Foraging patterns of northern fulmars in Alaska inferred from fatty acid signature analysis

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2005 Diets of Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) in the North Pacific are poorly known, and thus relationships of fulmars to supporting food webs and their potential sensitivity to ecosystem variability, such as that driven by a changing climate, also...

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Main Author: Wang, Shiway W.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6222
id ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/6222
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spelling ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/6222 2023-05-15T16:18:33+02:00 Foraging patterns of northern fulmars in Alaska inferred from fatty acid signature analysis Wang, Shiway W. 2005-12 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6222 en_US eng http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6222 Graduate Program in Marine Science and Limnology Thesis ms 2005 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:36:36Z Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2005 Diets of Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) in the North Pacific are poorly known, and thus relationships of fulmars to supporting food webs and their potential sensitivity to ecosystem variability, such as that driven by a changing climate, also are uncertain. I employed a new technique, fatty acid (FA) signature analysis, to examine dietary differences among fulmars at three colonies in Alaska. I predicted that 1) signatures of adipose tissue and stomach oils would differ because the time scale each depot reflects differ and/or because adipose tissue FAs may be influenced by predator metabolism, while stomach oil FAs may be influenced by differential uptake; 2) fulmar diets would differ between colonies located in distinct oceanographic settings, which create unique habitats for prey assemblages; 3) diets would differ temporally within colonies because of inter-annual variability in the physical environment resulting in variation of prey FA signatures; and 4) diets of adult fulmars and their chicks would be similar because they feed by regurgitation. I found that FA signatures of adipose tissue were significantly different than those of stomach oil; there were conspicuous spatial and temporal differences in adipose tissue signatures; but diets of adults may differ from those of chicks. Thesis Fulmarus glacialis Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Fairbanks Fulmar ENVELOPE(-46.016,-46.016,-60.616,-60.616) Pacific
institution Open Polar
collection University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA
op_collection_id ftunivalaska
language English
description Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2005 Diets of Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) in the North Pacific are poorly known, and thus relationships of fulmars to supporting food webs and their potential sensitivity to ecosystem variability, such as that driven by a changing climate, also are uncertain. I employed a new technique, fatty acid (FA) signature analysis, to examine dietary differences among fulmars at three colonies in Alaska. I predicted that 1) signatures of adipose tissue and stomach oils would differ because the time scale each depot reflects differ and/or because adipose tissue FAs may be influenced by predator metabolism, while stomach oil FAs may be influenced by differential uptake; 2) fulmar diets would differ between colonies located in distinct oceanographic settings, which create unique habitats for prey assemblages; 3) diets would differ temporally within colonies because of inter-annual variability in the physical environment resulting in variation of prey FA signatures; and 4) diets of adult fulmars and their chicks would be similar because they feed by regurgitation. I found that FA signatures of adipose tissue were significantly different than those of stomach oil; there were conspicuous spatial and temporal differences in adipose tissue signatures; but diets of adults may differ from those of chicks.
format Thesis
author Wang, Shiway W.
spellingShingle Wang, Shiway W.
Foraging patterns of northern fulmars in Alaska inferred from fatty acid signature analysis
author_facet Wang, Shiway W.
author_sort Wang, Shiway W.
title Foraging patterns of northern fulmars in Alaska inferred from fatty acid signature analysis
title_short Foraging patterns of northern fulmars in Alaska inferred from fatty acid signature analysis
title_full Foraging patterns of northern fulmars in Alaska inferred from fatty acid signature analysis
title_fullStr Foraging patterns of northern fulmars in Alaska inferred from fatty acid signature analysis
title_full_unstemmed Foraging patterns of northern fulmars in Alaska inferred from fatty acid signature analysis
title_sort foraging patterns of northern fulmars in alaska inferred from fatty acid signature analysis
publishDate 2005
url http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6222
long_lat ENVELOPE(-46.016,-46.016,-60.616,-60.616)
geographic Fairbanks
Fulmar
Pacific
geographic_facet Fairbanks
Fulmar
Pacific
genre Fulmarus glacialis
Alaska
genre_facet Fulmarus glacialis
Alaska
op_relation http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6222
Graduate Program in Marine Science and Limnology
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