Niche switching and leapfrog foraging: movement ecology of sympatric petrels during the early breeding season
Abstract Background The timing of events in the early part of the breeding season is crucially important for successful reproduction. Long-lived animals that migrate large distances independently of each other meet at the breeding sites to re-establish their pair bonds and coordinate their breeding...
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ftdatacite:10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5000273 2023-05-15T13:55:45+02:00 Niche switching and leapfrog foraging: movement ecology of sympatric petrels during the early breeding season Quillfeldt, Petra Weimerskirch, Henri Delord, Karine Cherel, Yves 2020 https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5000273 https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/Niche_switching_and_leapfrog_foraging_movement_ecology_of_sympatric_petrels_during_the_early_breeding_season/5000273 unknown figshare https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40462-020-00212-y CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Ecology FOS Biological sciences Collection article 2020 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5000273 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-020-00212-y 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z Abstract Background The timing of events in the early part of the breeding season is crucially important for successful reproduction. Long-lived animals that migrate large distances independently of each other meet at the breeding sites to re-establish their pair bonds and coordinate their breeding duties with their partners. Methods Using miniature light-geolocation and immersion data together with blood stable isotopes, we studied the early breeding season in Thin-billed prions Pachyptila belcheri, Antarctic prions P. desolata and Blue petrels Halobaena caerulea breeding at Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean. These three species exhibit differences in their winter habitat and timing of migration, moult and breeding. We hypothesised that these differences would influence their behaviour during the early breeding season. Results In line with our hypothesis, we found clear differences not only in the timing of colony attendance, but also in the time budgets while at sea and in habitat use. Both early breeding Blue petrels and late breeding Antarctic prions spent about 8 h per day in flight and 15 h foraging. In comparison, Thin-billed prions, which breed in mid-summer, spent less time (5 h daily) in flight and more time (18 h daily) foraging, thus maximizing the time spent foraging during the longest daylight days of the year. While the ecological habitat parameters (sea temperature, wind, productivity) of Thin-billed prions and Blue petrels were relatively stable throughout the year, Antarctic prions showed clear niche switching, caused by leapfrogging between the northernmost winter distribution to the southernmost distribution during the early breeding season. Blood stable isotopes confirmed the habitat switch between the inter-breeding and early breeding periods and highlighted trophic segregation with Blue petrels feeding more on fish and Antarctic petrels more on crustaceans during the early breeding period. Conclusion We found that the three sympatric petrel species segregated in time and space, both in the winter and the early breeding season. The interplay of timing and distribution meant that the three species show the full range of migratory strategies, from niche-tracking Blue petrels to niche-switching Antarctic prions. The latitudinal distribution resembled the leapfrogging of terrestrial avian migrant species or populations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Kerguelen Islands DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Antarctic Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Indian |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftdatacite |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Ecology FOS Biological sciences |
spellingShingle |
Ecology FOS Biological sciences Quillfeldt, Petra Weimerskirch, Henri Delord, Karine Cherel, Yves Niche switching and leapfrog foraging: movement ecology of sympatric petrels during the early breeding season |
topic_facet |
Ecology FOS Biological sciences |
description |
Abstract Background The timing of events in the early part of the breeding season is crucially important for successful reproduction. Long-lived animals that migrate large distances independently of each other meet at the breeding sites to re-establish their pair bonds and coordinate their breeding duties with their partners. Methods Using miniature light-geolocation and immersion data together with blood stable isotopes, we studied the early breeding season in Thin-billed prions Pachyptila belcheri, Antarctic prions P. desolata and Blue petrels Halobaena caerulea breeding at Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean. These three species exhibit differences in their winter habitat and timing of migration, moult and breeding. We hypothesised that these differences would influence their behaviour during the early breeding season. Results In line with our hypothesis, we found clear differences not only in the timing of colony attendance, but also in the time budgets while at sea and in habitat use. Both early breeding Blue petrels and late breeding Antarctic prions spent about 8 h per day in flight and 15 h foraging. In comparison, Thin-billed prions, which breed in mid-summer, spent less time (5 h daily) in flight and more time (18 h daily) foraging, thus maximizing the time spent foraging during the longest daylight days of the year. While the ecological habitat parameters (sea temperature, wind, productivity) of Thin-billed prions and Blue petrels were relatively stable throughout the year, Antarctic prions showed clear niche switching, caused by leapfrogging between the northernmost winter distribution to the southernmost distribution during the early breeding season. Blood stable isotopes confirmed the habitat switch between the inter-breeding and early breeding periods and highlighted trophic segregation with Blue petrels feeding more on fish and Antarctic petrels more on crustaceans during the early breeding period. Conclusion We found that the three sympatric petrel species segregated in time and space, both in the winter and the early breeding season. The interplay of timing and distribution meant that the three species show the full range of migratory strategies, from niche-tracking Blue petrels to niche-switching Antarctic prions. The latitudinal distribution resembled the leapfrogging of terrestrial avian migrant species or populations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Quillfeldt, Petra Weimerskirch, Henri Delord, Karine Cherel, Yves |
author_facet |
Quillfeldt, Petra Weimerskirch, Henri Delord, Karine Cherel, Yves |
author_sort |
Quillfeldt, Petra |
title |
Niche switching and leapfrog foraging: movement ecology of sympatric petrels during the early breeding season |
title_short |
Niche switching and leapfrog foraging: movement ecology of sympatric petrels during the early breeding season |
title_full |
Niche switching and leapfrog foraging: movement ecology of sympatric petrels during the early breeding season |
title_fullStr |
Niche switching and leapfrog foraging: movement ecology of sympatric petrels during the early breeding season |
title_full_unstemmed |
Niche switching and leapfrog foraging: movement ecology of sympatric petrels during the early breeding season |
title_sort |
niche switching and leapfrog foraging: movement ecology of sympatric petrels during the early breeding season |
publisher |
figshare |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5000273 https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/Niche_switching_and_leapfrog_foraging_movement_ecology_of_sympatric_petrels_during_the_early_breeding_season/5000273 |
geographic |
Antarctic Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Indian |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Indian |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Kerguelen Islands |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Kerguelen Islands |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40462-020-00212-y |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5000273 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-020-00212-y |
_version_ |
1766262596489445376 |