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Multifactorial roles of interannual variability, season, and sex for foraging patterns in a sexually size monomorphic seabird, the Australasian gannet (Morus serrator)

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Abstract

Marine top predators forage in environments that show potentially extreme temporal and spatial variation in prey availability, with reproductive success being crucially linked to food supply. Multiple factors of interannual and sexual variation, as well as variation across breeding stages, can shape patterns of spatial use in foraging seabirds, yet studies that address all of these variables simultaneously are rare. We present spatial assessment of foraging patterns by µGPS tracking of a sexually size monomorphic, long-lived species, the Australasian gannet (Morus serrator). The study spanned the incubation and chick-rearing stages in three consecutive breeding seasons. Our findings revealed high interannual variability in foraging distances and trip durations, but no consistent differences between birds across different breeding stages or the sexes. The exception was that core foraging areas were different for female and male Australasian gannets, although trip durations or distances were similar for both sexes. Our results also indicate bimodality in foraging distance and trip duration in this species, while highlighting interannual variability in the extent of bimodality. These findings contribute to a scarcely documented type of foraging behaviour in the seabird family of the Sulidae. Overall, these spatial use patterns provide a baseline for understanding the evolution of sex-specific foraging differences in biparental seabirds, and the extent to which these differences might help in securing breeding success across years of variable food availability.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Department of Conservation, New Zealand (DOC), and particularly the DOC Napier office for their helpful support of our work and field accommodation. Our research was supported by an International Doctoral Research Scholarship from Education New Zealand (NZIDRS) to SMHI, and funds from the University of Auckland Research Council to MEH. For assistance and discussions, we thank C. Anagnostou, S. H. Anderson, G. Ballard, D. Dearborn, J. Johnson, N. Leuschner, M. Lenz, A. F. Little, G. Machovsky-Capuska, S. Patel, M. Rayner, P. Samaš, R. Shaw, and B. Stephenson, as well as D. M. Allen for copy-editing, and two anonymous referees and Victor Paiva for helpful reviewing and editing of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Ecology, Food Webs, GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    Diana Besel & Stefanie M. H. Ismar

  2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    Mark E. Hauber, Craig D. Millar & Stefanie M. H. Ismar

  3. Department of Animal Biology, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA

    Mark E. Hauber

  4. SIRTRACK Limited, Goddard Lane, Private Bag 1403, Havelock North, 4157, New Zealand

    Colin Hunter

  5. Cape Sanctuary, 2 Gow Avenue, Haumoana, Hastings, New Zealand

    Tamsin Ward-Smith

  6. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, and Charles Perkins Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    David Raubenheimer

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The authors declare no conflict of interest. All animal handling was conducted under University of Auckland Animal Ethics Approval (R342, R654) and under New Zealand Department of Conservation Research Permits (National Permit number ECHB-23237-RES, DOC File NHS-12-12).

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Besel, D., Hauber, M.E., Hunter, C. et al. Multifactorial roles of interannual variability, season, and sex for foraging patterns in a sexually size monomorphic seabird, the Australasian gannet (Morus serrator). Mar Biol 165, 72 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3332-0

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