Dataset Information

Sympatrically breeding congeneric seabirds (Stercorarius spp.) from Arctic Canada migrate to four oceans.

ABSTRACT: Polar systems of avian migration remain unpredictable. For seabirds nesting in the Nearctic, it is often difficult to predict which of the world's oceans birds will migrate to after breeding. Here, we report on three related seabird species that migrated across four oceans following sympatric breeding at a central Canadian high Arctic nesting location. Using telemetry, we tracked pomarine jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus, n = 1) across the Arctic Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean; parasitic jaeger (S. parasiticus, n = 4) to the western Atlantic Ocean, and long-tailed jaeger (S. longicaudus, n = 2) to the eastern Atlantic Ocean and western Indian Ocean. We also report on extensive nomadic movements over ocean during the postbreeding period (19,002 km) and over land and ocean during the prebreeding period (5578 km) by pomarine jaeger, an irruptive species whose full migrations and nomadic behavior have been a mystery. While the small sample sizes in our study limit the ability to make generalizable inferences, our results provide a key input to the knowledge of jaeger migrations. Understanding the routes and migratory divides of birds nesting in the Arctic region has implications for understanding both the glacial refugia of the past and the Anthropocene-driven changes in the future.

SUBMITTER: Harrison AL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8794761 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sympatrically breeding congeneric seabirds (Stercorarius spp.) from Arctic Canada migrate to four oceans.

Harrison Autumn-Lynn AL Woodard Paul F PF Mallory Mark L ML Rausch Jennie J

Ecology and evolution 20211221 1

Polar systems of avian migration remain unpredictable. For seabirds nesting in the Nearctic, it is often difficult to predict which of the world's oceans birds will migrate to after breeding. Here, we report on three related seabird species that migrated across four oceans following sympatric breeding at a central Canadian high Arctic nesting location. Using telemetry, we tracked pomarine jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus, n = 1) across the Arctic Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean; p ...[more]

PMID: 35127008

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Project description:Arctic ecosystems are changing rapidly. The tundra supports nesting migratory seabirds that spend most of their year over the ocean. Migrations are demanding, but it is unclear how physiological capability may equip organisms to respond to their changing environments. For two migratory seabird species nesting in Alaska, USA, the Arctic tern (n = 10) and the long-tailed jaeger (n = 8), we compared oxidative physiology and aerobic capacity measured during incubation and we recorded individual movement paths using electronic tracking tags. Within species, we hypothesized that individuals with longer-distance migrations would show higher oxidative stress and display better aerobic capacity than shorter-distance migrants. We examined blood parameters relative to subsequent fall migration in jaegers and relative to previous spring migration in terns. We present the first measurements of oxidative stress in these species and the first migratory movements of long-tailed jaegers in the Pacific Ocean. Arctic terns displayed positive correlation of oxidative variables, or better integration than jaegers. Relative to physiological sampling, pre-breeding northward migration data were available for terns and post-breeding southward data were available for jaegers. Terns reached a farther maximum distance from the colony than jaegers (16 199 ± 275 km versus 10 947 ± 950 km) and rate of travel northward (447 ± 41.8 km/day) was positively correlated with hematocrit, but we found no other relationships. In jaegers, there were no relationships between individuals' physiology and southward rate of travel (193 ± 52.3 km/day) or migratory distance. While it is not clear whether the much longer migrations of the terns is related to their better integration, or to another factor, our results spark hypotheses that could be evaluated through a controlled phylogenetic study. Species with better integration may be less susceptible to environmental factors that increase oxidative stress, including thermal challenges or changes in prey distribution as the Arctic climate changes rapidly.

Project description:Theory predicts that sympatric predators compete for food under conditions of limited resources. Competition would occur even within the same species, between neighboring populations, because of overlapping foraging habits. Thus, neighboring populations of the same species are hypothesized to face strong competition. To test the hypothesis that intra-specific competition is more intense than inter-specific competition owing to a lack of niche partitioning, we estimated the foraging area and diving depths of two colonial seabird species at two neighboring colonies. Using GPS and time-depth recorders, we tracked foraging space use of sympatric breeding Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins at Ardley Island (AI) and Narębski Point (NP) at King George Island, Antarctica. GPS tracks showed that there was a larger overlap in the foraging areas between the two species than within each species. In dive parameters, Gentoo penguins performed deeper and longer dives than Chinstrap penguins at the same colonies. At the colony level, Gentoo penguins from NP undertook deeper and longer dives than those at AI, whereas Chinstrap penguins did not show such intra-specific differences in dives. Stable isotope analysis of δ13C and δ15N isotopes in blood demonstrated both inter- and intra-specific differences. Both species of penguin at AI exhibited higher δ13C and δ15N values than those at NP, and in both locations, Gentoo penguins had higher δ13C and lower δ15N values than Chinstrap penguins. Isotopic niches showed that there were lower inter-specific overlaps than intra-specific overlaps. This suggests that, despite the low intra-specific spatial overlap, diets of conspecifics from different colonies remained more similar, resulting in the higher isotopic niche overlaps. Collectively, our results support the hypothesis that intra-specific competition is higher than inter-specific competition, leading to spatial segregation of the neighboring populations of the same species.

Project description:BackgroundIn long-lived seabirds that migrate large distances independently of each other, the early part of the breeding season is crucially important for a successful reproductive attempt. During this phase, pair bonds are re-established and partners coordinate their breeding duties. We studied the early breeding season in Thin-billed prions Pachyptila belcheri breeding in the Atlantic Ocean (Falkland/Malvinas Islands) and Indian Ocean (Kerguelen). Despite overlap in the wintering areas, these two populations exhibit differences in their timing and direction of migration. We hypothesised that these differences would influence behaviour during the early breeding season.ResultsIn line with our hypothesis, we found very strong differences in colony attendance patterns. Thin-billed prions of the Falkland population spent the late winter period over shelf waters close to the colony, first arrived back at the colony in September, and attended the nests interruptedly for one month, before departing on a pre-laying exodus. In contrast, Kerguelen birds remained in the non-breeding areas until mid-October and spent much less time attending the burrow before their pre-laying exodus. Despite this asynchronous arrival to the two colonies, the subsequent patterns resulted in remarkably synchronous incubation in both populations, with males taking on the first long incubation shift in late November, whereas females returned to sea soon after egg laying. During the pre-laying exodus and incubation, Thin-billed prions from the Falklands spread north over the Patagonian Shelf, while prions from Kerguelen travelled much further, reaching southern oceanic waters and moved at faster speeds (> 400 km per day). Although prions from Kerguelen moved much further, their isotopic niches were considerably narrower, suggesting a stronger dependence on Antarctic waters.ConclusionsThe study thus suggests that Thin-billed prions show a high intraspecific plasticity in their use of either neritic or oceanic waters during the early breeding season. Breeding birds from the Falkland Islands can exploit an extensive shelf area, while Kerguelen birds have adapted to the need to forage in distant southern open waters. This difference in foraging ecology may thus have shaped the phenology of the early breeding phase.

Dataset Information

Sympatrically breeding congeneric seabirds (Stercorarius spp.) from Arctic Canada migrate to four oceans.

Publications

Sympatrically breeding congeneric seabirds (<i>Stercorarius</i> spp.) from Arctic Canada migrate to four oceans.

Similar Datasets

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