Modeling the functional link between movement, feeding activity, and condition in a marine predator
Abstract The ability to quantify animals’ feeding activity and the resulting changes in their body condition as they move in the environment is fundamental to our understanding of a population’s ecology. We use satellite tracking data from northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), paired wi...
Published in: | Behavioral Ecology |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary183 http://academic.oup.com/beheco/article-pdf/30/2/434/28739080/ary183.pdf |
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croxfordunivpr:10.1093/beheco/ary183 2024-02-11T10:03:32+01:00 Modeling the functional link between movement, feeding activity, and condition in a marine predator Pirotta, Enrico Schwarz, Lisa K Costa, Daniel P Robinson, Patrick W New, Leslie Office of Naval Research National Ocean Partnership Program Marine Life Joint Industry Project 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary183 http://academic.oup.com/beheco/article-pdf/30/2/434/28739080/ary183.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model Behavioral Ecology volume 30, issue 2, page 434-445 ISSN 1045-2249 1465-7279 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2018 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary183 2024-01-12T10:11:37Z Abstract The ability to quantify animals’ feeding activity and the resulting changes in their body condition as they move in the environment is fundamental to our understanding of a population’s ecology. We use satellite tracking data from northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), paired with simultaneous diving information, to develop a Bayesian state-space model that concurrently estimates an individual’s location, feeding activity, and changes in condition. The model identifies important foraging areas and times, the relative amount of feeding occurring therein, and thus the different behavioral strategies in which the seals engage. The fitness implications of these strategies can be assessed by looking at the resulting variation in individuals’ condition, which in turn affects the condition and survival of their offspring. Therefore, our results shed light on the processes affecting an individual’s decision-making as it moves and feeds in the environment. In addition, we demonstrate how the model can be used to simulate realistic patterns of disturbance at different stages of the trip, and how the predicted accumulation of lipid reserves varies as a consequence. Particularly, disturbing an animal in periods of high feeding activity or shortly after leaving the colony was predicted to have the potential to lead to starvation. In contrast, an individual could compensate even for very severe disturbance if such disturbance occurred outside the main foraging grounds. Our modeling approach is applicable to marine mammal species that perform drift dives and can be extended to other species where an individual’s buoyancy can be inferred from its diving behavior. Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seals Oxford University Press Behavioral Ecology 30 2 434 445 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Oxford University Press |
op_collection_id |
croxfordunivpr |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Pirotta, Enrico Schwarz, Lisa K Costa, Daniel P Robinson, Patrick W New, Leslie Modeling the functional link between movement, feeding activity, and condition in a marine predator |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Abstract The ability to quantify animals’ feeding activity and the resulting changes in their body condition as they move in the environment is fundamental to our understanding of a population’s ecology. We use satellite tracking data from northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), paired with simultaneous diving information, to develop a Bayesian state-space model that concurrently estimates an individual’s location, feeding activity, and changes in condition. The model identifies important foraging areas and times, the relative amount of feeding occurring therein, and thus the different behavioral strategies in which the seals engage. The fitness implications of these strategies can be assessed by looking at the resulting variation in individuals’ condition, which in turn affects the condition and survival of their offspring. Therefore, our results shed light on the processes affecting an individual’s decision-making as it moves and feeds in the environment. In addition, we demonstrate how the model can be used to simulate realistic patterns of disturbance at different stages of the trip, and how the predicted accumulation of lipid reserves varies as a consequence. Particularly, disturbing an animal in periods of high feeding activity or shortly after leaving the colony was predicted to have the potential to lead to starvation. In contrast, an individual could compensate even for very severe disturbance if such disturbance occurred outside the main foraging grounds. Our modeling approach is applicable to marine mammal species that perform drift dives and can be extended to other species where an individual’s buoyancy can be inferred from its diving behavior. |
author2 |
Office of Naval Research National Ocean Partnership Program Marine Life Joint Industry Project |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pirotta, Enrico Schwarz, Lisa K Costa, Daniel P Robinson, Patrick W New, Leslie |
author_facet |
Pirotta, Enrico Schwarz, Lisa K Costa, Daniel P Robinson, Patrick W New, Leslie |
author_sort |
Pirotta, Enrico |
title |
Modeling the functional link between movement, feeding activity, and condition in a marine predator |
title_short |
Modeling the functional link between movement, feeding activity, and condition in a marine predator |
title_full |
Modeling the functional link between movement, feeding activity, and condition in a marine predator |
title_fullStr |
Modeling the functional link between movement, feeding activity, and condition in a marine predator |
title_full_unstemmed |
Modeling the functional link between movement, feeding activity, and condition in a marine predator |
title_sort |
modeling the functional link between movement, feeding activity, and condition in a marine predator |
publisher |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary183 http://academic.oup.com/beheco/article-pdf/30/2/434/28739080/ary183.pdf |
genre |
Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seals |
op_source |
Behavioral Ecology volume 30, issue 2, page 434-445 ISSN 1045-2249 1465-7279 |
op_rights |
https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary183 |
container_title |
Behavioral Ecology |
container_volume |
30 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
434 |
op_container_end_page |
445 |
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1790599800071127040 |