Allocation of body reserves during winter in eider Somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction
Capital breeders, such as the eider duck Somateria mollissima, accumulate resources before the start of breeding. Eiders preferentially feed on blue mussels Mytilus edulis to build up body condition during winter. We explored how body condition and gizzard mass of wintering eiders relate to mussel q...
Published in: | Journal of Sea Research |
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/309618 |
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/309618 2024-01-07T09:46:41+01:00 Allocation of body reserves during winter in eider Somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction Laursen, Karsten Moller, Anders Pape Haugaard, Lars Öst, Markus Vainio, Jouni Tvärminne Zoological Station 2020-01-16T08:35:01Z 8 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/309618 eng eng Elsevier Scientific Publ. Co 10.1016/j.seares.2018.11.005 We thank the hunters who collected birds for the study, Kai Eskildsen, Nationalpark and Meeresschultz Schleswig-Holstein together with Heike Buttger and Georg Nehls, BioConsult SH, for data on mussel stocks in Schleswig-Holstein and Jakob Strand, Aarhus University, for data on mussel flesh content collected during 1998-2013. Ako Osman Mirza and Michael Albert Schmidt kindly assisted in the laboratory. We thank the Eider Team members at Tvarminne, in particular Kim Jaatinen, for their heroic efforts in the field, as well as the staff at Tvarminne Zoological Station for logistic support. This study received financial support from The 15 June Foundation in Denmark (to KL) and the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland (to MO). Finally we thank Steffen Oppel for valuable comments. Laursen , K , Moller , A P , Haugaard , L , Öst , M & Vainio , J 2019 , ' Allocation of body reserves during winter in eider Somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction ' , Journal of Sea Research , vol. 144 , pp. 49-56 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2018.11.005 a85e6bb3-4624-40f1-805b-8413f8eabb82 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/309618 000456758400006 cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Blue mussel Gizzard mass Mussel quality Mussel stocks Body condition in winter Somateria mollissima Winter climate WADDEN SEA INCOME DICHOTOMY MASS SIZE STRATEGIES SURVIVAL SUCCESS NUMBERS QUALITY SITE 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology Article publishedVersion 2020 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-12-14T00:12:09Z Capital breeders, such as the eider duck Somateria mollissima, accumulate resources before the start of breeding. Eiders preferentially feed on blue mussels Mytilus edulis to build up body condition during winter. We explored how body condition and gizzard mass of wintering eiders relate to mussel quality and quantity, winter climate and body condition of females at the breeding grounds. Body condition during winter (defined as scaled body mass index) of eiders increased during winter and the magnitude of the effect depended on age and mussel quality. Gizzard mass of eiders increased during winter with effects of mussel quality, mussel stocks and sex. Body condition in winter of adult females increased from the first half of January to the second half of February on average by 1.5%, equal to c. 96 g. During the same period gizzard mass of adult females increased by 12.2%, i.e., a nearly ten-fold increase compared to that observed in body condition in winter. Body condition of females at the breeding grounds in Finland (defined as body condition at hatching) was significantly positively correlated with gizzard mass in winter, but not significantly correlated with body condition in winter. Thus, eiders allocate body reserves to increase gizzard mass but less so to increase body condition in winter. This can be considered an adaptive migratory strategy of these eiders, whereby large winter (pre-migratory) gizzards increase food processing capacity, making it possible for eiders to arrive at the breeding grounds with superior body condition and a high reproductive potential. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Somateria mollissima HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Journal of Sea Research 144 49 56 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
Blue mussel Gizzard mass Mussel quality Mussel stocks Body condition in winter Somateria mollissima Winter climate WADDEN SEA INCOME DICHOTOMY MASS SIZE STRATEGIES SURVIVAL SUCCESS NUMBERS QUALITY SITE 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology |
spellingShingle |
Blue mussel Gizzard mass Mussel quality Mussel stocks Body condition in winter Somateria mollissima Winter climate WADDEN SEA INCOME DICHOTOMY MASS SIZE STRATEGIES SURVIVAL SUCCESS NUMBERS QUALITY SITE 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology Laursen, Karsten Moller, Anders Pape Haugaard, Lars Öst, Markus Vainio, Jouni Allocation of body reserves during winter in eider Somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction |
topic_facet |
Blue mussel Gizzard mass Mussel quality Mussel stocks Body condition in winter Somateria mollissima Winter climate WADDEN SEA INCOME DICHOTOMY MASS SIZE STRATEGIES SURVIVAL SUCCESS NUMBERS QUALITY SITE 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology |
description |
Capital breeders, such as the eider duck Somateria mollissima, accumulate resources before the start of breeding. Eiders preferentially feed on blue mussels Mytilus edulis to build up body condition during winter. We explored how body condition and gizzard mass of wintering eiders relate to mussel quality and quantity, winter climate and body condition of females at the breeding grounds. Body condition during winter (defined as scaled body mass index) of eiders increased during winter and the magnitude of the effect depended on age and mussel quality. Gizzard mass of eiders increased during winter with effects of mussel quality, mussel stocks and sex. Body condition in winter of adult females increased from the first half of January to the second half of February on average by 1.5%, equal to c. 96 g. During the same period gizzard mass of adult females increased by 12.2%, i.e., a nearly ten-fold increase compared to that observed in body condition in winter. Body condition of females at the breeding grounds in Finland (defined as body condition at hatching) was significantly positively correlated with gizzard mass in winter, but not significantly correlated with body condition in winter. Thus, eiders allocate body reserves to increase gizzard mass but less so to increase body condition in winter. This can be considered an adaptive migratory strategy of these eiders, whereby large winter (pre-migratory) gizzards increase food processing capacity, making it possible for eiders to arrive at the breeding grounds with superior body condition and a high reproductive potential. Peer reviewed |
author2 |
Tvärminne Zoological Station |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Laursen, Karsten Moller, Anders Pape Haugaard, Lars Öst, Markus Vainio, Jouni |
author_facet |
Laursen, Karsten Moller, Anders Pape Haugaard, Lars Öst, Markus Vainio, Jouni |
author_sort |
Laursen, Karsten |
title |
Allocation of body reserves during winter in eider Somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction |
title_short |
Allocation of body reserves during winter in eider Somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction |
title_full |
Allocation of body reserves during winter in eider Somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction |
title_fullStr |
Allocation of body reserves during winter in eider Somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction |
title_full_unstemmed |
Allocation of body reserves during winter in eider Somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction |
title_sort |
allocation of body reserves during winter in eider somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction |
publisher |
Elsevier Scientific Publ. Co |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/309618 |
genre |
Somateria mollissima |
genre_facet |
Somateria mollissima |
op_relation |
10.1016/j.seares.2018.11.005 We thank the hunters who collected birds for the study, Kai Eskildsen, Nationalpark and Meeresschultz Schleswig-Holstein together with Heike Buttger and Georg Nehls, BioConsult SH, for data on mussel stocks in Schleswig-Holstein and Jakob Strand, Aarhus University, for data on mussel flesh content collected during 1998-2013. Ako Osman Mirza and Michael Albert Schmidt kindly assisted in the laboratory. We thank the Eider Team members at Tvarminne, in particular Kim Jaatinen, for their heroic efforts in the field, as well as the staff at Tvarminne Zoological Station for logistic support. This study received financial support from The 15 June Foundation in Denmark (to KL) and the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland (to MO). Finally we thank Steffen Oppel for valuable comments. Laursen , K , Moller , A P , Haugaard , L , Öst , M & Vainio , J 2019 , ' Allocation of body reserves during winter in eider Somateria mollissima as preparation for spring migration and reproduction ' , Journal of Sea Research , vol. 144 , pp. 49-56 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2018.11.005 a85e6bb3-4624-40f1-805b-8413f8eabb82 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/309618 000456758400006 |
op_rights |
cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
container_title |
Journal of Sea Research |
container_volume |
144 |
container_start_page |
49 |
op_container_end_page |
56 |
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1787428554307272704 |