Reconstructing the paleo-ecological diet of snow petrels (Pagodroma nivea) from modern samples and fossil deposits : implications for southern ocean paleoenvironmental reconstructions ...

• Main Authors: Berg, S., Emmerson, L., Heim, C., Buchta, E., Fromm, T., Glaser, Bruno, Hermichen, W.-D., Rethemeyer, J., Southwell, C., Wand, U., Zech, M., Melles, Martin
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt 2023
• Subjects: 598; Antarctic; Nivea; Southern Ocean; Spit The; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Snow Petrel; Snow Petrels
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25673/103450; https://opendata.uni-halle.de//handle/1981185920/105404

Snow petrels (Pagodroma nivea), which are endemic to the Antarctic region, produce proventricular stomach oil from ingested food for feeding purposes but also spit the oil in the immediate surrounds of the nests, where it forms encrustations over time (Antarctic mumiyo). These deposits provide a unique opportunity to understand the paleo-ecological diet of snow petrels and because the seabirds forage in the ocean, they potentially provide an archive of past marine environmental conditions in the Southern Ocean. For validating methods for reconstructions we use compositional data obtained on modern stomach oils and DNA data from fecal samples of snow petrels. We find that the distribution of carboxylic acid compounds in modern stomach oils and in the fossil deposits are consistent with variable contributions of fish and krill, which are the main constituents of modern snow petrel diet, and allows inference of past changes in snow petrel diet from the fossil record. Analyses of mumiyo deposits from six regions ...