Foraging movements and habitat niche of two closely related seabirds breeding in sympatry

Thumbnail
View/Open
Issue date
2013-12-19
Author
Afán Asencio, Isabel
Navarro, Joan
Cardador Bergua, Laura
Ramírez, Francisco
Kato, Akiko
Rodríguez, Beneharo
Ropert‑Coudert, Yan
Forero, Manuela G.
Suggested citation
Afán Asencio, Isabel; Navarro, Joan; Cardador Bergua, Laura; Ramírez, Francisco; Kato, Akiko; Rodríguez, Beneharo; ... Forero, Manuela G.. (2013) . Foraging movements and habitat niche of two closely related seabirds breeding in sympatry. Marine Biology, 2014, vol. 161, p. 657-668. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2368-4.
Impact

Google Scholar logo  Google Scholar
Share
Export to Mendeley
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
As central-place foragers, pelagic seabirds are constrained by spatiotemporal heterogeneity to find productive marine areas and compete for prey. We analysed 97 foraging trips to study the movement and oceanographic characteristics of foraging habitats of two different—yet closely related—species of shearwaters (Scopoli’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea and Cory’s shearwater C. borealis) breeding in sympatry in the Mediterranean. We combined various methodological approaches (GPS-tracking, species distribution modelling and stable isotope analysis) to explore the foraging strategies of these two species. Isotopic results suggested that trophic habits of both shearwater species were similar, mainly based on pelagic fish consumption. Foraging areas of both species were characterized by shallow waters near the colony. Both shearwater species exploited persistent productive marine areas. The foraging areas of the two species broadly overlapped during the incubation period, but during chick-rearing period, Scopoli’s shearwaters apparently foraged in different areas than Cory’s shearwaters.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/69463
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2368-4
Is part of
Marine Biology, 2014, vol. 161, p. 657-668
Collections