Molt-Breeding Tradeoffs in Albatrosses: Life History Implications for Big Birds

Langston, Nancy; Rohwer, Sievert

doi:10.2307/3546343

Cited by 87 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In some seabird species, in cluding gulls (Calladine & Harris 1997, Mills et al 2008, kittiwakes (Cam et al 1998), penguins (Jiguet & Jouventin 1999) and petrels (Barbraud & Weimerskirch 2005), intermittent breeding is described in association with environmental constraints or, in the case of shearwaters (Sanz-Aguilar et al 2011), as a characteristic of individuals with a lower intrinsic quality. Furthermore, reproduction skipping was described as a consequence of incomplete primary moult in albatross (Langston & Rohwer 1996).…”

Section: The Intermittent Breeding Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Forecasting ocean warming impacts on seabird demography: a case study on the European storm petrel

Soldatini

Albores‐Barajas

Massa

et al. 2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Bottom-up climatic forcing has been shown to be influential for a variety of marine taxa, but evidence on seabird populations is scarce. Seasonal variation in environmental conditions can have an indirect effect on subsequent reproduction, which, given the longevity and single-brooding of seabirds, may affect population dynamics. Our study focuses on linking the effect of oceanographic conditions (from 1991 to 2013) to the fecundity and consequently population growth rate of the Mediterranean subspecies of the European storm petrel Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis. In this study, we examined 23 yr of > 5400 capture-mark−recaptures (CMR) and modelled the probability of skipping reproduction as a function of oceanographic variables using CMR models. We demonstrate that a decrease in sea surface temperature in the pre-breeding period negatively influences skipping propensity, and therefore hypothesize that this behaviour would have significant influence on population abundance over time. For this reason, we analysed population growth as a function of skipping probability as affected by oceanographic conditions. We used stochastic demographic models to forecast the fate of the population, and evaluated contrasted environmental condition scenarios. As a result, we found that a decrease in frequency of cold winter events would probably reduce skipping propensity, with a positive effect on the population as a whole.

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Section: The Intermittent Breeding Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Forecasting ocean warming impacts on seabird demography: a case study on the European storm petrel

Soldatini

Albores‐Barajas

Massa

et al. 2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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show abstract

“…As a result, large birds have developed specific moult strategies that often include, amongst other adaptations, the retention of some flight feathers for 2-3 years, in contrast to the annual moult of the complete plumage which is characteristic of smaller species (Rohwer et al 2009). Despite this, large birds with long breeding seasons, such as albatrosses, still face difficulties in finding sufficient time during the non-breeding period to replace enough feathers, and in at least one genus Phoebastria, the accumulation of old feathers eventually forces birds to skip breeding seasons in order to renew their plumage (Langston and Rohwer 1996;Rohwer et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to conventional wisdom, albatrosses (Diomedeidae) suspend moult during the entire breeding season, with rare exceptions in a small minority of species where occasional, largely aberrant individuals have been recorded moulting (Harris 1973;Berruti 1979;Melville 1991;Weimerskirch 1991;Prince et al 1993;Langston and Rohwer 1996;Cobley and Prince 1998;Edwards 2008). The only study reporting the regular moult of flight feathers during breeding involved yellownosed albatrosses Thalassarche chlororhynchos and found less than 10 % of the individuals still growing the last of the moulted primaries ([90 % growth completed) at the start of the incubation (Furness 1988).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in the timing and extent of annual moult of black-browed albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris living in contrasting environments

et al. 2013

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Moult entails costs related to the acquisition of energy and nutrients necessary for feather synthesis, as well as the impact of reduced flight performance induced by gaps in the wing plumage. Variation in moult strategies within and between populations may convey valuable information on energetic trade-offs and other responses to differing environmental constraints. We studied the moult strategies of two populations of a pelagic seabird, the black-browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris, nesting in contrasting environments. According to conventional wisdom, it is exceptional for albatrosses (Diomedeidae) to moult while breeding. Here we show that black-browed albatrosses breeding on the Falklands regularly moult primaries, tail and body feathers during chick-rearing, and the majority of those at South Georgia show some body feather moult in late chick-rearing. The greater moult-breeding overlap at the Falklands allows the birds to annually renew more primary feathers than their counterparts at South Georgia. The results of the present paper, pooled with other evidence, suggest that black-browed albatrosses from South Georgia face a more challenging environment during reproduction. They also serve to warn against the uncritical acceptance of conventional ideas about moult patterns when using feathers to study the ecology of seabirds and other migrants for which there is scant information at particular stages of the annual cycle.

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“…Moult in Procellariiforme seabirds generally conforms to this pattern with no overlap with breeding activity (Warham 1996). In adult albatrosses, all wing, body and tail moult occurs at sea between nesting episodes and the replacement of all wing feathers necessitates two to three successive interbreeding periods, suggesting a resource limitation of time and food (Weimerskirch 1991;Prince et al 1993;Langston and Rohwer 1996). Sampling of feathers for the determination of their isotopic composition is thus a simple, non-invasive and potentially efficient way to collect information on the feeding ecology of seabirds during the poorly known interbreeding period at sea.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using stable-isotope analysis of feathers to distinguish moulting and breeding origins of seabirds

Cherel¹,

2000

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To determine whether stable isotope measurements of bird feathers can be used to identify moulting (interbreeding) foraging areas of adult seabirds, we examined the stable-carbon (δC) and nitrogen (δN) isotopic composition of feathers of chicks and adults of black-browed albatrosses (Diomedea melanophrys) from Kerguelen Islands, southern Indian Ocean. Albatross chicks are fed primarily fish (75% by mass), the diet being dominated by various species of the family Nototheniidae and Channichthyidae which commonly occur in the shelf waters in the vicinity of the colony. δC and δN values in chick feathers, which are grown in summer in the breeding area, were lower than values in adult feathers, which are grown in winter (δC: -19.6‰ versus -17.6‰ and δN: 12.4‰ versus 15.7‰, respectively). No differences in δC and δN values were found in adult wing feathers moulted in 1993 and 1994 and in adult feathers formed at the beginning, middle and end of the 1994 moulting period. These data are consistent with adults moulting in the same area and feeding at the same trophic level from one year to the next and with no major changes in foraging ecology within a given moulting season; they suggest that foraging grounds were different in summer and winter and that these differed in their stable-isotope signature. Changes in both feather δC and δN values indicated feeding south of the Subtropical Front (STF) during chick rearing, which is in agreement with the known foraging ecology at this time and feeding north of the STF during moult. This, together with band recoveries from adult birds, indicates that black-browed albatrosses from Kerguelen Islands wintered in subtropical waters off southern Australia. The stable-isotope markers in feathers, therefore, have the potential for locating moulting areas of migratory seabird species moving between isotopically distinct regions and for investigating seabirds' foraging ecology during the poorly known interbreeding period. Such information is needed for studies of year-round ecology of seabirds as well as for their conservation and the long-term monitoring of the pelagic environment.

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Molt-Breeding Tradeoffs in Albatrosses: Life History Implications for Big Birds

Cited by 87 publications

References 33 publications

Forecasting ocean warming impacts on seabird demography: a case study on the European storm petrel

Forecasting ocean warming impacts on seabird demography: a case study on the European storm petrel

Differences in the timing and extent of annual moult of black-browed albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris living in contrasting environments

Using stable-isotope analysis of feathers to distinguish moulting and breeding origins of seabirds

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