TY  - JOUR
AU  - Le Vaillant Maryline, Wilson Rory P.
PY  - 2012//
TI  - King penguins adjust their diving behaviour with age
T2  - J. Exp. Biol.
JO  - JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
SP  - 3685
EP  - 3692
VL  - 215
IS  - Pt 21
KW  - Aging
KW  - Animals
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Animal
KW  - Biomechanical Phenomena
KW  - Diving
KW  - Energy Metabolism
KW  - Female
KW  - Male
KW  - Motor Activity
KW  - Spheniscidae
KW  - Swimming
KW  -
N2  - Increasing experience in long-lived species is fundamental to improving breeding success and ultimately individual fitness. Diving efficiency of marine animals is primarily determined by their physiological and mechanical characteristics. This efficiency may be apparent via examination of biomechanical performance (e.g. stroke frequency and amplitude, change in buoyancy or body angle, etc.), which itself may be modulated according to resource availability, particularly as a function of depth. We investigated how foraging and diving abilities vary with age in a long-lived seabird. During two breeding seasons, small accelerometers were deployed on young (5 year old) and older (8/9 year old) brooding king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) at the Crozet Archipelago, Indian Ocean. We used partial dynamic body acceleration (PDBA) to quantify body movement during dive and estimate diving cost. During the initial part of the descent, older birds exerted more effort for a given speed but younger penguins worked harder in relation to performance at greater depths. Younger birds also worked harder per unit speed for virtually the whole of the ascent. We interpret these differences using a model that takes into account the upthrust and drag to which the birds are subjected during the dive. From this, we suggest that older birds inhale more at the surface but that an increase in the drag coefficient is the factor leading to the increased effort to swim at a given speed by the younger birds at greater depths. We propose that this higher drag may be the result of young birds adopting less hydrodynamic postures or less direct trajectories when swimming or even having a plumage in poorer condition.
SN  - 1477-9145
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.071175
N1  - exported from refbase (http://publi.ipev.fr/polar_references/show.php?record=4271), last updated on Wed, 03 Jul 2024 22:03:00 +0200
ID  - LeVaillantMaryline2012
ER  -