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Benjamin Merkel, Sébastien Descamps, Nigel G. Yoccoz, David Grémillet, Francis Daunt, Kjell E. Erikstad, Aleksey V. Ezhov, Mike P. Harris, Maria Gavrilo, Svein-Håkon Lorentsen, Tone K. Reiertsen, Harald Steen, Geir H. Systad, Þorkell Lindberg Þórarinsson, Sarah Wanless, Hallvard Strøm. (2021). Individual migration strategy fidelity but no habitat specialization in two congeneric seabirds (Vol. 48).
Abstract: Aim In migratory species, individuals often use fixed and individual-specific migration strategies, which we term individual migration strategy fidelity (IMSF). Our goal was to test if guillemots have flexible or fixed individual migration strategies (i.e. IMSF), if this behaviour is consistent across large parts of the genus’ range and if they were philopatric to geographical sites or a habitat feature. Location North Atlantic. Taxon Uria spp. Methods We quantified consistent individual differences in inter-annual spatial distribution and habitat occupied throughout the non-breeding period using a large geolocator tracking dataset of 729 adult seabirds breeding at 13 colonies across the Northeast Atlantic and repeatedly tracked up to 7 years over a 9-year period. Additionally, we used a similarity index to calculate relative fidelity to either geographical sites or habitats and linear mixed-effects models to assess persistence of spatial site fidelity over multiple years. Results Both guillemot species exhibited IMSF across a large part of the genus’ range which persisted over multiple years. Individuals of both species and almost all colonies showed fidelity to geographical sites and not to specific habitats. Main conclusions Guillemots show IMSF that is best explained by site familiarity (fidelity to specific sites) rather than habitat specialization (fidelity to specific habitats). In the context of rapidly changing environments, favourable habitats may permanently shift locations and hence species displaying IMSF driven by site familiarity—such as the genus Uria—may not be able to adjust their migration strategies sufficiently fast to sustain individual fitness and ensure population persistence.
Keywords: guillemots light-level geolocation murres Uria aalge Uria lomvia
Programme: 388
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Sindre H. Eldøy, Jan G. Davidsen, Matthias Vignon, Michael Power. (2021). The biology and feeding ecology of Arctic charr in the Kerguelen Islands (Vol. 98).
Abstract: Subsequent to their introduction in the 1950s, Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus have been able to establish a self-sustaining population that has adapted to the unique conditions of the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Islands. Here, 48 individuals (198–415 mm) were caught with gillnets and their basic biology and feeding ecology were examined using stable isotope analysis. The Lac des Fougères population split use of littoral and pelagic resources evenly, although larger fish relied more heavily on littoral production and appear to follow the size-dependent life history habitat template seen in many Scandinavian lakes where smaller sized individuals occupy the pelagic zone and larger individuals dominate the littoral habitat. In Kerguelen, Arctic charr mature at the same ages (5.6 years) as Arctic charr in both sub-Arctic and Arctic lakes. Although mortality was average in comparison to comparator sub-Arctic lakes, it was high in comparison to Arctic lakes. Maximal age (>7+) was at the lower end of the range typically seen in sub-Arctic lakes. Although they inhabit a resource-poor environment, Kerguelen Arctic charr showed no evidence of cannibalism. Thus, while Arctic charr can survive and reproduce in the relatively unproductive Kerguelen lake environments, survival and growth nevertheless appear to be traded off against survival and longevity. The uniqueness of the population location and the recency of its introduction suggest that further monitoring of the population has the potential to yield valuable insights into both the adaptability of the species and its likely responses to ongoing large-scale environmental change as represented by climate change.
Programme: 1041
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Jesús A Ballesteros, Emily V W Setton, Carlos E Santibáñez-López, Claudia P Arango, Georg Brenneis, Saskia Brix, Kevin F Corbett, Esperanza Cano-Sánchez, Merai Dandouch, Geoffrey F Dilly, Marc P Eleaume, Guilherme Gainett, Cyril Gallut, Sean McAtee, Lauren McIntyre, Amy L Moran, Randy Moran, Pablo J López-González, Gerhard Scholtz, Clay Williamson, H Arthur Woods, Jakob T Zehms, Ward C Wheeler, Prashant P Sharma. (2021). Phylogenomic Resolution of Sea Spider Diversification through Integration of Multiple Data Classes (Vol. 38).
Abstract: Despite significant advances in invertebrate phylogenomics over the past decade, the higher-level phylogeny of Pycnogonida (sea spiders) remains elusive. Due to the inaccessibility of some small-bodied lineages, few phylogenetic studies have sampled all sea spider families. Previous efforts based on a handful of genes have yielded unstable tree topologies. Here, we inferred the relationships of 89 sea spider species using targeted capture of the mitochondrial genome, 56 conserved exons, 101 ultraconserved elements, and 3 nuclear ribosomal genes. We inferred molecular divergence times by integrating morphological data for fossil species to calibrate 15 nodes in the arthropod tree of life. This integration of data classes resolved the basal topology of sea spiders with high support. The enigmatic family Austrodecidae was resolved as the sister group to the remaining Pycnogonida and the small-bodied family Rhynchothoracidae as the sister group of the robust-bodied family Pycnogonidae. Molecular divergence time estimation recovered a basal divergence of crown group sea spiders in the Ordovician. Comparison of diversification dynamics with other marine invertebrate taxa that originated in the Paleozoic suggests that sea spiders and some crustacean groups exhibit resilience to mass extinction episodes, relative to mollusk and echinoderm lineages.
Programme: 1124
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Gómez Coutouly, Yan Axel. (2021). Un peuplement antérieur à 20 000 ans en Amérique ? Le caractère anthropique des sites de Pedra Furada (Brésil) en question (Vol. 118).
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Samantha C. Patrick, Julien G. A. Martin, Caroline C. Ummenhofer, Alexandre Corbeau, Henri Weimerskirch. (2021). Albatrosses respond adaptively to climate variability by changing variance in a foraging trait (Vol. 27).
Abstract: The ability of individuals and populations to adapt to a changing climate is a key determinant of population dynamics. While changes in mean behaviour are well studied, changes in trait variance have been largely ignored, despite being assumed to be crucial for adapting to a changing environment. As the ability to acquire resources is essential to both reproduction and survival, changes in behaviours that maximize resource acquisition should be under selection. Here, using foraging trip duration data collected over 7 years on black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) on the Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean, we examined the importance of changes in the mean and variance in foraging behaviour, and the associated effects on fitness, in response to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Using double hierarchical models, we found no evidence that individuals change their mean foraging trip duration in response to a changing environment, but found strong evidence of changes in variance. Younger birds showed greater variability in foraging trip duration in poor conditions as did birds with higher fitness. However, during brooding, birds showed greater variability in foraging behaviour under good conditions, suggesting that optimal conditions allow the alteration between chick provisioning and self-maintenance trips. We found weak correlations between sea surface temperature and the ENSO, but stronger links with sea-level pressure. We suggest that variability in behavioural traits affecting resource acquisition is under selection and offers a mechanism by which individuals can adapt to a changing climate. Studies which look only at effects on mean behaviour may underestimate the effects of climate change and fail to consider variance in traits as a key evolutionary force.
Keywords: bet-hedging intra-individual variability resource acquisition salt-water immersion logger seabirds Southern Oscillation Index
Programme: 109
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Manon Clairbaux, Paul Mathewson, Warren Porter, Jérôme Fort, Hallvard Strøm, Børge Moe, Per Fauchald, Sebastien Descamps, Hálfdán H. Helgason, Vegard S. Bråthen, Benjamin Merkel, Tycho Anker-Nilssen, Ingar S. Bringsvor, Olivier Chastel, Signe Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jóhannis Danielsen, Francis Daunt, Nina Dehnhard, Kjell Einar Erikstad, Alexey Ezhov, Maria Gavrilo, Yuri Krasnov, Magdalene Langset, Svein-H. Lorentsen, Mark Newell, Bergur Olsen, Tone K. Reiertsen, Geir Helge Systad, Thorkell L. Thórarinsson, Mark Baran, Tony Diamond, Annette L. Fayet, Michelle G. Fitzsimmons, Morten Frederiksen, Hugh G. Gilchrist, Tim Guilford, Nicholas P. Huffeldt, Mark Jessopp, Kasper L. Johansen, Amy-Lee Kouwenberg, Jannie F. Linnebjerg, Heather L. Major, Laura McFarlane Tranquilla, Mark Mallory, Flemming R. Merkel, William Montevecchi, Anders Mosbech, Aevar Petersen, David Grémillet. (2021). North Atlantic winter cyclones starve seabirds (Vol. 31). Bachelor's thesis, , .
Abstract: Each winter, the North Atlantic Ocean is the stage for numerous cyclones, the most severe ones leading to seabird mass-mortality events called “winter wrecks.”1, 2, 3 During these, thousands of emaciated seabird carcasses are washed ashore along European and North American coasts. Winter cyclones can therefore shape seabird population dynamics4,5 by affecting survival rates as well as the body condition of surviving individuals and thus their future reproduction. However, most often the geographic origins of impacted seabirds and the causes of their deaths remain unclear.6 We performed the first ocean-basin scale assessment of cyclone exposure in a seabird community by coupling winter tracking data for ∼1,500 individuals of five key North Atlantic seabird species (Alle alle, Fratercula arctica, Uria aalge, Uria lomvia, and Rissa tridactyla) and cyclone locations. We then explored the energetic consequences of different cyclonic conditions using a mechanistic bioenergetics model7 and tested the hypothesis that cyclones dramatically increase seabird energy requirements. We demonstrated that cyclones of high intensity impacted birds from all studied species and breeding colonies during winter but especially those aggregating in the Labrador Sea, the Davis Strait, the surroundings of Iceland, and the Barents Sea. Our broad-scale analyses suggested that cyclonic conditions do not increase seabird energy requirements, implying that they die because of the unavailability of their prey and/or their inability to feed during cyclones. Our study provides essential information on seabird cyclone exposure in a context of marked cyclone regime changes due to global warming.8
Keywords: at-sea distribution cyclones energy expenditure GLS tracking seabird migration seascape ecology
Programme: 330,388
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Mathieu Casado, Amaelle Landais, Ghislain Picard, Laurent Arnaud, Giuliano Dreossi, Barbara Stenni, Frederic Prié. (2021). Water Isotopic Signature of Surface Snow Metamorphism in Antarctica (Vol. 48).
Abstract: Water isotope ratios of ice cores are a key source of information on past temperatures. Through fractionation within the hydrological cycle, temperature is imprinted in the water isotopic composition of snowfalls. However, this signal of climatic interest is modified after deposition when snow remains at the surface exposed to the atmosphere. Comparing time series of surface snow isotopic composition at Dome C with satellite observations of surface snow metamorphism, we found that long summer periods without precipitation favor surface snow metamorphism altering the surface snow isotopic composition. Using excess parameters (combining D,17O, and 18O fractions) allow the identification of this alteration caused by sublimation and condensation of surface hoar. The combined measurement of all three isotopic compositions could help identifying ice core sections influenced by snow metamorphism in sites with very low snow accumulation.
Keywords: excess Ice cores metamorhism Paleoclimate water isotopes
Programme: 1110
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Zambra López-Farrán, Charlène Guillaumot, Luis Vargas-Chacoff, Kurt Paschke, Valérie Dulière, Bruno Danis, Elie Poulin, Thomas Saucède, Jonathan Waters, Karin Gérard. (2021). Is the southern crab Halicarcinus planatus (Fabricius, 1775) the next invader of Antarctica? (Vol. 27).
Abstract: The potential for biological colonization of Antarctic shores is an increasingly important topic in the context of anthropogenic warming. Successful Antarctic invasions to date have been recorded exclusively from terrestrial habitats. While non-native marine species such as crabs, mussels and tunicates have already been reported from Antarctic coasts, none have as yet established there. Among the potential marine invaders of Antarctic shallow waters is Halicarcinus planatus (Fabricius, 1775), a crab with a circum-Subantarctic distribution and substantial larval dispersal capacity. An ovigerous female of this species was found in shallow waters of Deception Island, South Shetland Islands in 2010. A combination of physiological experiments and ecological modelling was used to assess the potential niche of H. planatus and estimate its future southward boundaries under climate change scenarios. We show that H. planatus has a minimum thermal limit of 1°C, and that its current distribution (assessed by sampling and niche modelling) is physiologically restricted to the Subantarctic region. While this species is presently unable to survive in Antarctica, future warming under both ‘strong mitigation’ and ‘no mitigation’ greenhouse gas emission scenarios will favour its niche expansion to the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) by 2100. Future human activity also has potential to increase the probability of anthropogenic translocation of this species into Antarctic ecosystems.
Keywords: climate change establishment niche modelling non-native species reptant crab Southern Ocean survival thermotolerance
Programme: 1044
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Marjorie Roscian, Anthony Herrel, Raphaël Cornette, Arnaud Delapré, Yves Cherel, Isabelle Rouget. (2021). Underwater photogrammetry for close-range 3D imaging of dry-sensitive objects: The case study of cephalopod beaks (Vol. 11).
Abstract: Technical advances in 3D imaging have contributed to quantifying and understanding biological variability and complexity. However, small, dry-sensitive objects are not easy to reconstruct using common and easily available techniques such as photogrammetry, surface scanning, or micro-CT scanning. Here, we use cephalopod beaks as an example as their size, thickness, transparency, and dry-sensitive nature make them particularly challenging. We developed a new, underwater, photogrammetry protocol in order to add these types of biological structures to the panel of photogrammetric possibilities. We used a camera with a macrophotography mode in a waterproof housing fixed in a tank with clear water. The beak was painted and fixed on a colored rotating support. Three angles of view, two acquisitions, and around 300 pictures per specimen were taken in order to reconstruct a full 3D model. These models were compared with others obtained with micro-CT scanning to verify their accuracy. The models can be obtained quickly and cheaply compared with micro-CT scanning and have sufficient precision for quantitative interspecific morphological analyses. Our work shows that underwater photogrammetry is a fast, noninvasive, efficient, and accurate way to reconstruct 3D models of dry-sensitive objects while conserving their shape. While the reconstruction of the shape is accurate, some internal parts cannot be reconstructed with photogrammetry as they are not visible. In contrast, these structures are visible using reconstructions based on micro-CT scanning. The mean difference between both methods is very small (10−5 to 10−4 mm) and is significantly lower than differences between meshes of different individuals. This photogrammetry protocol is portable, easy-to-use, fast, and reproducible. Micro-CT scanning, in contrast, is time-consuming, expensive, and nonportable. This protocol can be applied to reconstruct the 3D shape of many other dry-sensitive objects such as shells of shellfish, cartilage, plants, and other chitinous materials.
Keywords: 3D models cephalopod beaks dry-sensitive material micro-CT scanning micro-photogrammetry underwater photogrammetry
Programme: 109
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Lara D. Shepherd, Colin M. Miskelly, Yves Cherel, Alan J. D. Tennyson. (2021). Genetic identification informs on the distributions of vagrant Royal (Eudyptes schlegeli) and Macaroni (Eudyptes chrysolophus) Penguins (Vol. 44).
Abstract: Understanding the movements of animals that spend much of their life at sea is difficult but important for effective conservation. Determining the at-sea distributions of Macaroni (Eudyptes chrysolophus) and Royal (Eudyptes schlegeli) Penguins poses particular challenges, including their occurrence in remote locations and difficulties in species identification owing to overlap in morphological characters, particularly in immature birds. Here we use DNA sequencing to examine vagrant Macaroni and Royal Penguins from Antarctica and New Zealand in order to improve understanding of their non-breeding distributions. Our sampling included samples from living birds, museum specimens and scavenged penguin remains recovered from the stomachs of Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) caught north of the Ross Sea. Mitochondrial control region (HVRI) sequences indicated that the two samples from New Zealand were likely Royal Penguins as were the scavenged penguins. Both Macaroni and Royal Penguins were detected at Terre Adélie, Antarctica, despite the nearest breeding colony of Macaroni Penguins being 4000 km away. We provide the first evidence of Royal Penguins reaching the Ross Dependency. All but one of the vagrants were immature birds, supporting suggestions that this age group is the most likely to disperse large distances from the breeding colonies. Our study demonstrates how DNA sequences can assist in identifying taxa with similar or overlapping morphologies, as well as fragmentary bird remains.
Keywords: Antarctica Eudyptes chrysolophus Eudyptes schlegeli Genetic identification Penguin distribution Predation
Programme: 109
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