Testing olfactory foraging strategies in an Antarctic seabird assemblage
Procellariiform seabirds (petrels, albatrosses and shearwaters) forage over thousands of square kilometres for patchily distributed prey resources. While these birds are known for their large olfactory bulbs and excellent sense of smell, how they use odour cues to locate prey patches in the vast oce...
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2004
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/12315/ http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/207/20/3537 |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:12315 2023-05-15T13:45:11+02:00 Testing olfactory foraging strategies in an Antarctic seabird assemblage Nevitt, Gabrielle Reid, Keith Trathan, Phil 2004 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/12315/ http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/207/20/3537 unknown Company of Biologists Ltd Nevitt, Gabrielle; Reid, Keith; Trathan, Phil orcid:0000-0001-6673-9930 . 2004 Testing olfactory foraging strategies in an Antarctic seabird assemblage. Journal of Experimental Biology, 207 (20). 3537-3544. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01198 <https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01198> Marine Sciences Biology and Microbiology Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2004 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01198 2023-02-04T19:27:55Z Procellariiform seabirds (petrels, albatrosses and shearwaters) forage over thousands of square kilometres for patchily distributed prey resources. While these birds are known for their large olfactory bulbs and excellent sense of smell, how they use odour cues to locate prey patches in the vast ocean is not well understood. Here, we investigate species-specific responses to 3-methyl pyrazine in a sub-Antarctic species assemblage near South Georgia Island (54degrees00' S, 36degrees00' W). Pyrazines are scented compounds found in macerated Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), a primary prey item for many seabird species in this region. To examine behavioural attraction to this odour, we presented birds with either scented or 'unscented' vegetable oil slicks at sea. As a positive control for our experiments, we also compared birds' responses to a general olfactory attractant, herring oil. Responses to pyrazine were both highly species specific and consistent with results from earlier studies investigating responses to crude krill extracts. For example, Cape petrels (Daption capense), giant petrels (Macronectes sp.) and white-chinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis) were sighted at least 1.8-4 times as often at pyrazine-scented slicks than at control slicks. Black-browed albatrosses (Diomedea melanophris) were only sighted at pyrazine-scented slicks and never at control slicks. Wilson's storm-petrels (Oceanites oceanicus), black-bellied storm-petrels(Fregetta tropica), great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) and prions (Pachyptila sp.) were sighted with equal frequency at control and pyrazine-scented slicks. As expected, responses to herring oil were more common. With the exception of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis), each of these species was sighted up to five times as often at slicks scented with herring oil compared with control slicks. Together, the results support the hypothesis that Antarctic procellariiforms use species-specific foraging strategies that are inter-dependent and more complex than simply ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Cape Petrels Daption capense Euphausia superba Giant Petrels South Georgia Island Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic South Georgia Island ENVELOPE(-36.750,-36.750,-54.250,-54.250) Journal of Experimental Biology 207 20 3537 3544 |
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Open Polar |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
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topic |
Marine Sciences Biology and Microbiology |
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Marine Sciences Biology and Microbiology Nevitt, Gabrielle Reid, Keith Trathan, Phil Testing olfactory foraging strategies in an Antarctic seabird assemblage |
topic_facet |
Marine Sciences Biology and Microbiology |
description |
Procellariiform seabirds (petrels, albatrosses and shearwaters) forage over thousands of square kilometres for patchily distributed prey resources. While these birds are known for their large olfactory bulbs and excellent sense of smell, how they use odour cues to locate prey patches in the vast ocean is not well understood. Here, we investigate species-specific responses to 3-methyl pyrazine in a sub-Antarctic species assemblage near South Georgia Island (54degrees00' S, 36degrees00' W). Pyrazines are scented compounds found in macerated Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), a primary prey item for many seabird species in this region. To examine behavioural attraction to this odour, we presented birds with either scented or 'unscented' vegetable oil slicks at sea. As a positive control for our experiments, we also compared birds' responses to a general olfactory attractant, herring oil. Responses to pyrazine were both highly species specific and consistent with results from earlier studies investigating responses to crude krill extracts. For example, Cape petrels (Daption capense), giant petrels (Macronectes sp.) and white-chinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis) were sighted at least 1.8-4 times as often at pyrazine-scented slicks than at control slicks. Black-browed albatrosses (Diomedea melanophris) were only sighted at pyrazine-scented slicks and never at control slicks. Wilson's storm-petrels (Oceanites oceanicus), black-bellied storm-petrels(Fregetta tropica), great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) and prions (Pachyptila sp.) were sighted with equal frequency at control and pyrazine-scented slicks. As expected, responses to herring oil were more common. With the exception of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis), each of these species was sighted up to five times as often at slicks scented with herring oil compared with control slicks. Together, the results support the hypothesis that Antarctic procellariiforms use species-specific foraging strategies that are inter-dependent and more complex than simply ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nevitt, Gabrielle Reid, Keith Trathan, Phil |
author_facet |
Nevitt, Gabrielle Reid, Keith Trathan, Phil |
author_sort |
Nevitt, Gabrielle |
title |
Testing olfactory foraging strategies in an Antarctic seabird assemblage |
title_short |
Testing olfactory foraging strategies in an Antarctic seabird assemblage |
title_full |
Testing olfactory foraging strategies in an Antarctic seabird assemblage |
title_fullStr |
Testing olfactory foraging strategies in an Antarctic seabird assemblage |
title_full_unstemmed |
Testing olfactory foraging strategies in an Antarctic seabird assemblage |
title_sort |
testing olfactory foraging strategies in an antarctic seabird assemblage |
publisher |
Company of Biologists Ltd |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/12315/ http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/207/20/3537 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-36.750,-36.750,-54.250,-54.250) |
geographic |
Antarctic South Georgia Island |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic South Georgia Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Cape Petrels Daption capense Euphausia superba Giant Petrels South Georgia Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Cape Petrels Daption capense Euphausia superba Giant Petrels South Georgia Island |
op_relation |
Nevitt, Gabrielle; Reid, Keith; Trathan, Phil orcid:0000-0001-6673-9930 . 2004 Testing olfactory foraging strategies in an Antarctic seabird assemblage. Journal of Experimental Biology, 207 (20). 3537-3544. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01198 <https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01198> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01198 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Biology |
container_volume |
207 |
container_issue |
20 |
container_start_page |
3537 |
op_container_end_page |
3544 |
_version_ |
1766215026774900736 |