Seabird diving behaviour reveals the functional significance of shelf-sea fronts as foraging hotspots
Oceanic fronts are key habitats for a diverse range of marine predators, yet how they influence fine-scale foraging behaviour is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the dive behaviour of northern gannets Morus bassanus in relation to shelf-sea fronts. We GPS (global positioning system) tracked...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160317 https://doaj.org/article/91f8dd8c1cd349f3b4930b08a0d189e9 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:91f8dd8c1cd349f3b4930b08a0d189e9 2023-05-15T17:41:42+02:00 Seabird diving behaviour reveals the functional significance of shelf-sea fronts as foraging hotspots S. L. Cox P. I. Miller C. B. Embling K. L. Scales A. W. J. Bicknell P. J. Hosegood G. Morgan S. N. Ingram S. C. Votier 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160317 https://doaj.org/article/91f8dd8c1cd349f3b4930b08a0d189e9 EN eng The Royal Society https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.160317 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.160317 https://doaj.org/article/91f8dd8c1cd349f3b4930b08a0d189e9 Royal Society Open Science, Vol 3, Iss 9 (2016) seabird marine predator oceanography ocean front diving behaviour foraging ecology Science Q article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160317 2022-12-31T04:11:33Z Oceanic fronts are key habitats for a diverse range of marine predators, yet how they influence fine-scale foraging behaviour is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the dive behaviour of northern gannets Morus bassanus in relation to shelf-sea fronts. We GPS (global positioning system) tracked 53 breeding birds and examined the relationship between 1901 foraging dives (from time-depth recorders) and thermal fronts (identified via Earth Observation composite front mapping) in the Celtic Sea, Northeast Atlantic. We (i) used a habitat-use availability analysis to determine whether gannets preferentially dived at fronts, and (ii) compared dive characteristics in relation to fronts to investigate the functional significance of these oceanographic features. We found that relationships between gannet dive probabilities and fronts varied by frontal metric and sex. While both sexes were more likely to dive in the presence of seasonally persistent fronts, links to more ephemeral features were less clear. Here, males were positively correlated with distance to front and cross-front gradient strength, with the reverse for females. Both sexes performed two dive strategies: shallow V-shaped plunge dives with little or no active swim phase (92% of dives) and deeper U-shaped dives with an active pursuit phase of at least 3 s (8% of dives). When foraging around fronts, gannets were half as likely to engage in U-shaped dives compared with V-shaped dives, independent of sex. Moreover, V-shaped dive durations were significantly shortened around fronts. These behavioural responses support the assertion that fronts are important foraging habitats for marine predators, and suggest a possible mechanistic link between the two in terms of dive behaviour. This research also emphasizes the importance of cross-disciplinary research when attempting to understand marine ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northeast Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Royal Society Open Science 3 9 160317 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
seabird marine predator oceanography ocean front diving behaviour foraging ecology Science Q |
spellingShingle |
seabird marine predator oceanography ocean front diving behaviour foraging ecology Science Q S. L. Cox P. I. Miller C. B. Embling K. L. Scales A. W. J. Bicknell P. J. Hosegood G. Morgan S. N. Ingram S. C. Votier Seabird diving behaviour reveals the functional significance of shelf-sea fronts as foraging hotspots |
topic_facet |
seabird marine predator oceanography ocean front diving behaviour foraging ecology Science Q |
description |
Oceanic fronts are key habitats for a diverse range of marine predators, yet how they influence fine-scale foraging behaviour is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the dive behaviour of northern gannets Morus bassanus in relation to shelf-sea fronts. We GPS (global positioning system) tracked 53 breeding birds and examined the relationship between 1901 foraging dives (from time-depth recorders) and thermal fronts (identified via Earth Observation composite front mapping) in the Celtic Sea, Northeast Atlantic. We (i) used a habitat-use availability analysis to determine whether gannets preferentially dived at fronts, and (ii) compared dive characteristics in relation to fronts to investigate the functional significance of these oceanographic features. We found that relationships between gannet dive probabilities and fronts varied by frontal metric and sex. While both sexes were more likely to dive in the presence of seasonally persistent fronts, links to more ephemeral features were less clear. Here, males were positively correlated with distance to front and cross-front gradient strength, with the reverse for females. Both sexes performed two dive strategies: shallow V-shaped plunge dives with little or no active swim phase (92% of dives) and deeper U-shaped dives with an active pursuit phase of at least 3 s (8% of dives). When foraging around fronts, gannets were half as likely to engage in U-shaped dives compared with V-shaped dives, independent of sex. Moreover, V-shaped dive durations were significantly shortened around fronts. These behavioural responses support the assertion that fronts are important foraging habitats for marine predators, and suggest a possible mechanistic link between the two in terms of dive behaviour. This research also emphasizes the importance of cross-disciplinary research when attempting to understand marine ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
S. L. Cox P. I. Miller C. B. Embling K. L. Scales A. W. J. Bicknell P. J. Hosegood G. Morgan S. N. Ingram S. C. Votier |
author_facet |
S. L. Cox P. I. Miller C. B. Embling K. L. Scales A. W. J. Bicknell P. J. Hosegood G. Morgan S. N. Ingram S. C. Votier |
author_sort |
S. L. Cox |
title |
Seabird diving behaviour reveals the functional significance of shelf-sea fronts as foraging hotspots |
title_short |
Seabird diving behaviour reveals the functional significance of shelf-sea fronts as foraging hotspots |
title_full |
Seabird diving behaviour reveals the functional significance of shelf-sea fronts as foraging hotspots |
title_fullStr |
Seabird diving behaviour reveals the functional significance of shelf-sea fronts as foraging hotspots |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seabird diving behaviour reveals the functional significance of shelf-sea fronts as foraging hotspots |
title_sort |
seabird diving behaviour reveals the functional significance of shelf-sea fronts as foraging hotspots |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160317 https://doaj.org/article/91f8dd8c1cd349f3b4930b08a0d189e9 |
genre |
Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northeast Atlantic |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science, Vol 3, Iss 9 (2016) |
op_relation |
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.160317 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.160317 https://doaj.org/article/91f8dd8c1cd349f3b4930b08a0d189e9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160317 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
160317 |
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