Stable isotopes of carbon reveal flexible pairing strategies in a migratory Arctic bird

Steenweg, Rolanda J.; Legagneux, Pierre; Crossin, Glenn T.; Gilchrist, H. Grant; Kyser, T. Kurt; Love, Oliver P.

doi:10.1007/s10336-019-01661-y

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…compared to males, which could be due to females eating a higher proportion of periwinkles, the intermediate hosts of many microphallids, compared to males, although this pattern is not usually observed in spring, but rather during brood-care (Skirnisson, 2015). Another potential explanation is that males forage less during spring compared to females, due to courtship behavior (Steenweg et al, 2019) and thus acquire fewer infections. Determining resource use by birds of different sex, age and breeding activity is beyond the scope of this work, however, future studies could aim at including this aspect when examining parasitic infection levels in birds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads

Vestbo

Hindberg

Forbes

et al. 2019

International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

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In birds, parasites cause detrimental effects to the individual host, including reduced survival and reproductive output. The level of parasitic infection can vary with a range of factors, including migratory status, body size, sex, and age of hosts, or season. Understanding this baseline variation is important in order to identify the effects of external changes such as climate change on the parasitic load and potential impacts to individuals and populations. In this study, we compared the infection level (prevalence, intensity, and abundance) of gastrointestinal parasites in a total of 457 common eiders ( Somateria mollissima ) from four different sampling locations (Belcher Islands, Cape Dorset, West Greenland and Newfoundland), and explored the effects of migration, sex and age on levels of parasitism. Across all samples, eiders were infected with one nematode genus, two acanthocephalan genera, three genera of cestodes, and three trematode genera. Migratory phase and status alone did not explain the observed variation in infection levels; the expectation that post-migratory eiders would be more parasitized than pre-migratory eiders, due to the energetic cost of migration, did not fit our results. No effect of age was detected, whereas effects of sex and body size were only detected for certain parasitic taxa and was inconsistent with location. Since gastrointestinal helminths are trophically-transmitted, future studies of the regional and temporal variation in the diet of eiders and the associated variation and infestation level of intermediate hosts might further explain the observed variation of the parasitic load in eiders in different regions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads

Vestbo

Hindberg

Forbes

et al. 2019

International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife

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“…During the spring, birds may be able to compensate for the energetic shortfalls resulting from conditions on their wintering grounds (Merkel et al, 2006; but see Jamieson et al, 2005), as well as the energetic costs stemming from spring migration. Wintering conditions may prevent individuals from forming pairs prior to arrival and recent data suggest that some eiders also use this arrival spring period for pair formation (Steenweg et al, 2019). These results underscore the importance of early timing of arrival to the breeding grounds during the prebreeding period for proximate energy gain, potentially finding a mate, investment in breeding, and ultimately for fitness benefits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Favorable spring conditions can buffer the impact of winter carryover effects on a key breeding decision in an Arctic‐breeding seabird

Steenweg

Crossin

Hennin

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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1. The availability and investment of energy among successive life-history stages is a key feature of carryover effects. In migratory organisms, examining how both winter and spring experiences carryover to affect breeding activity is difficult due to the challenges in tracking individuals through these periods without impacting their behavior, thereby biasing results.2. Using common eiders Somateria mollissima, we examined whether spring conditions at an Arctic breeding colony (East Bay Island, Nunavut, Canada) can buffer the impacts of winter temperatures on body mass and breeding decisions in birds that winter at different locations (Nuuk and Disko Bay, Greenland, and Newfoundland, Canada; assessed by analyzing stable isotopes of 13-carbon in winter-grown claw samples). Specifically, we used path analysis to examine how wintering and spring environmental conditions interact to affect breeding propensity (a key reproductive decision influencing lifetime fitness in female eiders) within the contexts of the timing of colony arrival, pre-breeding body mass (body condition), and a physiological proxy for foraging effort (baseline corticosterone).3. We demonstrate that warmer winter temperatures predicted lower body mass at arrival to the nesting colony, whereas warmer spring temperatures predicted earlier arrival dates and higher arrival body mass. Both higher body mass and earlier arrival dates of eider hens increased the probability that birds would initiate laying (i.e., higher breeding propensity). However, variation in baseline corticosterone was not linked to either winter or spring temperatures, and it had no additional downstream effects on breeding propensity. 4. Overall, we demonstrate that favorable pre-breeding conditions in Arcticbreeding common eiders can compensate for the impact that unfavorable

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Stable isotopes of carbon reveal flexible pairing strategies in a migratory Arctic bird

Cited by 2 publications

References 42 publications

Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads

Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads

Favorable spring conditions can buffer the impact of winter carryover effects on a key breeding decision in an Arctic‐breeding seabird

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