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. (2011). Development of fasting abilities in subantarctic fur seal pups: balancing the demands of growth under extreme nutritional restrictions
. Functional Ecology, 25(3), 704–717.
Keywords: body fat, energy conservation, fuel partitioning, growth strategy, maternal care, offspring survival, pinnipeds, protein sparing,
Programme: 109
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Devillard S, Santin-janin H, Say L, Pontier D,. (2011). Linking genetic diversity and temporal fluctuations in population abundance of the introduced feral cat (Felis silvestris catus) on the Kerguelen archipelago
. 0962-1083, 20(24), 5141–5153.
Abstract: Linking temporal variations of genetic diversity, including allelic richness and heterozygosity, and spatio-temporal fluctuations in population abundance has emerged as an important tool for understanding demographic and evolutionary processes in natural populations. This so-called genetic monitoring was conducted across 12 consecutive years (19962007) at three sites for the feral cat, introduced onto the Kerguelen archipelago fifty years ago. Temporal changes in allelic richness and heterozygosity at 18 microsatellite DNA loci were compared with temporal changes in the adult population abundance index, obtained by typical demographic monitoring. No association was found at the island spatial scale, but we observed an association between genetic diversity and adult population indices from year to year within each study site. More particularly, the magnitude of successive increases or decreases in the adult population abundance index appeared to be the major factor linking the trajectories of genetic diversity and adult population abundance indices. Natal dispersal and/or local recruitment, both facilitated by high juvenile survival when the adult population size is small, is proposed as the major demographic processes contributing to such an observed pattern. Finally, we suggested avoiding the use of the harmonic mean as an estimator of long-term population size to study the relationships between demographic fluctuations and heterozygosity in populations characterized by strong multiannual density fluctuations.
Keywords: Felis silvestris catus, feral cat, genetic diversity, population abundance, temporal variation,
Programme: 279
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Dobson F Stephen, Couchoux Charline, Jouventin Pierre, . (2011). Sexual Selection on a Coloured Ornament in King Penguins
. 0179-1613, 117(10), 872–879.
Abstract: Species in which the sexes equally exhibit colourful ornaments are an issue for evolutionary theory. Among several hypotheses, sexual selection for mutual mate choice and social selection for signals of behavioural dominance are most commonly supported. We examined the previously documented sex-similar size of yellow-orange ear patches in the king penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus. This species is monogamous and pairs just before reproduction. Raising a chick requires considerable effort by both parents, as they alternate care of their single offspring with foraging at sea. The size of the ear patches appears to signal aggressive territoriality in the breeding colony for both sexes. However, experiments suggest that females prefer large patch size during mate choice, and males do not prefer this trait. We tested whether the size of the coloured ear patch was influenced by sexual selection for couples that had recently paired. We used analyses of covariance to compare the size of the ear patch to a measure of body size and then tested for the difference between males and females. Males were 6.2% larger in ear patch width and 7.7% larger in ear patch area than females, and the distance between the ear patches over the head was 7.5% smaller in males, with all differences highly significant. Consequently, sexual selection appears to favour larger ear patches in males, possibly because of an excess of males that promotes female choice. Social selection also appears to favour the evolutionary maintenance of ear patches of males, and thus both types of selection may contribute to enlarged ear patches.
Programme: 354
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. (2012). Multicolony tracking reveals the winter distribution of a pelagic seabird on an ocean basin scale
. 1366-9516, 18(6), 530–542.
Abstract: Aim An understanding of the non-breeding distribution and ecology of migratory species is necessary for successful conservation. Many seabirds spend the non-breeding season far from land, and information on their distribution during this time is very limited. The black-legged kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla, is a widespread and numerous seabird in the North Atlantic and Pacific, but breeding populations throughout the Atlantic range have declined recently. To help understand the reasons for the declines, we tracked adults from colonies throughout the Atlantic range over the non-breeding season using light-based geolocation. Location North Atlantic. Methods Geolocation data loggers were deployed on breeding kittiwakes from 19 colonies in 2008 and 2009 and retrieved in 2009 and 2010. Data from 236 loggers were processed and plotted using GIS. Size and composition of wintering populations were estimated using information on breeding population size. Results Most tracked birds spent the winter in the West Atlantic, between Newfoundland and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, including in offshore, deep-water areas. Some birds (mainly local breeders) wintered in the North Sea and west of the British Isles. There was a large overlap in winter distributions of birds from different colonies, and colonies closer to each other showed larger overlap. We estimated that 80% of the 4.5 million adult kittiwakes in the Atlantic wintered west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, with only birds from Ireland and western Britain staying mainly on the European side. Main conclusions The high degree of mixing in winter of kittiwakes breeding in various parts of the Atlantic range implies that the overall population could be sensitive to potentially deteriorating environmental conditions in the West Atlantic, e.g. owing to lack of food or pollution. Our approach to estimating the size and composition of wintering populations should contribute to improved management of birds faced with such challenges.
Keywords: Black-legged kittiwake, geolocation, migration, non-breeding ecology, North Atlantic, Rissa tridactyla,
Programme: 330
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. (2012). Breaking the sticks: a hierarchical change-point model for estimating ontogenetic shifts with stable isotope data
. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 3(2), 281–290.
Abstract: 1.Stable isotopes are increasingly used in ecology to investigate ontogenetic shifts in foraging habitat (via 13C) and in trophic level (via 15N). These shifts are in essence an individual-level phenomenon, requiring repeated measures throughout the life of individuals, i.e. longitudinal data. Longitudinal data require in turn specifying an appropriate covariance structure. Here we present a hierarchical model to jointly investigate individual ontogenetic shifts in 13C and 15N values. 2.In a Bayesian framework, we used a Cholesky decomposition for estimating a moderately-sized covariance matrix, thereby directly estimating correlations between parameters describing time-series of isotopic measurements. We offer guidelines on how to select the covariance structure. 3.The approach is illustrated with a hierarchical change-point (or broken stick) model applied to a data set collected on Southern Elephant Seals, Mirounga leonina. Ontogenetic shifts in foraging habitat, following a juvenile and variable stage, were detected and interpreted as fidelity to a foraging strategy; while ontogenetic shifts in trophic level were more likely the result of complete independence from maternal resources followed by a gradual increase in trophic level as seals aged. 4.Specifying both an appropriate covariance and mean structure enabled us to draw strong inferences on the ecology of an elusive marine predator, and has wide applicability for isotopic ecology provided repeated isotopic measurements are available.
Keywords: Bayesian methods, linear models, modelling, population ecology, statistics,
Programme: 109
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Brown Zachary W, Welcker Jorg, Harding Ann M A, Walkusz Wojciech, Karnovsky Nina J, . (2012). Divergent diving behavior during short and long trips of a bimodal forager, the little auk Alle alle
. Journal of Avian Biology, 43(3), 215–226.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to characterize for the first time seabird diving behavior during bimodal foraging. Little auks Alle alle, small zooplanktivorous Alcids of the High Arctic, have recently been shown to make foraging trips of short and long duration. Because short (ST) and long trips (LT) are thought to occur in different locations and serve different purposes (chick- and self-feeding, respectively) we hypothesized that foraging differences would be apparent, both in terms of water temperature and diving characteristics. Using Time Depth Recorders (TDRs), we tested this hypothesis at three colonies along the Greenland Sea with contrasting oceanographic conditions. We found that diving behavior generally differed between ST and LT. However, the magnitude of the disparity in diving characteristics depended on local foraging conditions. At the study site where conditions were favorable, diving behavior differed only to a small degree between LT and ST. Together with a lack of difference in diving depth and ocean temperature, this indicates that these birds did not increase their foraging effort during ST nor did they travel long distances to seek out more profitable prey. In contrast, where local foraging conditions were poor, birds increased their diving effort substantially to collect a chick meal during ST as indicated by longer, more U-shaped dives with slower ascent rates and shorter resting times (post-dive intervals and extended surface pauses). In addition, large differences in diving depth and ocean temperature indicate that birds forage on different prey species and utilize different foraging areas during LT, which may be up to 200 km away from the colony. Continued warming and deteriorating near-colony foraging conditions may have energetic consequences for little auks breeding in the eastern Greenland Sea.
Programme: 388
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. (2012). Exposure of black-legged kittiwakes to Lyme disease spirochetes: dynamics of the immune status of adult hosts and effects on their survival
. Journal of Animal Ecology, 81(5), 986–995.
Keywords: antibody persistence, immuno-ecology, Lyme disease bacteria, misclassification, Rissa tridactyla, seroconversion dynamics, state uncertainty,
Programme: 333
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. (2012). Comprehensive sampling reveals circumpolarity and sympatry in seven mitochondrial lineages of the Southern Ocean crinoid species Promachocrinus kerguelensis (Echinodermata)
. Mol. Ecol., 21(10), 2502–2518.
Abstract: Sampling at appropriate spatial scales in the Southern Ocean is logistically challenging and may influence estimates of diversity by missing intermediate representatives. With the assistance of sampling efforts especially influenced by the International Polar Year 20072008, we gathered nearly 1500 specimens of the crinoid species Promachocrinus kerguelensis from around Antarctica. We used phylogeographic and phylogenetic tools to assess its genetic diversity, demographic history and evolutionary relationships. Six phylogroups (AF) identified in an earlier study are corroborated here, with the addition of one new phylogroup (E2). All phylogroups are circumpolar, sympatric and eurybathic. The phylogeny of Promachocrinus phylogroups reveals two principal clades that may represent two different cryptic species with contrasting demographic histories. Genetic diversity indices vary dramatically within phylogroups, and within populations, suggesting multiple glacial refugia in the Southern Ocean: on the Kerguelen Plateau, in the East Weddell Sea and the South Shetland Islands (Atlantic sector), and on the East Antarctic continental shelf in the Dumont dUrville Sea and Ross Sea. The inferences of gene flow vary among the phylogroups, showing discordant spatial patterns. Phylogroup A is the only one found in the Sub-Antarctic region, although without evident connectivity between Bouvet and Kerguelen populations. The Scotia Arc region shows high levels of connectivity between populations in most of the phylogroups, and barriers to gene flow are evident in East Antarctica.
Keywords: Antarctica, crinoid, cryptic species, gene flow, haplotype diversity, refugia,
Programme: 1124
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. (2013). Colouration in Atlantic puffins and blacklegged kittiwakes: monochromatism and links to body condition in both sexes
. 0908-8857, 44(5), 451–460.
Abstract: Sexual dimorphism is widely used as an indirect measure of the intensity of sexual selection. It is also a way to evaluate whether different selective pressures act on males and females. Dichromatism, defined as a difference in colouration between males and females, may for instance result from selection for crypsis in females and selection for conspicuousness in males. Here, we conducted a study to investigate whether differential sexual selective pressures might act on the colour traits of two colonial seabird species, the Atlantic puffin Fratercula artica and the black-legged kittiwake Rissa tricactyla. First, we used spectrophotometry and visual modelling to determine whether these presumed monomorphic birds are really monochromatic from an avian perspective (birds and humans have a different vision). Second, we estimated whether some of their colourations have the potential to be sexually or socially selected by determining whether these colourations were related to body condition in males and females, and whether the yellow, orange and red colourations may contain carotenoid pigments. Our results indicated that both species were fully monochromatic from an avian perspective. Moreover, our preliminary analyses suggested that the yellow, orange and red colours of these birds contained carotenoids. Lastly, some indices of colouration were positively linked to estimates of condition. Birds in better condition had redder gape (both species) and bill (puffins). In puffins, the relation between condition and gape colouration was significantly stronger in females than males. By contrast, the size of the gape rosette was larger in males than females. The positive links we found between colour indices and condition, together with the absence of sexual dichromatism, suggest that mutual sexual selection may act in these two species.
Programme: 333
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. (2015). Important marine habitat off east Antarctica revealed by two decades of multi-species predator tracking
. Ecography, 38(2), 121–129.
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