Wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses
By extracting energy from the highly dynamic wind and wave fields that typify pelagic habitats, albatrosses are able to proceed almost exclusively by gliding flight. Although energetic costs of gliding are low, enabling breeding albatrosses to forage hundreds to thousands of kilometers from their co...
Published in: | Ecological Monographs |
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Language: | English |
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Ecological Society of America
2009
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Online Access: | https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/78394/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/78394/1/78394.pdf https://doi.org/10.1890/07-2111.1 |
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ftuglasgow:oai:eprints.gla.ac.uk:78394 2023-05-15T16:00:58+02:00 Wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses Wakefield, Ewan D. Phillips, Richard A. Matthiopoulos, Jason Fukuda, Akira Higuchi, Hiroyoshi Marshall, Gareth J. Trathan, Philip N. 2009-11 text https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/78394/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/78394/1/78394.pdf https://doi.org/10.1890/07-2111.1 en eng Ecological Society of America https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/78394/1/78394.pdf Wakefield, E. D. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/31199.html> , Phillips, R. A., Matthiopoulos, J. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/29488.html> , Fukuda, A., Higuchi, H., Marshall, G. J. and Trathan, P. N. (2009) Wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses. Ecological Monographs <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Ecological_Monographs.html>, 79(4), pp. 663-679. (doi:10.1890/07-2111.1 <https://doi.org/10.1890/07-2111.1>) Articles PeerReviewed 2009 ftuglasgow https://doi.org/10.1890/07-2111.1 2022-09-22T22:11:25Z By extracting energy from the highly dynamic wind and wave fields that typify pelagic habitats, albatrosses are able to proceed almost exclusively by gliding flight. Although energetic costs of gliding are low, enabling breeding albatrosses to forage hundreds to thousands of kilometers from their colonies, these and time costs vary with relative wind direction. This causes albatrosses in some areas to route provisioning trips to avoid headwind flight, potentially limiting habitat accessibility during the breeding season. In addition, because female albatrosses have lower wing loadings than males, it has been argued that they are better adapted to flight in light winds, leading to sexual segregation of foraging areas. We used satellite telemetry and immersion logger data to quantify the effects of relative wind speed, sex, breeding stage, and trip stage on the ground speeds (Vg) of four species of Southern Ocean albatrosses breeding at South Georgia. Vg was linearly related to the wind speed component in the direction of flight (Vwf), its effect being greatest on Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans, followed by Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophrys, Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses Phoebatria palpebrata, and Gray-headed Albatrosses T. chrysostoma. Ground speeds at Vwf = 0 were similar to airspeeds predicted by aerodynamic theory and were higher in males than in females. However, we found no evidence that this led to sexual segregation, as males and females experienced comparable wind speeds during foraging trips. Black-browed, Gray-headed, and Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses did not engage in direct, uninterrupted bouts of flight on moonless nights, but Wandering Albatrosses attained comparable Vg night and day, regardless of lunar phase. Relative flight direction was more important in determining Vg than absolute wind speed. When birds were less constrained in the middle stage of foraging trips, all species flew predominantly across the wind. However, in some instances, commuting birds encountered ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Diomedea exulans Southern Ocean University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications Southern Ocean Ecological Monographs 79 4 663 679 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications |
op_collection_id |
ftuglasgow |
language |
English |
description |
By extracting energy from the highly dynamic wind and wave fields that typify pelagic habitats, albatrosses are able to proceed almost exclusively by gliding flight. Although energetic costs of gliding are low, enabling breeding albatrosses to forage hundreds to thousands of kilometers from their colonies, these and time costs vary with relative wind direction. This causes albatrosses in some areas to route provisioning trips to avoid headwind flight, potentially limiting habitat accessibility during the breeding season. In addition, because female albatrosses have lower wing loadings than males, it has been argued that they are better adapted to flight in light winds, leading to sexual segregation of foraging areas. We used satellite telemetry and immersion logger data to quantify the effects of relative wind speed, sex, breeding stage, and trip stage on the ground speeds (Vg) of four species of Southern Ocean albatrosses breeding at South Georgia. Vg was linearly related to the wind speed component in the direction of flight (Vwf), its effect being greatest on Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans, followed by Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophrys, Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses Phoebatria palpebrata, and Gray-headed Albatrosses T. chrysostoma. Ground speeds at Vwf = 0 were similar to airspeeds predicted by aerodynamic theory and were higher in males than in females. However, we found no evidence that this led to sexual segregation, as males and females experienced comparable wind speeds during foraging trips. Black-browed, Gray-headed, and Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses did not engage in direct, uninterrupted bouts of flight on moonless nights, but Wandering Albatrosses attained comparable Vg night and day, regardless of lunar phase. Relative flight direction was more important in determining Vg than absolute wind speed. When birds were less constrained in the middle stage of foraging trips, all species flew predominantly across the wind. However, in some instances, commuting birds encountered ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wakefield, Ewan D. Phillips, Richard A. Matthiopoulos, Jason Fukuda, Akira Higuchi, Hiroyoshi Marshall, Gareth J. Trathan, Philip N. |
spellingShingle |
Wakefield, Ewan D. Phillips, Richard A. Matthiopoulos, Jason Fukuda, Akira Higuchi, Hiroyoshi Marshall, Gareth J. Trathan, Philip N. Wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses |
author_facet |
Wakefield, Ewan D. Phillips, Richard A. Matthiopoulos, Jason Fukuda, Akira Higuchi, Hiroyoshi Marshall, Gareth J. Trathan, Philip N. |
author_sort |
Wakefield, Ewan D. |
title |
Wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses |
title_short |
Wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses |
title_full |
Wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses |
title_fullStr |
Wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses |
title_sort |
wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses |
publisher |
Ecological Society of America |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/78394/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/78394/1/78394.pdf https://doi.org/10.1890/07-2111.1 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Diomedea exulans Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Diomedea exulans Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/78394/1/78394.pdf Wakefield, E. D. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/31199.html> , Phillips, R. A., Matthiopoulos, J. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/29488.html> , Fukuda, A., Higuchi, H., Marshall, G. J. and Trathan, P. N. (2009) Wind field and sex constrain the flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses. Ecological Monographs <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Ecological_Monographs.html>, 79(4), pp. 663-679. (doi:10.1890/07-2111.1 <https://doi.org/10.1890/07-2111.1>) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1890/07-2111.1 |
container_title |
Ecological Monographs |
container_volume |
79 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
663 |
op_container_end_page |
679 |
_version_ |
1766396976006430720 |