Seasonal changes in diets of seabirds in the North Water Polynya: a multiple-indicator approach
Each year, millions of seabirds migrate to the North Water Polynya, northern Baffin Bay, to feed in its productive waters during the 6 months that the polynya is free of ice. We evaluated seasonal shifts in diets of 3 species using the North Water: dovekie Alle alle, thick-billed murre Uria lomvia,...
Published in: | Marine Ecology Progress Series |
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Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5fd9r9g4 https://escholarship.org/content/qt5fd9r9g4/qt5fd9r9g4.pdf https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07295 |
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt5fd9r9g4 2024-09-15T17:36:53+00:00 Seasonal changes in diets of seabirds in the North Water Polynya: a multiple-indicator approach Karnovsky, NJ Hobson, KA Iverson, S Hunt, GL 2008-04-07 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5fd9r9g4 https://escholarship.org/content/qt5fd9r9g4/qt5fd9r9g4.pdf https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07295 unknown eScholarship, University of California qt5fd9r9g4 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5fd9r9g4 https://escholarship.org/content/qt5fd9r9g4/qt5fd9r9g4.pdf doi:10.3354/meps07295 CC-BY diet assessment stomach contents stable isotope analysis fatty acid signatures seabird Arctic polynya Oceanography Ecology Zoology Marine Biology & Hydrobiology article 2008 ftcdlib https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07295 2024-06-28T06:28:20Z Each year, millions of seabirds migrate to the North Water Polynya, northern Baffin Bay, to feed in its productive waters during the 6 months that the polynya is free of ice. We evaluated seasonal shifts in diets of 3 species using the North Water: dovekie Alle alle, thick-billed murre Uria lomvia, and black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla. Diets were assessed through a combination of stable isotope analysis of muscle tissue, fatty acid analysis of subcutaneous fat, and stomach content analysis. Dovekies had the lowest δ15N values and hence lowest trophic level in spring and summer, corresponding to their consumption of herbivorous copepods. In fall, their δ15N values increased as they switched to feeding at a higher trophic level on primary carnivores such as amphipods and fish. Throughout the study period, kittiwakes and murres had stomach contents and stable isotope values similar to dovekies in fall. Fatty acid signatures of black-legged kittiwakes and dovekies feeding in fall were similar, likely due to the reliance of both species on the pteropod Limacina limacina. Our study highlights the seasonal nature of prey availability and seabird diets in the polynya, as well as the utility of simultaneously using conventional stomach content analysis and stable isotope and fatty acid analyses to infer dietary patterns in marine food webs. © Inter-Research 2008. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alle alle Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Black-legged Kittiwake Dovekie rissa tridactyla thick-billed murre Uria lomvia Copepods uria University of California: eScholarship Marine Ecology Progress Series 357 291 299 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
diet assessment stomach contents stable isotope analysis fatty acid signatures seabird Arctic polynya Oceanography Ecology Zoology Marine Biology & Hydrobiology |
spellingShingle |
diet assessment stomach contents stable isotope analysis fatty acid signatures seabird Arctic polynya Oceanography Ecology Zoology Marine Biology & Hydrobiology Karnovsky, NJ Hobson, KA Iverson, S Hunt, GL Seasonal changes in diets of seabirds in the North Water Polynya: a multiple-indicator approach |
topic_facet |
diet assessment stomach contents stable isotope analysis fatty acid signatures seabird Arctic polynya Oceanography Ecology Zoology Marine Biology & Hydrobiology |
description |
Each year, millions of seabirds migrate to the North Water Polynya, northern Baffin Bay, to feed in its productive waters during the 6 months that the polynya is free of ice. We evaluated seasonal shifts in diets of 3 species using the North Water: dovekie Alle alle, thick-billed murre Uria lomvia, and black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla. Diets were assessed through a combination of stable isotope analysis of muscle tissue, fatty acid analysis of subcutaneous fat, and stomach content analysis. Dovekies had the lowest δ15N values and hence lowest trophic level in spring and summer, corresponding to their consumption of herbivorous copepods. In fall, their δ15N values increased as they switched to feeding at a higher trophic level on primary carnivores such as amphipods and fish. Throughout the study period, kittiwakes and murres had stomach contents and stable isotope values similar to dovekies in fall. Fatty acid signatures of black-legged kittiwakes and dovekies feeding in fall were similar, likely due to the reliance of both species on the pteropod Limacina limacina. Our study highlights the seasonal nature of prey availability and seabird diets in the polynya, as well as the utility of simultaneously using conventional stomach content analysis and stable isotope and fatty acid analyses to infer dietary patterns in marine food webs. © Inter-Research 2008. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Karnovsky, NJ Hobson, KA Iverson, S Hunt, GL |
author_facet |
Karnovsky, NJ Hobson, KA Iverson, S Hunt, GL |
author_sort |
Karnovsky, NJ |
title |
Seasonal changes in diets of seabirds in the North Water Polynya: a multiple-indicator approach |
title_short |
Seasonal changes in diets of seabirds in the North Water Polynya: a multiple-indicator approach |
title_full |
Seasonal changes in diets of seabirds in the North Water Polynya: a multiple-indicator approach |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal changes in diets of seabirds in the North Water Polynya: a multiple-indicator approach |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal changes in diets of seabirds in the North Water Polynya: a multiple-indicator approach |
title_sort |
seasonal changes in diets of seabirds in the north water polynya: a multiple-indicator approach |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5fd9r9g4 https://escholarship.org/content/qt5fd9r9g4/qt5fd9r9g4.pdf https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07295 |
genre |
Alle alle Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Black-legged Kittiwake Dovekie rissa tridactyla thick-billed murre Uria lomvia Copepods uria |
genre_facet |
Alle alle Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Black-legged Kittiwake Dovekie rissa tridactyla thick-billed murre Uria lomvia Copepods uria |
op_relation |
qt5fd9r9g4 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5fd9r9g4 https://escholarship.org/content/qt5fd9r9g4/qt5fd9r9g4.pdf doi:10.3354/meps07295 |
op_rights |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07295 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
container_volume |
357 |
container_start_page |
291 |
op_container_end_page |
299 |
_version_ |
1810492713589538816 |