Blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of Adelie penguins: Comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis
Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) diet is an important indicator of prevailing environmental conditions and resource availability. In this study, dietary variation within and between years was studied with fatty acid signature analysis (FASA), stomach content analysis (SCA) and stable isotope anal...
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ftunivtasmania:oai:eprints.utas.edu.au:8108 2023-05-15T13:36:46+02:00 Blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of Adelie penguins: Comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis Tierney, M Nichols, PD Wheatley, KE Hindell, MA 2008 application/pdf https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8108/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8108/1/Tierney_et_al_JEMBE.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2008.07.046 en eng https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8108/1/Tierney_et_al_JEMBE.pdf Tierney, M, Nichols, PD, Wheatley, KE and Hindell, MA 2008 , 'Blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of Adelie penguins: Comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis' , Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, vol. 367, no. 2 , pp. 65-74 , doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2008.07.046 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2008.07.046>. cc_utas Antarctica Conservation Diet composition Lipid signature analysis Pygoscelis adeliae Article PeerReviewed 2008 ftunivtasmania https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2008.07.046 2020-05-30T07:21:50Z Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) diet is an important indicator of prevailing environmental conditions and resource availability. In this study, dietary variation within and between years was studied with fatty acid signature analysis (FASA), stomach content analysis (SCA) and stable isotope analysis (SIA). We profiled the fatty acid (FA) composition of whole blood collected from adult penguins throughout the breeding season, and from chicks during the crèche period, in 2001 and 2002. Differences were detected in FA profiles between years, breeding stage and age (adults vs. chicks). These patterns broadly corresponded to those observed from SCA and SIA, with a mix of krill and fish consumed in the early part of the breeding season in both years, krill dominating the diet during the chick-rearing periods in 2001, and fish in 2002. Different metabolic and physiological demands between stages, and ages, may also influence FA profiles but warrants further investigation. In-situ calibrations of adult FA blood profiles were made using corresponding stomach samples to quantify diet composition. Using linear discriminate function analysis, we classified adult FA profiles into 3 meal-types: krill, fish or mixed. A higher proportion of adults had fish-like profiles during the arrival and guard periods. Krill-like profiles dominated during the incubation and crèche periods, although there were a relatively high proportion of fish-like and mixed profiles as well. These patterns corresponded to results from SCA and SIA. This study demonstrates that FASA has the potential to be integrated with other dietary tools to enhance diet monitoring studies, which are currently integral to ecosystem management and conservation measures. The in-situ calibration method used offers a simple and effective alternative to more rigorous calibration techniques developed elsewhere. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Pygoscelis adeliae University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 367 2 65 74 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasmania |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctica Conservation Diet composition Lipid signature analysis Pygoscelis adeliae |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica Conservation Diet composition Lipid signature analysis Pygoscelis adeliae Tierney, M Nichols, PD Wheatley, KE Hindell, MA Blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of Adelie penguins: Comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis |
topic_facet |
Antarctica Conservation Diet composition Lipid signature analysis Pygoscelis adeliae |
description |
Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) diet is an important indicator of prevailing environmental conditions and resource availability. In this study, dietary variation within and between years was studied with fatty acid signature analysis (FASA), stomach content analysis (SCA) and stable isotope analysis (SIA). We profiled the fatty acid (FA) composition of whole blood collected from adult penguins throughout the breeding season, and from chicks during the crèche period, in 2001 and 2002. Differences were detected in FA profiles between years, breeding stage and age (adults vs. chicks). These patterns broadly corresponded to those observed from SCA and SIA, with a mix of krill and fish consumed in the early part of the breeding season in both years, krill dominating the diet during the chick-rearing periods in 2001, and fish in 2002. Different metabolic and physiological demands between stages, and ages, may also influence FA profiles but warrants further investigation. In-situ calibrations of adult FA blood profiles were made using corresponding stomach samples to quantify diet composition. Using linear discriminate function analysis, we classified adult FA profiles into 3 meal-types: krill, fish or mixed. A higher proportion of adults had fish-like profiles during the arrival and guard periods. Krill-like profiles dominated during the incubation and crèche periods, although there were a relatively high proportion of fish-like and mixed profiles as well. These patterns corresponded to results from SCA and SIA. This study demonstrates that FASA has the potential to be integrated with other dietary tools to enhance diet monitoring studies, which are currently integral to ecosystem management and conservation measures. The in-situ calibration method used offers a simple and effective alternative to more rigorous calibration techniques developed elsewhere. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tierney, M Nichols, PD Wheatley, KE Hindell, MA |
author_facet |
Tierney, M Nichols, PD Wheatley, KE Hindell, MA |
author_sort |
Tierney, M |
title |
Blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of Adelie penguins: Comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis |
title_short |
Blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of Adelie penguins: Comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis |
title_full |
Blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of Adelie penguins: Comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis |
title_fullStr |
Blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of Adelie penguins: Comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of Adelie penguins: Comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis |
title_sort |
blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of adelie penguins: comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8108/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8108/1/Tierney_et_al_JEMBE.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2008.07.046 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Pygoscelis adeliae |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Pygoscelis adeliae |
op_relation |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/8108/1/Tierney_et_al_JEMBE.pdf Tierney, M, Nichols, PD, Wheatley, KE and Hindell, MA 2008 , 'Blood fatty acids indicate inter- and intra-annual variation in the diet of Adelie penguins: Comparison with stomach content and stable isotope analysis' , Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, vol. 367, no. 2 , pp. 65-74 , doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2008.07.046 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2008.07.046>. |
op_rights |
cc_utas |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2008.07.046 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology |
container_volume |
367 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
65 |
op_container_end_page |
74 |
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1766083867661303808 |