Foraging trips and isotopic niche of chick-rearing South Georgian diving petrels from the Kerguelen Islands - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Marine Ecology Progress Series Année : 2022

Foraging trips and isotopic niche of chick-rearing South Georgian diving petrels from the Kerguelen Islands

Résumé

Seabirds are central place foragers, relying on prey that is patchily distributed and of variable predictability. Species travelling at a high energetic cost are more strongly dependent on spatially predictable prey. This is the case of diving petrels Pelecanoides spp., which are small Procellariiformes that feed by pursuit diving and travel by flapping constantly. Despite their abundance and importance as zooplankton consumers, information on the foraging strategy of diving petrels is still lacking. The detailed at-sea movements and the trophic niche of the South Georgian diving petrel Pelecanoides georgicus was investigated for the first time using miniaturized GPS and the stable isotope method, respectively. Overall, South Georgian diving petrels from the Kerguelen Islands performed unexpected, direct and long-distance trips (mean foraging range: 191 to 217 km) to the Antarctic Polar front, south of the archipelago. This foraging ground is a productive and predictable area, where the birds stopped and fed at the distal part of their trip. Blood isotopic values indicate that the tracked birds fed consistently on macrozooplankton. Such a distant oceanic feeding strategy contrasts with the coastal foraging patterns of the closely related common diving petrel P. urinatrix. Commuting to a more distant but shallower resource allows South Georgian diving petrels to cope with its high commuting costs, and to segregate spatially from the sympatric common diving petrel during the breeding season.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
Bost et al. 2022 MEPS.pdf (1.06 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)

Dates et versions

hal-03651876 , version 1 (06-09-2022)

Identifiants

Citer

Charles-André Bost, Karine Delord, Yves Cherel, Colin Miskelly, Alice Carravieri, et al.. Foraging trips and isotopic niche of chick-rearing South Georgian diving petrels from the Kerguelen Islands. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2022, 689, pp.169-177. ⟨10.3354/meps14029⟩. ⟨hal-03651876⟩
35 Consultations
139 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More