with stable isotope signatures in a sample of 265 o...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z2012-047 2024-04-28T08:39:52+00:00 Nutritional stress and body condition in the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa ) during winter irruptive migrations Graves, Gary R. Newsome, Seth D. Willard, David E. Grosshuesch, David A. Wurzel, William W. Fogel, Marilyn L. 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z2012-047 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/z2012-047 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z2012-047 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 90, issue 7, page 787-797 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2012 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z2012-047 2024-04-09T06:56:31Z The largest irruptive migration of the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa Forster, 1772) recorded since 1831 occurred in Minnesota, USA, during the winter of 2004–2005. We tested the hypothesis that morphometric indicators of nutritional stress covary with stable isotope signatures in a sample of 265 owls killed by vehicle collisions. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen in muscle (C/N muscle ) was shown to be a reliable proxy of nutritional stress. δ 13 C values for liver and muscle were significantly higher in owls in poor condition, reflecting the depletion of lipid reserves in fasting individuals. On the other hand, δ 15 N values for liver and muscle were marginally lower or unchanged in owls in poor condition. Stomachs of emaciated owls were less likely to contain prey, implying that many nutritionally stressed individuals were too weak to hunt and were near the tipping point of irreversible fasts. In a broader context, sexual differences in the correlative relationships between stable isotope signatures, C/N, and body condition suggest that the consequences of reversed sexual size dimorphism extend to physiological processes during the nonbreeding season. Article in Journal/Newspaper Strix nebulosa Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 90 7 787 797 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Graves, Gary R. Newsome, Seth D. Willard, David E. Grosshuesch, David A. Wurzel, William W. Fogel, Marilyn L. Nutritional stress and body condition in the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa ) during winter irruptive migrations |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
The largest irruptive migration of the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa Forster, 1772) recorded since 1831 occurred in Minnesota, USA, during the winter of 2004–2005. We tested the hypothesis that morphometric indicators of nutritional stress covary with stable isotope signatures in a sample of 265 owls killed by vehicle collisions. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen in muscle (C/N muscle ) was shown to be a reliable proxy of nutritional stress. δ 13 C values for liver and muscle were significantly higher in owls in poor condition, reflecting the depletion of lipid reserves in fasting individuals. On the other hand, δ 15 N values for liver and muscle were marginally lower or unchanged in owls in poor condition. Stomachs of emaciated owls were less likely to contain prey, implying that many nutritionally stressed individuals were too weak to hunt and were near the tipping point of irreversible fasts. In a broader context, sexual differences in the correlative relationships between stable isotope signatures, C/N, and body condition suggest that the consequences of reversed sexual size dimorphism extend to physiological processes during the nonbreeding season. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Graves, Gary R. Newsome, Seth D. Willard, David E. Grosshuesch, David A. Wurzel, William W. Fogel, Marilyn L. |
author_facet |
Graves, Gary R. Newsome, Seth D. Willard, David E. Grosshuesch, David A. Wurzel, William W. Fogel, Marilyn L. |
author_sort |
Graves, Gary R. |
title |
Nutritional stress and body condition in the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa ) during winter irruptive migrations |
title_short |
Nutritional stress and body condition in the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa ) during winter irruptive migrations |
title_full |
Nutritional stress and body condition in the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa ) during winter irruptive migrations |
title_fullStr |
Nutritional stress and body condition in the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa ) during winter irruptive migrations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Nutritional stress and body condition in the Great Gray Owl ( Strix nebulosa ) during winter irruptive migrations |
title_sort |
nutritional stress and body condition in the great gray owl ( strix nebulosa ) during winter irruptive migrations |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z2012-047 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/z2012-047 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z2012-047 |
genre |
Strix nebulosa |
genre_facet |
Strix nebulosa |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 90, issue 7, page 787-797 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z2012-047 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
90 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
787 |
op_container_end_page |
797 |
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1797570723966877696 |