|
Pierre-Yves Pascal, Yann Reynaud, Elie Poulin, Chantal De Ridder, Thomas Saucede. (2021). Feeding in spatangoids: the case of Abatus Cordatus in the Kerguelen Islands (Southern Ocean) (Vol. 44).
Abstract: Irregular urchins exclusively live in marine soft bottom habitats, dwelling either upon or inside sediments and selectively picking up sediment grains and organic particles, or swallowing bulk sediment to feed on the associated organic matter. The exact food source and dietary requirements of most irregular echinoids, however, remain incompletely understood. The schizasterid species Abatus cordatus (Verrill, 1876) is a sub-Antarctic spatangoid that is endemic to the Kerguelen. The feeding behaviour of A. cordatus was investigated using simultaneously metabarcoding and stable isotope approaches. Comparison of ingested and surrounding sediments by metabarcoding revealed a limited selective ingestion of prokaryotes and eukaryotes by the urchin. Compared to surrounding sediments, the gut content had (i) higher carbon and nitrogen concentrations potentially due to selective ingestion of organic matter and/or the sea urchin mucus secretion and (ii) ?15N enrichment due to the selective assimilation of lighter isotope in the gut. Feeding experiments were performed using 13C and 15 N-enriched sediments in aquariums. The progression of stable isotope enrichment in proximal and distal parts of the digestive track of A. cordatus revealed that all particles are not similarly transported likely due to siphon functioning. Ingestion of water with associated dissolved and particulate organic matter should play an important role in urchin nutrition. A. cordatus had a gut resident time fluctuating between 76 and 101 h and an ingestion rate of 36 mg dry sediment h?1 suggesting that dense populations of the species may play a key ecological role through bioturbation in soft bottom shallow-water habitats of the Kerguelen Islands.
Programme: 1044
|
|
|
. (2021). A dedicated robust instrument for water vapor generation at low humidity for use with a laser water isotope analyzer in cold and dry polar regions (Vol. 14). Bachelor's thesis, , .
Programme: 1110,1169,1205
|
|
|
. (2021). Similar circling movements observed across marine megafauna taxa (Vol. 24).
Abstract: Advances in biologging technology have enabled 3D dead-reckoning reconstruction of marine animal movements at spatiotemporal scales of meters and seconds. Examining high-resolution 3D movements of sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier, N = 4; Rhincodon typus, N = 1), sea turtles (Chelonia mydas, N = 3), penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus, N = 6), and marine mammals (Arctocephalus gazella, N = 4; Ziphius cavirostris, N = 1), we report the discovery of circling events where animals consecutively circled more than twice at relatively constant angular speeds. Similar circling behaviors were observed across a wide variety of marine megafauna, suggesting these behaviors might serve several similar purposes across taxa including foraging, social interactions, and navigation.
Keywords: Animals Biological Sciences Ecology Ethology Zoology
Programme: 394
|
|
|
. (2021). Precise Transit and Radial-velocity Characterization of a Resonant Pair: The Warm Jupiter TOI-216c and Eccentric Warm Neptune TOI-216b (Vol. 161).
|
|
|
A. Corbeau, J. Collet, F. Orgeret, P. Pistorius, H. Weimerskirch. (2021). Fine-scale interactions between boats and large albatrosses indicate variable susceptibility to bycatch risk according to species and populations (Vol. 24).
Keywords: albatross populations biologging bycatch assessment bycatch risk ecological trap fisheries fishing boat bycatch seabirds
Programme: 109
|
|
|
Mark A. Hindell, Clive R. McMahon, Ian Jonsen, Robert Harcourt, Fernando Arce, Christophe Guinet. (2021). Inter- and intrasex habitat partitioning in the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal (Vol. 11). Bachelor's thesis, , .
Abstract: Partitioning resources is a key mechanism for avoiding intraspecific competition and maximizing individual energy gain. However, in sexually dimorphic species it is difficult to discern if partitioning is due to competition or the different resource needs of morphologically distinct individuals. In the highly dimorphic southern elephant seal, there are intersexual differences in habitat use; at Iles Kerguelen, males predominantly use shelf waters, while females use deeper oceanic waters. There are equally marked intrasexual differences, with some males using the nearby Kerguelen Plateau, and others using the much more distant Antarctic continental shelf ( 2,000 km away). We used this combination of inter and intrasexual behavior to test two hypotheses regarding habitat partitioning in highly dimorphic species. (a) that intersexual differences in habitat use will not appear until the seals diverge in body size and (b) that some habitats have higher rates of energy return than others. In particular, that the Antarctic shelf would provide higher energy returns than the Kerguelen Shelf, to offset the greater cost of travel. We quantified the habitat use of 187 southern elephant seals (102 adult females and 85 subadult males). The seals in the two groups were the same size ( 2.4 m) removing the confounding effect of body size. We found that the intersexual differences in habitat use existed before the divergence in body size. Also, we found that the amount of energy gained was the same in all of the major habitats. This suggests that the use of shelf habitats by males is innate, and a trade-off between the need to access the large benthic prey available on shelf waters, against the higher risk of predation there. Intrasexual differences in habitat use are another trade-off; although there are fewer predators on the Antarctic shelf, it is subject to considerable interannual fluctuations in sea-ice extent. In contrast, the Kerguelen Plateau presents more consistent foraging opportunities, but contains higher levels of predation. Habitat partitioning in this highly dimorphic species is therefore the result of complex interplay of life history strategies, environmental conditions and predation pressure.
Keywords: Antarctic Shelf foraging and diving behavior Kerguelen Plateau mid-year haul out predation risk Southern Ocean
Programme: 109,1201
|
|
|
. (2021). Contextual variations in calls of two nonoscine birds: the blue petrel Halobaena caerulea and the Antarctic prion Pachyptila desolata (Vol. 32).
|
|
|
. (2021). Once upon a time in the far south: Influence of local drivers and functional traits on plant invasion in the harsh sub-Antarctic islands (Vol. 32).
Abstract: Aim Here, we aim to: (a) investigate the local effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on alien plant invasion in sub-Antarctic islands; and (b) explore whether and how functional traits affect alien species dependence on anthropogenic factors in these environments. Location Possession Island, Crozet archipelago (French sub-Antarctic islands). Methods Single-species distribution models were used to explore the effect of high-resolution topoclimatic and human-related variables on the occurrence of six alien plants colonizing French sub-Antarctic islands. Furthermore, plant responses to human-related variables and the effect of those variables in interaction with plant traits were analysed by means of a multi-species distribution model. This allowed identifying functional features mediating the influence of human activities on the occurrence probability of alien plant species. Results We observed two main invasion patterns: (a) species predicted to occur close to the introduction sites, whose occurrence probability appeared to be strongly affected by anthropogenic factors; and (b) species predicted to occur nearly everywhere on Possession Island, except in areas featuring particularly harsh climatic conditions. Differences in the influence of human-related variables on the occurrence of the alien species were mostly related to their life history, plant height and residence time, with perennial and low-statured species introduced earlier appearing less dependent on human-induced dispersal and disturbance. Conclusions We conclude that both topoclimatic and anthropogenic factors affect plant invasion on sub-Antarctic islands. Specifically, species predicted to occur close to their introduction sites appear much more dependent on human presence and activity, potentially due to the lack of key functional traits allowing them to spread successfully across Possession Island under the harsh sub-Antarctic climate. Yet, particularly severe abiotic conditions are a major constraint which equally limits the occurrence of all alien plants, irrespective of their dependence on anthropogenic factors.
Keywords: alien plants anthropogenic propagule pressure cold environments human disturbances plant invasiveness species distribution models topoclimate
Programme: 136
|
|
|
. (2021). Transit timings variations in the three-planet system: TOI-270 (Vol. 510).
|
|
|
Christophe Sauser, Karine Delord, Christophe Barbraud. (2021). Sea ice and local weather affect reproductive phenology of a polar seabird with breeding consequences (Vol. 123).
|
|