Foraging behavior of a high-Arctic zooplanktivorous alcid, the little auk, at the southern edge of its breeding range

Jakubas, Dariusz; Iliszko, Lech; Strøm, Hallvard; Darecki, Mirosław; Jerstad, Kurt; Stempniewicz, Lech

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2015.11.010

Cited by 24 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Despite low-energy content of food delivered to chicks late in the season (during our last sampling) in Magdalenefjorden, reproductive output was not affected significantly by the hatching date. This confirms previous observations that little auks breeding on Spitsbergen can respond to a wide range of environmental conditions and prey availabilities through the plasticity of their foraging behaviour (Jakubas et al , 2016Harding et al 2009;Kwasniewski et al 2010). The effectiveness of behavioural buffering may be affected by oceanographic conditions and colony location.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Previous papers have shown that Calanus glacialis CV is the most important prey item for little auks breeding on Svalbard (Weslawski et al 1999;Karnovsky et al 2003;Kwasniewski et al 2010;Jakubas et al 2007Jakubas et al , 2016 Table 2 Average percentage dissimilarity of zooplankton communities on the little auk foraging grounds in different periods of time in Hornsund (H1-H2), Magdalenefjorden (M1-M2) and Smeerenburgfjorden (S1-S2) in 2010 (SIMPER analyses; dissimilarity measure: Bray-Curtis) and summary of significance of differences assessment (ANOSIM; similarity measure: Bray-Curtis) Code (N) H1 (32) H2 (6) M1 (6) M2 (15) S1 (6) S2 (15) Abundance (ANOSIM R = 0.37, P = 0.0001) Code (N) HC1 (13) HC2 (30) HC3 (23) MC1 (23) MC2 (23) MC3 (19) MC4 (23) Abundance (ANOSIM R = 0.18, P = 0.0001) Kidawa et al 2015). Our study indicates that this preference is temporally consistent throughout the chick-rearing period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hovinen et al (2014b) revealed that fledging probability was generally higher in Magdalenefjorden (range 0.91-1.0) with lower sea surface temperature (SST) than in Isfjorden (range 0.62-0.97) with higher SST, resulting in worse prey availability and quality in the little auk's foraging grounds. Location of colony in area offering alternative foraging grounds, which may be explored when the trophic conditions in the traditional foraging areas deteriorate, may determine the birds' ability to modify foraging strategy (Jakubas et al , 2016Kidawa et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intra-seasonal variation in zooplankton availability, chick diet and breeding performance of a high Arctic planktivorous seabird

et al. 2016

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Different phenological responses to climate changes by species representing preys and predators may lead to mismatch between functionally dependent components of an ecosystem, with important effects on its structure and functioning. Here, we investigate withinseason variation in zooplankton availability, chick diet composition and breeding performance of a small planktivorous seabird, the little auk (Alle alle) in two large colonies in Hornsund and Magdalenefjorden, Spitsbergen, differing in synchrony of breeding (11-day vs. 22-day hatching period, respectively). Assuming similar zooplankton phenology and existing differences in duration of the little auk breeding period, we expected lower availability of the preferred food in the less synchronized colony in Magdalenefjorden and in consequence a negative effect on nestling body mass and survival. We found that in both colonies Calanus glacialis (copepodite stage CV) was the most important prey item in the chick diet making up 68-87 % of the biomass and energy of all prey items. The only exception was the end of the chick-rearing period in Magdalenefjorden, when contribution of this prey item was significantly lower (24-26 %). Thus, late breeders in Magdalenefjorden were apparently mismatched regarding C. glacialis CV availability. However, the hatching date did not affect birds fitness (reproductive output and chick pre-fledging mass) significantly. Results of our study indicate that little auks breeding on Spitsbergen can respond to a wide range of environmental conditions and prey availabilities through the plasticity of their foraging behaviour, which may help them to maintain their optimum fitness level in changing and unpredictable environments.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intra-seasonal variation in zooplankton availability, chick diet and breeding performance of a high Arctic planktivorous seabird

et al. 2016

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“…travelling an additional 258 km, Fig 3 ) would have required little auks to increase their flight times by six hours per foraging trip, with an overall 18% increase in trip duration. Compared with other published data on foraging trip duration or maximum foraging distance, little auks from our study already performed trips which were longer (mean duration of 15.9 h and 22.7 h [ 59 , 60 ]; mean maximum distance of 67.1 km and 65.5 km [ 57 , 60 ]) or of the same order of magnitude (mean maximum distance of 97.9 km and mean duration of 24.3 h, [ 16 ]) than little auks from other areas. This suggests that birds may have already been operating to their maximum capabilities, and probably cannot reach the ice when it is further away.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Where to Forage in the Absence of Sea Ice? Bathymetry As a Key Factor for an Arctic Seabird

et al. 2016

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The earth is warming at an alarming rate, especially in the Arctic, where a marked decline in sea ice cover may have far-ranging consequences for endemic species. Little auks, endemic Arctic seabirds, are key bioindicators as they forage in the marginal ice zone and feed preferentially on lipid-rich Arctic copepods and ice-associated amphipods sensitive to the consequences of global warming. We tested how little auks cope with an ice-free foraging environment during the breeding season. To this end, we took advantage of natural variation in sea ice concentration along the east coast of Greenland. We compared foraging and diving behaviour, chick diet and growth and adult body condition between two years, in the presence versus nearby absence of sea ice in the vicinity of their breeding site. Moreover, we sampled zooplankton at sea when sea ice was absent to evaluate prey location and little auk dietary preferences. Little auks foraged in the same areas both years, irrespective of sea ice presence/concentration, and targeted the shelf break and the continental shelf. We confirmed that breeding little auks showed a clear preference for larger copepod species to feed their chick, but caught smaller copepods and nearly no ice-associated amphipod when sea ice was absent. Nevertheless, these dietary changes had no impact on chick growth and adult body condition. Our findings demonstrate the importance of bathymetry for profitable little auk foraging, whatever the sea-ice conditions. Our investigations, along with recent studies, also confirm more flexibility than previously predicted for this key species in a warming Arctic.

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“…Although Little Auks are known to change foraging flight duration in response to environmental conditions (Welcker et al, 2009;Kwaśniewski et al, 2010;Jakubas et al, 2011Jakubas et al, , 2013Grémillet et al, 2012;Hovinen et al, 2014;Kidawa et al, 2015), the pattern of dual-foraging strategy (alternated ST and LT) seems to be fixed regardless of the environmental circumstances (Steen et al, 2007;Welcker et al, 2009;Wojczulanis-Jakubas et al, 2010;Jakubas et al, 2016). It has also been suggested that the dual-foraging strategy could be a fixed trait due to its adaptive value.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Coordination of Chick Provisioning in a Planktivorous Arctic Seabird Under Divergent Conditions on Foraging Grounds

et al. 2019

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An increasing number of studies report coordinated chick provisioning by avian parents. Although the pattern of parental coordination varies across species, broad occurrence of this coordination suggests that it has an adaptive value: it may increase individual fitness via higher offspring survival, faster offspring growth rate and/or higher body reserves of the parents. However, to what extent the pattern of coordinated provisioning in a species represents a flexible response to current foraging conditions remains an open question. Here, we examined coordination of chick provisioning in the Little Auk (Alle alle), a planktivorous seabird species that breeds in the Arctic. Harsh environmental conditions impose bi-parental care on this species, and high variability within and across breeding seasons promotes flexibility in parental involvement to secure breeding success. During the chick rearing period, parents exhibit a dual-foraging strategy (i.e., alternating long foraging trips, serving to maintain the adults' body reserves, with several short trips aimed to provision the chick). We examined coordination of parental provisioning across five breeding seasons varying in terms of environmental conditions and found that the parents indeed coordinate their provisioning, avoiding performing long trips simultaneously and thus enabling a more even distribution of feeding through time. We also examined chick body condition in relation to the level of parental coordination to test the potential adaptive value of coordination, but we found no significant relationship between these two parameters. We found high variability in the level of the coordination between pairs, and this variability was similar across all study seasons, which represented a wide range of experienced environmental conditions. Nevertheless, we found that the energy density of food loads delivered to chicks was associated with the level of parental coordination: when conditions were characterized by the delivery of higher-energy food loads, the level of coordination exhibited by the studied population was higher. These findings suggest that environmental conditions somehow affect parental coordination, but the range of the environmental variation could be still below a critical threshold of extreme conditions that would trigger more pronounced modifications of parental foraging patterns and coordination.

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Foraging behavior of a high-Arctic zooplanktivorous alcid, the little auk, at the southern edge of its breeding range

Cited by 24 publications

References 63 publications

Intra-seasonal variation in zooplankton availability, chick diet and breeding performance of a high Arctic planktivorous seabird

Intra-seasonal variation in zooplankton availability, chick diet and breeding performance of a high Arctic planktivorous seabird

Where to Forage in the Absence of Sea Ice? Bathymetry As a Key Factor for an Arctic Seabird

Parental Coordination of Chick Provisioning in a Planktivorous Arctic Seabird Under Divergent Conditions on Foraging Grounds

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