Where to forage in the absence of sea ice? Bathymetry as a key factor for an arctic seabird

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dc.contributor.authorAmélineau, Françoiseen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorGrémillet, Daviden_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBonnet, Delphineen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorLe Bot, Tangien_ZA
dc.contributor.authorFort, Jérômeen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-10-31T07:38:59Z
dc.date.available2016-10-31T07:38:59Z
dc.date.issued2016en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe 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.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationAmélineau, F., Grémillet, D., Bonnet, D., Le Bot, T., & Fort, J. (2016). Where to forage in the absence of sea ice? Bathymetry as a key factor for an arctic seabird. <i>PLoS One</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22364en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationAmélineau, Françoise, David Grémillet, Delphine Bonnet, Tangi Le Bot, and Jérôme Fort "Where to forage in the absence of sea ice? Bathymetry as a key factor for an arctic seabird." <i>PLoS One</i> (2016) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22364en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationAmélineau, F., Grémillet, D., Bonnet, D., Le Bot, T., & Fort, J. (2016). Where to forage in the absence of sea ice? Bathymetry as a key factor for an arctic seabird. PLoS One, 11(7), e0157764. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157764en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Amélineau, Françoise AU - Grémillet, David AU - Bonnet, Delphine AU - Le Bot, Tangi AU - Fort, Jérôme AB - 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. DA - 2016 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0157764 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS One LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2016 T1 - Where to forage in the absence of sea ice? Bathymetry as a key factor for an arctic seabird TI - Where to forage in the absence of sea ice? Bathymetry as a key factor for an arctic seabird UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22364 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157764en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/22364
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationAmélineau F, Grémillet D, Bonnet D, Le Bot T, Fort J. Where to forage in the absence of sea ice? Bathymetry as a key factor for an arctic seabird. PLoS One. 2016; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22364.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentPercy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2016 Amélineau et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLoS Oneen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosoneen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSea iceen_ZA
dc.subject.otherForagingen_ZA
dc.subject.otherBirdsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherZooplanktonen_ZA
dc.subject.otherCopepodsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSeabirdsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPredationen_ZA
dc.subject.otherOceansen_ZA
dc.titleWhere to forage in the absence of sea ice? Bathymetry as a key factor for an arctic seabirden_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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