Birds of a feather moult together: Differences in moulting distribution of four species of storm-petrels
The non-breeding period of pelagic seabirds, and particularly the moulting stage, is an important, but understudied part of their annual cycle as they are hardly accessible outside of the breeding period. Knowledge about the moulting ecology of seabirds is important to understand the challenges they...
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crplos:10.1371/journal.pone.0245756 2024-09-15T18:37:24+00:00 Birds of a feather moult together: Differences in moulting distribution of four species of storm-petrels Ausems, Anne N. M. A. Skrzypek, Grzegorz Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Katarzyna Jakubas, Dariusz Paiva, Vitor Hugo Rodrigues Narodowe Centrum Nauki 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245756 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245756 en eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PLOS ONE volume 16, issue 1, page e0245756 ISSN 1932-6203 journal-article 2021 crplos https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245756 2024-08-27T04:19:38Z The non-breeding period of pelagic seabirds, and particularly the moulting stage, is an important, but understudied part of their annual cycle as they are hardly accessible outside of the breeding period. Knowledge about the moulting ecology of seabirds is important to understand the challenges they face outside and within the breeding season. Here, we combined stable carbon ( δ 13 C) and oxygen ( δ 18 O) signatures of rectrices grown during the non-breeding period of two pairs of storm-petrel species breeding in the northern (European storm-petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus , ESP; Leach’s storm-petrel, Hydrobates leucorhous , LSP) and southern (black-bellied storm-petrel, Fregetta tropica , BBSP; Wilson’s storm-petrel, Oceanites oceanicus , WSP) hemispheres to determine differences in moulting ranges within and between species. To understand clustering patterns in δ 13 C and δ 18 O moulting signatures, we examined various variables: species, sexes, years, morphologies (feather growth rate, body mass, tarsus length, wing length) and δ 15 N. We found that different factors could explain the differences within and between the four species. We additionally employed a geographical distribution prediction model based on oceanic δ 13 C and δ 18 O isoscapes, combined with chlorophyll- a concentrations and observational data to predict potential moulting areas of the sampled feather type. The northern species were predicted to moult in temperate and tropical Atlantic zones. BBSP was predicted to moult on the southern hemisphere north of the Southern Ocean, while WSP was predicted to moult further North, including in the Arctic and northern Pacific. While moulting distribution can only be estimated on large geographical scales using δ 13 C and δ 18 O, validating predictive outcomes with food availability proxies and observational data may provide valuable insights into important moulting grounds. Establishing those, in turn, is important for conservation management of elusive pelagic seabirds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean PLOS PLOS ONE 16 1 e0245756 |
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Open Polar |
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PLOS |
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crplos |
language |
English |
description |
The non-breeding period of pelagic seabirds, and particularly the moulting stage, is an important, but understudied part of their annual cycle as they are hardly accessible outside of the breeding period. Knowledge about the moulting ecology of seabirds is important to understand the challenges they face outside and within the breeding season. Here, we combined stable carbon ( δ 13 C) and oxygen ( δ 18 O) signatures of rectrices grown during the non-breeding period of two pairs of storm-petrel species breeding in the northern (European storm-petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus , ESP; Leach’s storm-petrel, Hydrobates leucorhous , LSP) and southern (black-bellied storm-petrel, Fregetta tropica , BBSP; Wilson’s storm-petrel, Oceanites oceanicus , WSP) hemispheres to determine differences in moulting ranges within and between species. To understand clustering patterns in δ 13 C and δ 18 O moulting signatures, we examined various variables: species, sexes, years, morphologies (feather growth rate, body mass, tarsus length, wing length) and δ 15 N. We found that different factors could explain the differences within and between the four species. We additionally employed a geographical distribution prediction model based on oceanic δ 13 C and δ 18 O isoscapes, combined with chlorophyll- a concentrations and observational data to predict potential moulting areas of the sampled feather type. The northern species were predicted to moult in temperate and tropical Atlantic zones. BBSP was predicted to moult on the southern hemisphere north of the Southern Ocean, while WSP was predicted to moult further North, including in the Arctic and northern Pacific. While moulting distribution can only be estimated on large geographical scales using δ 13 C and δ 18 O, validating predictive outcomes with food availability proxies and observational data may provide valuable insights into important moulting grounds. Establishing those, in turn, is important for conservation management of elusive pelagic seabirds. |
author2 |
Paiva, Vitor Hugo Rodrigues Narodowe Centrum Nauki |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ausems, Anne N. M. A. Skrzypek, Grzegorz Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Katarzyna Jakubas, Dariusz |
spellingShingle |
Ausems, Anne N. M. A. Skrzypek, Grzegorz Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Katarzyna Jakubas, Dariusz Birds of a feather moult together: Differences in moulting distribution of four species of storm-petrels |
author_facet |
Ausems, Anne N. M. A. Skrzypek, Grzegorz Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Katarzyna Jakubas, Dariusz |
author_sort |
Ausems, Anne N. M. A. |
title |
Birds of a feather moult together: Differences in moulting distribution of four species of storm-petrels |
title_short |
Birds of a feather moult together: Differences in moulting distribution of four species of storm-petrels |
title_full |
Birds of a feather moult together: Differences in moulting distribution of four species of storm-petrels |
title_fullStr |
Birds of a feather moult together: Differences in moulting distribution of four species of storm-petrels |
title_full_unstemmed |
Birds of a feather moult together: Differences in moulting distribution of four species of storm-petrels |
title_sort |
birds of a feather moult together: differences in moulting distribution of four species of storm-petrels |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245756 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245756 |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_source |
PLOS ONE volume 16, issue 1, page e0245756 ISSN 1932-6203 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245756 |
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PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
e0245756 |
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1810481761505771520 |