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Arctic seabird food chains explored by fatty acid composition and stable isotopes in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

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Abstract

Marine birds are important predators in the marine ecosystem, and dietary studies can give useful information about their feeding ecology, food webs and oceanographic variability. The aim of this study was to increase our understanding of the diet and trophic level of the seabirds breeding in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. We have used fatty acids and stable isotopes, both of which integrate diet information over space and time, to determine trophic relationships in marine food webs. Fatty acid compositions of muscle from Little auk (Alle alle), Brünnich’s guillemot (Uria lomvia), Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), Northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) and Glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) were determined and compared with their prey species. Canonical analysis (CA) showed that fatty acid composition differed among the five seabird species. Little auk, Black-legged kittiwake and Northern fulmar had high levels of the Calanus markers 20:1n9 and 22:1, indicating that these seabirds are a part of the Calanus food chain. Brünnich’s guillemot differed from the other species with much lower levels of 20:1n9 and 22:1. Brünnich’s guillemot is a pursuit diver feeding on fish and amphipods deeper in the water column, below 30 m. Glaucous gull also differed from the other seabird species, with a larger variation in the fatty acid composition indicating a more diverse diet. Trophic level analysis placed Little auk at the lowest trophic level, Brünnich’s guillemot and Black-legged kittiwake at intermediate levels and Glaucous gull and Northern fulmar at the highest trophic level.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Sverdrup Station, Norwegian Polar Institute for logistic assistance during field work. IFE and UNILAB Analyse are acknowledged for performing respectively the stable isotope and fatty acid analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296, Tromsø, Norway

    Anette Wold, Haakon Hop, Geir Wing Gabrielsen & Stig Falk-Petersen

  2. Akvaplan-niva, Fram Centre, 9296, Tromsø, Norway

    Iris Jæger

  3. Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, University of Tromsø, 9037, Tromsø, Norway

    Iris Jæger & Stig Falk-Petersen

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  1. Anette Wold
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  2. Iris Jæger
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  5. Stig Falk-Petersen
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Correspondence to Anette Wold.

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Wold, A., Jæger, I., Hop, H. et al. Arctic seabird food chains explored by fatty acid composition and stable isotopes in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Polar Biol 34, 1147–1155 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-011-0975-4

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