Cool, cold or colder? Spatial segregation of prions and blue petrels is explained by differences in preferred sea surface temperatures.

ABSTRACT: The Southern Ocean provides one of the largest environmental gradients on Earth that lacks geographical barriers, and small but highly mobile petrels living there may offer fine models of evolution of diversity along environmental gradients. Using geolocation devices, we investigated the winter distribution of closely related petrel species breeding sympatrically in the southern Indian Ocean, and applied ecological niche models to compare environmental conditions in the habitat used. We show that thin-billed prions (Pachyptila belcheri), Antarctic prions (Pachyptila desolata) and blue petrels (Halobaena caerulea) from the Kerguelen archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean segregate latitudinally, sea surface temperature being the most important variable separating the distribution of the s

SUBMITTER: Quillfeldt P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4424614 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature