Fasting status of Steller sea lion pups
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2021 Following population declines in species of concern, wildlife managers often seek to identify underlying causes to understand and predict population dynamics for better future management. Often, physiological and/or behavioral metrics are measurable...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Other Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Thesis |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12913 |
id |
ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/12913 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/12913 2023-05-15T18:48:52+02:00 Fasting status of Steller sea lion pups Crawford, Stephanie G. Coker, Robert Rea, Lorrie D. Breed, Greg O'Hara, Todd 2021-12 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12913 en_US eng http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12913 Department of Biology and Wildlife Steller's sea lion Diet Infancy Master of Science in Biological Sciences Thesis ms 2021 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:38:01Z Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2021 Following population declines in species of concern, wildlife managers often seek to identify underlying causes to understand and predict population dynamics for better future management. Often, physiological and/or behavioral metrics are measurable markers of decline, and these are often detectable well before declines are measurable through population surveys. During the 1970's, 80's, and 90's Steller sea lion (SSL; Eumetopias jubatus) populations in the western portion of their breeding range declined by ~85%. Though declines in most regions have since stabilized or exhibited modest recovery, some subpopulations breeding in the Aleutian Islands continue to decline. In contrast, SSL subpopulations in eastern regions of their range have steadily grown since the 1970s. Prior studies on the maternal attendance behaviors of SSL have noted differences in the timing of parturition, the duration of the perinatal period, foraging trip duration of nursing females, and the duration of periods dams spend ashore tending their pups. Variability in these metrics has been associated with year, location, the dam's age and parity, environmental oscillations (i.e. El Niño Southern Oscillation), and pup age over the lactation period. This study utilized prior findings of predictable changes in metabolite concentrations while pups fasted during their mother's foraging trips as a new approach for assessing maternal attendance patterns. The distributions of fasting phase categories, assigned based on the relative concentrations of plasma betahydroxybutyrate and blood urea nitrogen, were compared across 12 subpopulations extending from eastern Russia along the coastal northern Pacific into southeastern Alaska from blood samples of 1528 SSL pups. Fasting phase categories were merged into Short and Long fasting durations to compare pups sparing critical proteins (relying on lipid reserves) to those with plasma profiles indicative of metabolic protein reliance (muscle & organ ... Thesis Alaska Aleutian Islands University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Fairbanks Pacific |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalaska |
language |
English |
topic |
Steller's sea lion Diet Infancy Master of Science in Biological Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Steller's sea lion Diet Infancy Master of Science in Biological Sciences Crawford, Stephanie G. Fasting status of Steller sea lion pups |
topic_facet |
Steller's sea lion Diet Infancy Master of Science in Biological Sciences |
description |
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2021 Following population declines in species of concern, wildlife managers often seek to identify underlying causes to understand and predict population dynamics for better future management. Often, physiological and/or behavioral metrics are measurable markers of decline, and these are often detectable well before declines are measurable through population surveys. During the 1970's, 80's, and 90's Steller sea lion (SSL; Eumetopias jubatus) populations in the western portion of their breeding range declined by ~85%. Though declines in most regions have since stabilized or exhibited modest recovery, some subpopulations breeding in the Aleutian Islands continue to decline. In contrast, SSL subpopulations in eastern regions of their range have steadily grown since the 1970s. Prior studies on the maternal attendance behaviors of SSL have noted differences in the timing of parturition, the duration of the perinatal period, foraging trip duration of nursing females, and the duration of periods dams spend ashore tending their pups. Variability in these metrics has been associated with year, location, the dam's age and parity, environmental oscillations (i.e. El Niño Southern Oscillation), and pup age over the lactation period. This study utilized prior findings of predictable changes in metabolite concentrations while pups fasted during their mother's foraging trips as a new approach for assessing maternal attendance patterns. The distributions of fasting phase categories, assigned based on the relative concentrations of plasma betahydroxybutyrate and blood urea nitrogen, were compared across 12 subpopulations extending from eastern Russia along the coastal northern Pacific into southeastern Alaska from blood samples of 1528 SSL pups. Fasting phase categories were merged into Short and Long fasting durations to compare pups sparing critical proteins (relying on lipid reserves) to those with plasma profiles indicative of metabolic protein reliance (muscle & organ ... |
author2 |
Coker, Robert Rea, Lorrie D. Breed, Greg O'Hara, Todd |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Crawford, Stephanie G. |
author_facet |
Crawford, Stephanie G. |
author_sort |
Crawford, Stephanie G. |
title |
Fasting status of Steller sea lion pups |
title_short |
Fasting status of Steller sea lion pups |
title_full |
Fasting status of Steller sea lion pups |
title_fullStr |
Fasting status of Steller sea lion pups |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fasting status of Steller sea lion pups |
title_sort |
fasting status of steller sea lion pups |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12913 |
geographic |
Fairbanks Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Fairbanks Pacific |
genre |
Alaska Aleutian Islands |
genre_facet |
Alaska Aleutian Islands |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12913 Department of Biology and Wildlife |
_version_ |
1766242195443023872 |