Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male Antarctic fur seals
Animals may use long-distance foraging trips to capitalize on spatiotemporal variation in food availability, allowing individuals to maximize resource gain from foraging effort. This is particularly important for dimorphic species with polygynous mating where males face strong selection pressures to...
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Academic Press Ltd Elsevier Science Ltd
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.11.006 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/148507 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:148507 2023-05-15T13:42:40+02:00 Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male Antarctic fur seals Salton, M Bestley, S Gales, N Harcourt, R 2022 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.11.006 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/148507 en eng Academic Press Ltd Elsevier Science Ltd http://ecite.utas.edu.au/148507/3/148507 - Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance_OA.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.11.006 Salton, M and Bestley, S and Gales, N and Harcourt, R, Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male Antarctic fur seals, Animal Behaviour, 183 pp. 103-116. ISSN 0003-3472 (2022) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/148507 Biological Sciences Ecology Behavioural ecology Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2022 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.11.006 2022-10-17T22:16:47Z Animals may use long-distance foraging trips to capitalize on spatiotemporal variation in food availability, allowing individuals to maximize resource gain from foraging effort. This is particularly important for dimorphic species with polygynous mating where males face strong selection pressures to attain large size and access to reproductive females. We tracked 17 male Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella , during their prolonged postbreeding trips and assessed links between their movements and environmental predictors of profitable feeding areas. Males made one of two types of trips: a long trip to the Antarctic ice edge or shorter trips to areas where the southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts generate high biological activity. The trip type was not determined by body size but was related to departure date from the breeding area, suggesting that males must trade off opportunities at the breeding area (reproductive, social interactions) and foraging opportunities between breeding seasons. Regardless of trip structure, males focused search effort far from foraging areas of central-place foraging seabirds and seals including female Antarctic fur seals provisioning offspring. Males showed clear spatiotemporal patterns in dive behaviour, with deep dives in shelf waters during the day and predominantly shallower dives in pelagic waters at night. Diel dive patterns showed monthly changes in photoperiod and lunar phase, consistent with feeding on vertically migrating prey. However, males did not use area-restricted search to focus dive effort, instead performing a mix of foraging and nonforaging behaviour within and between restricted search areas. We discuss the scale and type of inference that can be made from movement models, given the behavioural constraints that govern long-distance trips in vast, heterogeneous environments like the Southern Ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Arctocephalus gazella Southern Ocean eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Animal Behaviour 183 103 116 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Biological Sciences Ecology Behavioural ecology |
spellingShingle |
Biological Sciences Ecology Behavioural ecology Salton, M Bestley, S Gales, N Harcourt, R Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male Antarctic fur seals |
topic_facet |
Biological Sciences Ecology Behavioural ecology |
description |
Animals may use long-distance foraging trips to capitalize on spatiotemporal variation in food availability, allowing individuals to maximize resource gain from foraging effort. This is particularly important for dimorphic species with polygynous mating where males face strong selection pressures to attain large size and access to reproductive females. We tracked 17 male Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella , during their prolonged postbreeding trips and assessed links between their movements and environmental predictors of profitable feeding areas. Males made one of two types of trips: a long trip to the Antarctic ice edge or shorter trips to areas where the southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts generate high biological activity. The trip type was not determined by body size but was related to departure date from the breeding area, suggesting that males must trade off opportunities at the breeding area (reproductive, social interactions) and foraging opportunities between breeding seasons. Regardless of trip structure, males focused search effort far from foraging areas of central-place foraging seabirds and seals including female Antarctic fur seals provisioning offspring. Males showed clear spatiotemporal patterns in dive behaviour, with deep dives in shelf waters during the day and predominantly shallower dives in pelagic waters at night. Diel dive patterns showed monthly changes in photoperiod and lunar phase, consistent with feeding on vertically migrating prey. However, males did not use area-restricted search to focus dive effort, instead performing a mix of foraging and nonforaging behaviour within and between restricted search areas. We discuss the scale and type of inference that can be made from movement models, given the behavioural constraints that govern long-distance trips in vast, heterogeneous environments like the Southern Ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Salton, M Bestley, S Gales, N Harcourt, R |
author_facet |
Salton, M Bestley, S Gales, N Harcourt, R |
author_sort |
Salton, M |
title |
Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male Antarctic fur seals |
title_short |
Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male Antarctic fur seals |
title_full |
Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male Antarctic fur seals |
title_fullStr |
Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male Antarctic fur seals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male Antarctic fur seals |
title_sort |
environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male antarctic fur seals |
publisher |
Academic Press Ltd Elsevier Science Ltd |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.11.006 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/148507 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Arctocephalus gazella Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Arctocephalus gazella Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/148507/3/148507 - Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance_OA.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.11.006 Salton, M and Bestley, S and Gales, N and Harcourt, R, Environmental drivers of foraging behaviour during long-distance foraging trips of male Antarctic fur seals, Animal Behaviour, 183 pp. 103-116. ISSN 0003-3472 (2022) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/148507 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.11.006 |
container_title |
Animal Behaviour |
container_volume |
183 |
container_start_page |
103 |
op_container_end_page |
116 |
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1766171419512668160 |