Taking the Bite Out of Winter: Common Murres (Uria aalge) Push Their Dive Limits to Surmount Energy Constraints
Diving seabirds that overwinter at high latitudes experience persistent cold exposure, short days and associated declines in ocean productivity that can challenge their ability to balance daily energy budgets. We used dive-immersion geo-locators to test the hypothesis that pursuit-diving Common murr...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00063 https://doaj.org/article/207c67a9b17f40ddb2a9aafb8bff09a9 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:207c67a9b17f40ddb2a9aafb8bff09a9 2023-05-15T15:56:05+02:00 Taking the Bite Out of Winter: Common Murres (Uria aalge) Push Their Dive Limits to Surmount Energy Constraints Chantelle M. Burke William A. Montevecchi 2018-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00063 https://doaj.org/article/207c67a9b17f40ddb2a9aafb8bff09a9 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2018.00063/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00063 https://doaj.org/article/207c67a9b17f40ddb2a9aafb8bff09a9 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 5 (2018) winter survival North Atlantic daily energy expenditure diving seabird flexible foraging behavior common murre Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00063 2022-12-31T14:24:42Z Diving seabirds that overwinter at high latitudes experience persistent cold exposure, short days and associated declines in ocean productivity that can challenge their ability to balance daily energy budgets. We used dive-immersion geo-locators to test the hypothesis that pursuit-diving Common murres (Uria aalge) will respond to the challenges of winter in the North Atlantic through increased daily energy expenditures (DEE) that will be met by increased foraging effort and adjustments in dive tactics. Largely flightless in winter (<5% of daylight hours flying), murres spent most of their time on the water (>85% resting and swimming). Accordingly, when sea surface temperatures (SST) were consistently near freezing in late winter (1.9 ± 0.8°C), mean DEE (2463.2 ± 10.9 kJ day−1) exceeded the theoretical limit to sustainable energy expenditure in vertebrates (i.e., 7 X Basal Metabolic Rate or 2450 kJ day−1 for murres). Consistently deep (70% >50 m) and long dives in late winter, 38% of which exceeded their calculated aerobic dive limit indicate that targeted prey was distributed in deep (dark) waters. Consequently, foraging was largely diurnal; likely because capture efficiency of deep-water prey is poor under low light. Murres responded to these late winter time and energy constraints with a nearly two-fold increase in daily time spent diving (95.2 ± 5.6 and 178.3 ± 6.3 min day−1 during early and late winter, respectively), an increase in dive bout frequency and duration, and correspondingly less time resting between bouts. Uniquely adapted for deep-diving, pursuit-diving can push their dive limits to maximize daily energy intake when energy demands are high and prey are distributed in deep water. Our study highlights late winter as an extremely challenging phase in the annual cycle of North Atlantic murres and provides critical insights into the behavioral mechanisms underlying their winter survival. Article in Journal/Newspaper Common Murre North Atlantic Uria aalge uria Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Dee ENVELOPE(-59.767,-59.767,-62.433,-62.433) Frontiers in Marine Science 5 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
winter survival North Atlantic daily energy expenditure diving seabird flexible foraging behavior common murre Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
winter survival North Atlantic daily energy expenditure diving seabird flexible foraging behavior common murre Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Chantelle M. Burke William A. Montevecchi Taking the Bite Out of Winter: Common Murres (Uria aalge) Push Their Dive Limits to Surmount Energy Constraints |
topic_facet |
winter survival North Atlantic daily energy expenditure diving seabird flexible foraging behavior common murre Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Diving seabirds that overwinter at high latitudes experience persistent cold exposure, short days and associated declines in ocean productivity that can challenge their ability to balance daily energy budgets. We used dive-immersion geo-locators to test the hypothesis that pursuit-diving Common murres (Uria aalge) will respond to the challenges of winter in the North Atlantic through increased daily energy expenditures (DEE) that will be met by increased foraging effort and adjustments in dive tactics. Largely flightless in winter (<5% of daylight hours flying), murres spent most of their time on the water (>85% resting and swimming). Accordingly, when sea surface temperatures (SST) were consistently near freezing in late winter (1.9 ± 0.8°C), mean DEE (2463.2 ± 10.9 kJ day−1) exceeded the theoretical limit to sustainable energy expenditure in vertebrates (i.e., 7 X Basal Metabolic Rate or 2450 kJ day−1 for murres). Consistently deep (70% >50 m) and long dives in late winter, 38% of which exceeded their calculated aerobic dive limit indicate that targeted prey was distributed in deep (dark) waters. Consequently, foraging was largely diurnal; likely because capture efficiency of deep-water prey is poor under low light. Murres responded to these late winter time and energy constraints with a nearly two-fold increase in daily time spent diving (95.2 ± 5.6 and 178.3 ± 6.3 min day−1 during early and late winter, respectively), an increase in dive bout frequency and duration, and correspondingly less time resting between bouts. Uniquely adapted for deep-diving, pursuit-diving can push their dive limits to maximize daily energy intake when energy demands are high and prey are distributed in deep water. Our study highlights late winter as an extremely challenging phase in the annual cycle of North Atlantic murres and provides critical insights into the behavioral mechanisms underlying their winter survival. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chantelle M. Burke William A. Montevecchi |
author_facet |
Chantelle M. Burke William A. Montevecchi |
author_sort |
Chantelle M. Burke |
title |
Taking the Bite Out of Winter: Common Murres (Uria aalge) Push Their Dive Limits to Surmount Energy Constraints |
title_short |
Taking the Bite Out of Winter: Common Murres (Uria aalge) Push Their Dive Limits to Surmount Energy Constraints |
title_full |
Taking the Bite Out of Winter: Common Murres (Uria aalge) Push Their Dive Limits to Surmount Energy Constraints |
title_fullStr |
Taking the Bite Out of Winter: Common Murres (Uria aalge) Push Their Dive Limits to Surmount Energy Constraints |
title_full_unstemmed |
Taking the Bite Out of Winter: Common Murres (Uria aalge) Push Their Dive Limits to Surmount Energy Constraints |
title_sort |
taking the bite out of winter: common murres (uria aalge) push their dive limits to surmount energy constraints |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00063 https://doaj.org/article/207c67a9b17f40ddb2a9aafb8bff09a9 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-59.767,-59.767,-62.433,-62.433) |
geographic |
Dee |
geographic_facet |
Dee |
genre |
Common Murre North Atlantic Uria aalge uria |
genre_facet |
Common Murre North Atlantic Uria aalge uria |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 5 (2018) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2018.00063/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00063 https://doaj.org/article/207c67a9b17f40ddb2a9aafb8bff09a9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00063 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
5 |
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1766391563106123776 |