Molting strategies of Arctic seals drive annual patterns in metabolism

Arctic seals, including spotted (Phoca largha), ringed (Pusa hispida) and bearded (Erignathus barbatus) seals, are directly affected by sea ice loss. These species use sea ice as a haul-out substrate for various critical functions, including their annual molt. Continued environmental warming will in...

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Main Authors: Thometz, Nicole M, Hermann-Sorensen, Holly, Russell, Brandon, Rosen, David AS, Reichmuth, Colleen
Other Authors: Cooke, Steven
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: eScholarship, University of California 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5kg575zs
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spelling ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt5kg575zs 2023-09-05T13:17:07+02:00 Molting strategies of Arctic seals drive annual patterns in metabolism Thometz, Nicole M Hermann-Sorensen, Holly Russell, Brandon Rosen, David AS Reichmuth, Colleen Cooke, Steven coaa112- 2021-01-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5kg575zs unknown eScholarship, University of California qt5kg575zs https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5kg575zs public Conservation Physiology, vol 9, iss 1 Bearded seals climate change resting metabolic rate ringed seals sea ice loss spotted seals Environmental Sciences Biological Sciences article 2021 ftcdlib 2023-08-21T18:07:59Z Arctic seals, including spotted (Phoca largha), ringed (Pusa hispida) and bearded (Erignathus barbatus) seals, are directly affected by sea ice loss. These species use sea ice as a haul-out substrate for various critical functions, including their annual molt. Continued environmental warming will inevitably alter the routine behavior and overall energy budgets of Arctic seals, but it is difficult to quantify these impacts as their metabolic requirements are not well known-due in part to the difficulty of studying wild individuals. Thus, data pertaining to species-specific energy demands are urgently needed to better understand the physiological consequences of rapid environmental change. We used open-flow respirometry over a four-year period to track fine-scale, longitudinal changes in the resting metabolic rate (RMR) of four spotted seals, three ringed seals and one bearded seal trained to participate in research. Simultaneously, we collected complementary physiological and environmental data. Species-specific metabolic demands followed expected patterns based on body size, with the largest species, the bearded seal, exhibiting the highest absolute RMR (0.48 ± 0.04L O2 min-1) and the lowest mass-specific RMR (4.10 ± 0.47ml O2 min-1kg-1), followed by spotted (absolute: 0.33 ± 0.07L O2 min-1; mass-specific: 6.13 ± 0.73ml O2 min-1kg-1) and ringed (absolute: 0.20 ± 0.04L O2 min-1; mass-specific: 7.01 ± 1.38ml O2 min-1kg-1) seals. Further, we observed clear and consistent annual patterns in RMR that related to the distinct molting strategies of each species. For species that molted over relatively short intervals-spotted (33 ± 4days) and ringed (28 ± 6days) seals-metabolic demands increased markedly in association with molt. In contrast, the bearded seal exhibited a prolonged molting strategy (119 ± 2days), which appeared to limit the overall cost of molting as indicated by a relatively stable annual RMR. These findings highlight energetic trade-offs associated with different molting strategies and provide ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic bearded seal Climate change Erignathus barbatus Pusa hispida Sea ice University of California: eScholarship Arctic
institution Open Polar
collection University of California: eScholarship
op_collection_id ftcdlib
language unknown
topic Bearded seals
climate change
resting metabolic rate
ringed seals
sea ice loss
spotted seals
Environmental Sciences
Biological Sciences
spellingShingle Bearded seals
climate change
resting metabolic rate
ringed seals
sea ice loss
spotted seals
Environmental Sciences
Biological Sciences
Thometz, Nicole M
Hermann-Sorensen, Holly
Russell, Brandon
Rosen, David AS
Reichmuth, Colleen
Molting strategies of Arctic seals drive annual patterns in metabolism
topic_facet Bearded seals
climate change
resting metabolic rate
ringed seals
sea ice loss
spotted seals
Environmental Sciences
Biological Sciences
description Arctic seals, including spotted (Phoca largha), ringed (Pusa hispida) and bearded (Erignathus barbatus) seals, are directly affected by sea ice loss. These species use sea ice as a haul-out substrate for various critical functions, including their annual molt. Continued environmental warming will inevitably alter the routine behavior and overall energy budgets of Arctic seals, but it is difficult to quantify these impacts as their metabolic requirements are not well known-due in part to the difficulty of studying wild individuals. Thus, data pertaining to species-specific energy demands are urgently needed to better understand the physiological consequences of rapid environmental change. We used open-flow respirometry over a four-year period to track fine-scale, longitudinal changes in the resting metabolic rate (RMR) of four spotted seals, three ringed seals and one bearded seal trained to participate in research. Simultaneously, we collected complementary physiological and environmental data. Species-specific metabolic demands followed expected patterns based on body size, with the largest species, the bearded seal, exhibiting the highest absolute RMR (0.48 ± 0.04L O2 min-1) and the lowest mass-specific RMR (4.10 ± 0.47ml O2 min-1kg-1), followed by spotted (absolute: 0.33 ± 0.07L O2 min-1; mass-specific: 6.13 ± 0.73ml O2 min-1kg-1) and ringed (absolute: 0.20 ± 0.04L O2 min-1; mass-specific: 7.01 ± 1.38ml O2 min-1kg-1) seals. Further, we observed clear and consistent annual patterns in RMR that related to the distinct molting strategies of each species. For species that molted over relatively short intervals-spotted (33 ± 4days) and ringed (28 ± 6days) seals-metabolic demands increased markedly in association with molt. In contrast, the bearded seal exhibited a prolonged molting strategy (119 ± 2days), which appeared to limit the overall cost of molting as indicated by a relatively stable annual RMR. These findings highlight energetic trade-offs associated with different molting strategies and provide ...
author2 Cooke, Steven
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Thometz, Nicole M
Hermann-Sorensen, Holly
Russell, Brandon
Rosen, David AS
Reichmuth, Colleen
author_facet Thometz, Nicole M
Hermann-Sorensen, Holly
Russell, Brandon
Rosen, David AS
Reichmuth, Colleen
author_sort Thometz, Nicole M
title Molting strategies of Arctic seals drive annual patterns in metabolism
title_short Molting strategies of Arctic seals drive annual patterns in metabolism
title_full Molting strategies of Arctic seals drive annual patterns in metabolism
title_fullStr Molting strategies of Arctic seals drive annual patterns in metabolism
title_full_unstemmed Molting strategies of Arctic seals drive annual patterns in metabolism
title_sort molting strategies of arctic seals drive annual patterns in metabolism
publisher eScholarship, University of California
publishDate 2021
url https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5kg575zs
op_coverage coaa112-
geographic Arctic
geographic_facet Arctic
genre Arctic
bearded seal
Climate change
Erignathus barbatus
Pusa hispida
Sea ice
genre_facet Arctic
bearded seal
Climate change
Erignathus barbatus
Pusa hispida
Sea ice
op_source Conservation Physiology, vol 9, iss 1
op_relation qt5kg575zs
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5kg575zs
op_rights public
_version_ 1776198422031761408