Differences in stable isotopes in blood and feathers of seabirds are consistent across species, age and latitude: implications for food web studies

Quillfeldt, Petra; Bugoni, Leandro; McGill, Rona A. R.; Masello, Juan F.; Furness, Robert W.

doi:10.1007/s00227-008-1048-2

Cited by 61 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Blood from chicks had lower isotopic values compared to feathers, as also observed in other avian studies (Pearson et al 2003;Bearhop et al 2006;Quillfeldt et al 2008a). This difference between tissues was probably due to different sources of nitrogen involved in their synthesis (Bearhop et al 2002;Cherel et al 2005b).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Stable isotope ratios of a tropical marine predator: confounding effects of nutritional status during growth

et al. 2012

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Stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen is frequently used to study the diets and foraging ecology of marine predators. However, isotopic values may also be affected by an individual's nutritional status and associated physiological processes. Here, we use C and N stable isotopes in blood and feathers of blue-footed booby chicks at the Galápagos Islands to examine how isotopic values are related to body condition and growth rate, and to assess the consistency in the isotope ratios of individuals during growth. Size dimorphism in blue-footed boobies provided an additional opportunity to examine how isotope ratios differ between sexes in relation to body size and growth rate. There was no significant difference between sexes but both C and N stable isotopes were significantly negatively related to the body condition of chicks. These data were consistent with individual variation in physiological processes affecting fractionation, although we cannot rule out the possibility that they were also influenced to some extent by population-level variation in the stable isotope ratios of prey fed to chicks, for instance related to prey size, depth or lipid content. Our results highlight the need for methods that take proper account of confounding physiological factors in isotopic studies of foraging ecology and diet.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Stable isotope ratios of a tropical marine predator: confounding effects of nutritional status during growth

et al. 2012

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“…There is increasing awareness that many factors affect isotopic diet -tissue discrimination factors (Quillfeldt et al 2008). As such, a single discrimination factor applied to all seabirds of both age groups is almost certainly unrealistic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seabird seasonal trophodynamics: isotopic patterns in a community of Pacific alcids

Davies¹,

Hipfner²,

Hobson³

et al. 2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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We measured δ 15 N and δ 13 C values in the blood of breeding adults and nestlings of 5 species of alcids at Triangle Island, British Columbia, to estimate the extent to which these seabirds alter their foraging ecology across successive breeding stages. Considerable intraspecific (stage-tostage) and interspecific variation was found. Two species -common murre Uria aalge and pigeon guillemot Cepphus columba -fed consistently at high trophic levels (i.e. diets of fish) in inshore or benthically linked habitats. The foraging ecology of 3 others -Cassin's auklet Ptychoramphus aleuticus, rhinoceros auklet Cerorhinca monocerata and tufted puffin Fratercula cirrhata -was more variable. Tufted puffins exhibited especially dramatic trophic and habitat shifts between early and late-season diets. With the exception of tufted puffin, the diet of provisioning adults differed from that fed to their nestlings. Trophic level of the community as a whole increased as the season progressed due to the combination of trophic shifting by rhinoceros auklets and tufted puffins, and earlier breeding by zooplanktivorous Cassin's auklets than by piscivorous murres and guillemots. Our results contribute to a growing body of evidence that marine bird species exhibit considerable flexibility in their foraging behaviour and also shed new light on seasonal patterns in the trophic relations within marine bird communities.

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“…Breeding colonies of the studied little auk Alle alle which are labelled as follows in the text: S1 to S4 for Spitsbergen (from north to south, inset), EG for East Greenland and WG for West Greenland wintering birds (after AMAP 1998). Geographical coordinates given in Table 1 niche at different periods of their annual cycle, we needed to take into account the tissue-dependent metabolic routing and enrichment factors for little auks (Podlesak & McWilliams 2006, Quillfeldt et al 2008a). We thus compared stable isotope ratios obtained from feathers and blood samples that were simultaneously collected on chicks, and calculated correction factors to compare δ 13 C and δ 15 N values from these 2 tissues in adult birds.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic and seasonal variability in the isotopic niche of little auks

Fort¹,

Cherel²,

Harding³

et al. 2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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International audienceThe non-breeding season of seabirds is extremely challenging to study because it isoften spent offshore under harsh environmental conditions. We used stable isotope analysis to investigatelittle auk Alle alle feeding ecology throughout the annual cycle. The geographic distribution oflittle auks in the Arctic covers a wide range of oceanographic conditions. We sampled birds from 5different colonies located in the most important breeding areas (Greenland and Spitsbergen) toexamine how individuals breeding in contrasting marine environments differ in their trophic nichethroughout the year. We found differences in summer δ15N values among the colonies, suggestingdifferent target species despite low overall δ15N values in blood, which indicates a diet that is primarilycomposed of copepods. A rise in δ15N values between summer and autumn indicated that adultschanged their trophic status to feed at a higher trophic level. During autumn, a large overlap infeather δ13C values between colonies suggests a common moulting area off Northeast Greenland.During winter, the isotopic signatures show that the trophic status of Greenland and Spitsbergenbirds differed, with birds from Greenland feeding at low trophic levels (probably mostly on copepods),and birds from Spitsbergen maintaining a higher trophic level. These findings highlight contrastingseasonal and regional diet in little auk populations, and reveal possible population overlapsduring the autumn moult. We found substantial trophic variability in little auks, which may indicateunsuspected capabilities to adapt to current, drastic environmental change in the North Atlantic

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Differences in stable isotopes in blood and feathers of seabirds are consistent across species, age and latitude: implications for food web studies

Cited by 61 publications

References 31 publications

Stable isotope ratios of a tropical marine predator: confounding effects of nutritional status during growth

Stable isotope ratios of a tropical marine predator: confounding effects of nutritional status during growth

Seabird seasonal trophodynamics: isotopic patterns in a community of Pacific alcids

Geographic and seasonal variability in the isotopic niche of little auks

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