Analysis of fatty acids and fatty alcohols reveals seasonal and sex-specific changes in the diets of seabirds

A key challenge in ecology is to find ways to obtain complete and accurate information about the diets of animals. To respond to this challenge in seabirds, traditional methods (usually stomach content analysis or observations of prey at nests) have been supplemented with indirect methods or molecul...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine biology 2013-04, Vol.160 (4), p.987-999
Main Authors: Owen, Ellie, Daunt, Francis, Moffat, Colin, Elston, David A., Wanless, Sarah, Thompson, Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adipose tissue
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Aquatic birds
Autoecology
Aves
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Birds
Breeding seasons
Comparative analysis
Content analysis
Diet
Fatty acids
Fatty alcohols
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Fulmarus glacialis
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Life Sciences
Marine
Marine & Freshwater Sciences
Marine biology
Marine ecology
Microbiology
Oceanography
Original Paper
Predation
Rissa tridactyla
Sea water ecosystems
Synecology
Uria aalge
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
Zoology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A key challenge in ecology is to find ways to obtain complete and accurate information about the diets of animals. To respond to this challenge in seabirds, traditional methods (usually stomach content analysis or observations of prey at nests) have been supplemented with indirect methods or molecular trophic markers. These techniques have the potential to extend the period of investigation outside the few short months of breeding and avoid biases. Here, we use an analysis of fatty acids (FAs) and fatty alcohols (FALs) from blood, adipose tissue and stomach oil to investigate how the diets of male and female common guillemots ( Uria aalge ), black-legged kittiwakes ( Rissa tridactyla ) and northern fulmars ( Fulmarus glacialis ) differed through the sampling period (prelaying and breeding season) and by sex. Diets of both sexes of all three species generally varied across the season, but sex differences were apparent only in fulmars during prelaying. Our study shows that FA/FAL analysis can provide significant insights into diets of seabirds, in particular periods of the annual cycle which are not readily studied using traditional methods.
ISSN:0025-3162
1432-1793
DOI:10.1007/s00227-012-2152-x