Use of stable isotopes to quantify seasonal changes of trophic niche and levels of population and individual specialisation in seabirds
International audience Niche variation is a widespread phenomenon that has important implications for ecological interactions and conservation biology, but few studies have quantified the trophic niche width (TNW) and its within- and between-individual components. We used stable isotopes of body fea...
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ftinsu:oai:HAL:hal-00527743v1 2023-05-15T18:25:47+02:00 Use of stable isotopes to quantify seasonal changes of trophic niche and levels of population and individual specialisation in seabirds Jaeger, Audrey Connan, Maëlle Richard, Pierre Cherel, Yves Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMR 7266 (LIENSs) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2010-10-20 https://hal.science/hal-00527743 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08380 en eng HAL CCSD Inter Research info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3354/meps08380 hal-00527743 https://hal.science/hal-00527743 doi:10.3354/meps08380 ISSN: 0171-8630 EISSN: 1616-1599 Marine Ecology Progress Series https://hal.science/hal-00527743 Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2010, 401, pp.269-277. ⟨10.3354/meps08380⟩ [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2010 ftinsu https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08380 2023-02-08T17:43:09Z International audience Niche variation is a widespread phenomenon that has important implications for ecological interactions and conservation biology, but few studies have quantified the trophic niche width (TNW) and its within- and between-individual components. We used stable isotopes of body feathers to investigate (1) seasonal isotopic niche changes of 4 southern procellariiforms and, (2) the level to which individuals are specialised relative to their population within each season. (1) δ13C and δ15N values of chicks and adults indicated a well-defined trophic segregation within the seabird assemblage during both the breeding and poorly known moulting (inter-nesting) periods, and they underlined marked species-specific seasonal changes. One species (light-mantled sooty albatross) remained within the Southern Ocean both during breeding and body feather moult, while the 3 others migrated either to oceanic subtropical waters (wandering and sooty albatrosses) or high isotopic marine areas (e.g. productive neritic waters; white-chinned petrel) during the moulting period. (2) Isotopic variances and TNW were generally low, indicating that birds belong to isotopic specialist populations within a given period. Variances and TNW were larger for white-chinned petrel chicks and light-mantled sooty albatross adults, respectively, indicating isotopic generalist populations and revealing 2 new foraging behaviours. Individual white-chinned petrel chicks segregated by their feather isotopic signatures, thus indicating individual/pair specialisation of parent birds during the chick-rearing period. The light-mantled sooty albatross population included mostly isotopic generalist individuals during the moulting period, with individuals using different habitats and diets. The study highlights the utility of feather isotopic signature for determining TNW and points out the necessity to develop such new approaches to better depict niche variations at both population and individual levels. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU Southern Ocean Marine Ecology Progress Series 401 269 277 |
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Open Polar |
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Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU |
op_collection_id |
ftinsu |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDE]Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
[SDE]Environmental Sciences Jaeger, Audrey Connan, Maëlle Richard, Pierre Cherel, Yves Use of stable isotopes to quantify seasonal changes of trophic niche and levels of population and individual specialisation in seabirds |
topic_facet |
[SDE]Environmental Sciences |
description |
International audience Niche variation is a widespread phenomenon that has important implications for ecological interactions and conservation biology, but few studies have quantified the trophic niche width (TNW) and its within- and between-individual components. We used stable isotopes of body feathers to investigate (1) seasonal isotopic niche changes of 4 southern procellariiforms and, (2) the level to which individuals are specialised relative to their population within each season. (1) δ13C and δ15N values of chicks and adults indicated a well-defined trophic segregation within the seabird assemblage during both the breeding and poorly known moulting (inter-nesting) periods, and they underlined marked species-specific seasonal changes. One species (light-mantled sooty albatross) remained within the Southern Ocean both during breeding and body feather moult, while the 3 others migrated either to oceanic subtropical waters (wandering and sooty albatrosses) or high isotopic marine areas (e.g. productive neritic waters; white-chinned petrel) during the moulting period. (2) Isotopic variances and TNW were generally low, indicating that birds belong to isotopic specialist populations within a given period. Variances and TNW were larger for white-chinned petrel chicks and light-mantled sooty albatross adults, respectively, indicating isotopic generalist populations and revealing 2 new foraging behaviours. Individual white-chinned petrel chicks segregated by their feather isotopic signatures, thus indicating individual/pair specialisation of parent birds during the chick-rearing period. The light-mantled sooty albatross population included mostly isotopic generalist individuals during the moulting period, with individuals using different habitats and diets. The study highlights the utility of feather isotopic signature for determining TNW and points out the necessity to develop such new approaches to better depict niche variations at both population and individual levels. |
author2 |
Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMR 7266 (LIENSs) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jaeger, Audrey Connan, Maëlle Richard, Pierre Cherel, Yves |
author_facet |
Jaeger, Audrey Connan, Maëlle Richard, Pierre Cherel, Yves |
author_sort |
Jaeger, Audrey |
title |
Use of stable isotopes to quantify seasonal changes of trophic niche and levels of population and individual specialisation in seabirds |
title_short |
Use of stable isotopes to quantify seasonal changes of trophic niche and levels of population and individual specialisation in seabirds |
title_full |
Use of stable isotopes to quantify seasonal changes of trophic niche and levels of population and individual specialisation in seabirds |
title_fullStr |
Use of stable isotopes to quantify seasonal changes of trophic niche and levels of population and individual specialisation in seabirds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Use of stable isotopes to quantify seasonal changes of trophic niche and levels of population and individual specialisation in seabirds |
title_sort |
use of stable isotopes to quantify seasonal changes of trophic niche and levels of population and individual specialisation in seabirds |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00527743 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08380 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_source |
ISSN: 0171-8630 EISSN: 1616-1599 Marine Ecology Progress Series https://hal.science/hal-00527743 Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2010, 401, pp.269-277. ⟨10.3354/meps08380⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3354/meps08380 hal-00527743 https://hal.science/hal-00527743 doi:10.3354/meps08380 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08380 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
container_volume |
401 |
container_start_page |
269 |
op_container_end_page |
277 |
_version_ |
1766207436524355584 |