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Shearwater foraging in the Southern Ocean: The roles of prey availability and winds
Citation
Raymond, B and Shaffer, SA and Sokolov, S and Woehler, EJ and Costa, DP and Einoder, L and Hindell, M and Hosie, G and Pinkerton, M and Sagar, PM and Scott, D and Smith, A and Thompson, DR and Vertigan, C and Weimerskirch, H, Shearwater foraging in the Southern Ocean: The roles of prey availability and winds, PLoS One, 5, (6) pp. 1-14. ISSN 1932-6203 (2010) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
© 2010 Raymond et al. This 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.
Official URL: http://www.plosone.org
DOI: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010960
Abstract
Background: Sooty (Puffinus griseus) and short-tailed (P. tenuirostris) shearwaters are abundant seabirds that range widely
across global oceans. Understanding the foraging ecology of these species in the Southern Ocean is important for
monitoring and ecosystem conservation and management.
Methodology/PrincipalFindings:Tracking data from sooty and short-tailed shearwaters from three regions of New Zealand
and Australia were combined with at-sea observations of shearwaters in the Southern Ocean, physical oceanography, near-
surface copepod distributions, pelagic trawl data, and synoptic near-surface winds. Shearwaters from all three regions
foraged in the Polar Front zone, and showed particular overlap in the region around 140uE. Short-tailed shearwaters from
South Australia also foraged in Antarctic waters south of the Polar Front. The spatial distribution of shearwater foraging
effort in the Polar Front zone was matched by patterns in large-scale upwelling, primary production, and abundances of
copepods and myctophid fish. Oceanic winds were found to be broad determinants of foraging distribution, and of the
flight paths taken by the birds on long foraging trips to Antarctic waters.
Conclusions/Significance:The shearwaters displayed foraging site fidelity and overlap of foraging habitat between species
and populations that may enhance their utility as indicators of Southern Ocean ecosystems. The results highlight the
importance of upwellings due to interactions of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current with large-scale bottom topography, and
the corresponding localised increases in the productivity of the Polar Front ecosystem.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Zoology |
| Research Field: | Animal Behaviour |
| Objective Division: | Environment |
| Objective Group: | Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
| Objective Field: | Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
| UTAS Author: | Woehler, EJ (Dr Eric Woehler) |
| UTAS Author: | Hindell, M (Professor Mark Hindell) |
| UTAS Author: | Vertigan, C (Ms Caitlin Vertigan) |
| ID Code: | 64598 |
| Year Published: | 2010 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 34 |
| Deposited By: | Zoology |
| Deposited On: | 2010-08-12 |
| Last Modified: | 2014-11-07 |
| Downloads: | 596 View Download Statistics |
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