Annual variation in Great Skua diets: The importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses
This study combines conventional dietary assessment with stable isotope techniques to describe Great Skua (Stercorarius skua) diet. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in feathers of Great Skua chicks collected over three years were analyzed in conjunction with pellet and regurgitate collectio...
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ftuglasgow:oai:eprints.gla.ac.uk:11477 2024-06-02T08:07:09+00:00 Annual variation in Great Skua diets: The importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses Bearhop, S Thompson, DR Phillips, RA Waldron, S Hamer, KC Gray, CM Votier, SC Ross, BP Furness, RW 2001 https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/11477/ unknown Bearhop, S., Thompson, D., Phillips, R., Waldron, S. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/12588.html>, Hamer, K., Gray, C., Votier, S., Ross, B. and Furness, R. (2001) Annual variation in Great Skua diets: The importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses. Condor <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Condor.html>, 103, pp. 802-809. QL Zoology Articles NonPeerReviewed 2001 ftuglasgow 2024-05-06T15:08:16Z This study combines conventional dietary assessment with stable isotope techniques to describe Great Skua (Stercorarius skua) diet. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in feathers of Great Skua chicks collected over three years were analyzed in conjunction with pellet and regurgitate collections. A significant drop in trophic status was detected in 1997, which likely resulted from an increase in herring and mackerel in the diet. These items were almost certainly obtained from a commercial trawler, as evidenced by a significant drop in territorial attendance during the ship's absence. Feathers yielded significantly different ∂13C values among years, and part of this may have been related to a period of enhanced phytoplankton growth during 1996. A combined approach, such as the one described here, is likely to become increasingly useful in elucidating the diets of polyphagous birds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Great skua Stercorarius skua University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications |
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ftuglasgow |
language |
unknown |
topic |
QL Zoology |
spellingShingle |
QL Zoology Bearhop, S Thompson, DR Phillips, RA Waldron, S Hamer, KC Gray, CM Votier, SC Ross, BP Furness, RW Annual variation in Great Skua diets: The importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses |
topic_facet |
QL Zoology |
description |
This study combines conventional dietary assessment with stable isotope techniques to describe Great Skua (Stercorarius skua) diet. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in feathers of Great Skua chicks collected over three years were analyzed in conjunction with pellet and regurgitate collections. A significant drop in trophic status was detected in 1997, which likely resulted from an increase in herring and mackerel in the diet. These items were almost certainly obtained from a commercial trawler, as evidenced by a significant drop in territorial attendance during the ship's absence. Feathers yielded significantly different ∂13C values among years, and part of this may have been related to a period of enhanced phytoplankton growth during 1996. A combined approach, such as the one described here, is likely to become increasingly useful in elucidating the diets of polyphagous birds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bearhop, S Thompson, DR Phillips, RA Waldron, S Hamer, KC Gray, CM Votier, SC Ross, BP Furness, RW |
author_facet |
Bearhop, S Thompson, DR Phillips, RA Waldron, S Hamer, KC Gray, CM Votier, SC Ross, BP Furness, RW |
author_sort |
Bearhop, S |
title |
Annual variation in Great Skua diets: The importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses |
title_short |
Annual variation in Great Skua diets: The importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses |
title_full |
Annual variation in Great Skua diets: The importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses |
title_fullStr |
Annual variation in Great Skua diets: The importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses |
title_full_unstemmed |
Annual variation in Great Skua diets: The importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses |
title_sort |
annual variation in great skua diets: the importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses |
publishDate |
2001 |
url |
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/11477/ |
genre |
Great skua Stercorarius skua |
genre_facet |
Great skua Stercorarius skua |
op_relation |
Bearhop, S., Thompson, D., Phillips, R., Waldron, S. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/12588.html>, Hamer, K., Gray, C., Votier, S., Ross, B. and Furness, R. (2001) Annual variation in Great Skua diets: The importance of commercial fisheries and predation on seabirds revealed by combining dietary analyses. Condor <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Condor.html>, 103, pp. 802-809. |
_version_ |
1800752172715999232 |