Local weather and body condition influence habitat use and movements on land of molting female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina)
Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) are known to move and aggregate while molting, but little is known about their behavior on land during this time. In this study, 60 adult females were monitored (23 with GPS tags) during four molting seasons, between 2012 and 2016 at Kerguelen Archipelago,...
Published in: | Ecology and Evolution |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
John Wiley and Sons Inc.
2018
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024128/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29988430 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4049 |
id |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:6024128 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:6024128 2023-05-15T16:05:37+02:00 Local weather and body condition influence habitat use and movements on land of molting female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) Chaise, Laureline L. Prinet, Iris Toscani, Camille Gallon, Susan L. Paterson, William McCafferty, Dominic J. Théry, Marc Ancel, André Gilbert, Caroline 2018-05-20 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024128/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29988430 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4049 en eng John Wiley and Sons Inc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024128/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29988430 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4049 © 2018 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. CC-BY Original Research Text 2018 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4049 2018-07-15T00:13:48Z Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) are known to move and aggregate while molting, but little is known about their behavior on land during this time. In this study, 60 adult females were monitored (23 with GPS tags) during four molting seasons, between 2012 and 2016 at Kerguelen Archipelago, Indian Ocean. Population surveys were recorded each year (N = 230 daily counts), and habitat use was analyzed in relation to the stage of the molt and local weather. Based on stage of molt, habitat use, and movements on land, we classified the molt of elephant seals into three phases: (1) a “search phase” at the initial stage of molt when grass and wallow habitats were used and characterized by greater mean distances travelled on land per day compared with the two other phases; (2) a “resident phase”: during initial and mid‐stage of molt when animals were found in grass and wallow habitats but with less distance moved on land; and (3) a “termination phase” at the final stage of molt where grass and beach habitats were occupied with no change in distances. Windchill and solar radiation influenced individual distances moved per day (mean 590 ± 237.0 m) at the mid‐ and final stage of molt such that animals travelled greater distances on days of low windchill or high solar radiation. Individual variation in distance moved and relative habitat use were also linked to body mass index (BMI) at arrival on the colony, as females with higher BMI moved less and preferred beach habitat. Moreover, the individual rate of molt increased with the use of wallows. Aggregation rate tended to be negatively correlated with distances moved. We therefore suggest that individuals face an energetic trade‐off while molting, balancing energy expenditure between movement and thermoregulation. Text Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals PubMed Central (PMC) Indian Kerguelen Wallows ENVELOPE(-45.605,-45.605,-60.691,-60.691) Ecology and Evolution 8 12 6081 6090 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Original Research |
spellingShingle |
Original Research Chaise, Laureline L. Prinet, Iris Toscani, Camille Gallon, Susan L. Paterson, William McCafferty, Dominic J. Théry, Marc Ancel, André Gilbert, Caroline Local weather and body condition influence habitat use and movements on land of molting female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) |
topic_facet |
Original Research |
description |
Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) are known to move and aggregate while molting, but little is known about their behavior on land during this time. In this study, 60 adult females were monitored (23 with GPS tags) during four molting seasons, between 2012 and 2016 at Kerguelen Archipelago, Indian Ocean. Population surveys were recorded each year (N = 230 daily counts), and habitat use was analyzed in relation to the stage of the molt and local weather. Based on stage of molt, habitat use, and movements on land, we classified the molt of elephant seals into three phases: (1) a “search phase” at the initial stage of molt when grass and wallow habitats were used and characterized by greater mean distances travelled on land per day compared with the two other phases; (2) a “resident phase”: during initial and mid‐stage of molt when animals were found in grass and wallow habitats but with less distance moved on land; and (3) a “termination phase” at the final stage of molt where grass and beach habitats were occupied with no change in distances. Windchill and solar radiation influenced individual distances moved per day (mean 590 ± 237.0 m) at the mid‐ and final stage of molt such that animals travelled greater distances on days of low windchill or high solar radiation. Individual variation in distance moved and relative habitat use were also linked to body mass index (BMI) at arrival on the colony, as females with higher BMI moved less and preferred beach habitat. Moreover, the individual rate of molt increased with the use of wallows. Aggregation rate tended to be negatively correlated with distances moved. We therefore suggest that individuals face an energetic trade‐off while molting, balancing energy expenditure between movement and thermoregulation. |
format |
Text |
author |
Chaise, Laureline L. Prinet, Iris Toscani, Camille Gallon, Susan L. Paterson, William McCafferty, Dominic J. Théry, Marc Ancel, André Gilbert, Caroline |
author_facet |
Chaise, Laureline L. Prinet, Iris Toscani, Camille Gallon, Susan L. Paterson, William McCafferty, Dominic J. Théry, Marc Ancel, André Gilbert, Caroline |
author_sort |
Chaise, Laureline L. |
title |
Local weather and body condition influence habitat use and movements on land of molting female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) |
title_short |
Local weather and body condition influence habitat use and movements on land of molting female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) |
title_full |
Local weather and body condition influence habitat use and movements on land of molting female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) |
title_fullStr |
Local weather and body condition influence habitat use and movements on land of molting female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Local weather and body condition influence habitat use and movements on land of molting female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) |
title_sort |
local weather and body condition influence habitat use and movements on land of molting female southern elephant seals (mirounga leonina) |
publisher |
John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024128/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29988430 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4049 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-45.605,-45.605,-60.691,-60.691) |
geographic |
Indian Kerguelen Wallows |
geographic_facet |
Indian Kerguelen Wallows |
genre |
Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seals |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024128/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29988430 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4049 |
op_rights |
© 2018 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4049 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
6081 |
op_container_end_page |
6090 |
_version_ |
1766401522645598208 |