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Diet of auklet chicks in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska: similarity among islands, interspecies overlap, and relationships to ocean climate

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Abstract

Seabirds are effective samplers of the marine environment, and can be used to measure resource partitioning among species and sites via food loads destined for chicks. We examined the composition, overlap, and relationships to changing climate and oceanography of 3,216 food loads from Least, Crested, and Whiskered Auklets (Aethia pusilla, A. cristatella, A. pygmaea) breeding in Alaska during 1994–2006. Meals comprised calanoid copepods (Neocalanus spp.) and euphausiids (Thysanoessa spp.) that reflect secondary marine productivity, with no difference among Buldir, Kiska, and Kasatochi islands across 585 km of the Aleutian Islands. Meals were very similar among species (mean Least–Crested Auklet overlap C = 0.68; Least–Whiskered Auklet overlap C = 0.96) and among sites, indicating limited partitioning of prey resources for auklets feeding chicks. The biomass of copepods and euphausiids in Least and Crested Auklet food loads was related negatively to the summer (June–July–August) North Pacific Gyre Oscillation, while in Whiskered Auklet food loads, this was negatively related to the winter (December–January–February) Pacific Decadal Oscillation, both of which track basin-wide sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies. We found a significant quadratic relationship between the biomass of calanoid copepods in Least Auklet food loads at all three study sites and summer (June–July) SST, with maximal copepod biomass between 3–6°C (r 2 = 0.71). Outside this temperature range, zooplankton becomes less available to auklets through delayed development. Overall, our results suggest that auklets are able to buffer climate-mediated bottom-up forcing of demographic parameters like productivity, as the composition of chick meals has remained constant over the course of our study.

Zusammenfassung

Seevögel „beproben” ihre marine Umwelt und können so verwendet werden, um mittels des für die Küken bestimmten Futters die Ressourcenaufteilung zwischen Arten und Orten abzuschätzen. Wir haben die Zusammensetzung, Überlappung und Beziehung zu Veränderungen in Klima und Ozeanographie von 3,216 Futterportionen von in Alaska zwischen 1994 und 2006 brütenden Zwerg-, Schopf- und Bartalken (Aethia pusilla, A. cristatella, A. pygmaea) untersucht. Die Futterportionen enthielten calanoide Ruderfußkrebse (Neocalanus spp.) und Leuchtkrebse (Thysanoessa spp.), die marine Sekundärproduktion widerspiegeln, und es gab diesbezüglich keine Unterschiede zwischen den Inseln Buldir, Kiska und Kasatochi, die sich innerhalb der Aleuten über 585 km erstrecken. Die Futterportionen waren für die verschiedenen Arten (mittlere Zwergalk-Schopfalk-Überlappung C = 0.68; Zwergalk-Bartalk-Überlappung C = 0.96) und an den verschiedenen Orten sehr ähnlich, was auf eine begrenzte Aufteilung der Beuteressourcen Küken fütternder Alken hindeutet. Die Biomasse von Ruderfuß- und Leuchtkrebsen in den Futterportionen von Zwerg- und Schopfalken stand in negativer Beziehung zur Nordpazifischen Oszillation im Sommer (Juni-August), während sie bei Bartalken in negativer Beziehung zur Pazifischen Dekaden-Oszillation im Winter (Dezember–Februar) stand. Beide Oszillationen beschreiben Anomalien der Oberflächentemperatur des Ozeans (SST) im gesamten Pazifikbecken. Wir fanden eine signifikante quadratische Beziehung zwischen der Biomasse calanoider Ruderfußkrebse in den Futterportionen von Zwergalken und der Sommer-SST (Juni–Juli) in allen drei Untersuchungsgebieten, mit einer maximalen Copepoden-Biomasse zwischen 3–6°C (r 2 = 0.71). Außerhalb dieses Temperaturbereichs ist Zooplankton für die Alken schlechter verfügbar, da es sich verzögert entwickelt. Insgesamt deuten unsere Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass Alken in der Lage sind, klimavermitteltes „Bottom-up Forcing” demographischer Parameter wie Produktivität abzupuffern, da die Zusammensetzung der Kükenmahlzeiten in unserer Studie konstant blieb.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the many field workers that collected this abundance of data over the years. Especially noteworthy are the multi-year efforts of several people indicated with a dagger (†) in the following list: E. Andersen, M. Barrett, D. Barton, G. Beyersdorf†, K. Brenneman, D. Clutter, J. Daniels, E. Drew, B. Drummond†, A. Durand, J. Dussureault†, C. Eggleston†, K. Elkin, J. Fischer†, C. Gray, M. Grinnell, J. M. Hipfner†, S. Hootman, N. Jones, T. Joyce†, P. Kappes, B. Keller, S. Kissler, H. Knechtel†, N. Konyukhov, S. Lantz, K. Lindquist, G. Loh, J. Marais, L. Meehan, J. Mueller, M. Murphy†, R. Orben, M. Ortwerth, A. Palmer, L. Parker, J. Petersen, D. Rehder, H. Renner†, A. Ritchie, N. Rojek†, K. Russell, P. Ryan, S. Sapora, K. Shea, E. Sommer, L. Spitler†, A. Stoertz, A. Stover, S. Syria†, G. Thomson, C. VanStratt, R. Walder and H. Walsh. The M/V \( Ti\hat{g}la\hat{x} \) and her crews provided logistical support. We also thank K. Turco for prey identification. The North Pacific Research Board (NPRB, grant no. 638), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and Northern Scientific Training Program of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada provided financial support for this research. A consortium managed by the North Pacific Marine Science Organisation supported the North Pacific CPR survey. Consortium members that provided funding for the data used in this study include the North Pacific Research Board and Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada. The Institutional Animal Care Committee of Memorial University of Newfoundland (protocol 09-01-IJ and preceding) approved this project. P. H. Becker, T. W. Chapman, E. H. Miller, and two anonymous reviewers provided improvements on previous drafts of this manuscript. This is publication number 294 of the NPRB.

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  1. Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, A1B 3X9, Canada

    Alexander L. Bond & Ian L. Jones

  2. Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 95 Sterling Highway, Suite 1, Homer, AK, 99603, USA

    Jeffrey C. Williams & G. Vernon Byrd

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  1. Alexander L. Bond
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Bond, A.L., Jones, I.L., Williams, J.C. et al. Diet of auklet chicks in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska: similarity among islands, interspecies overlap, and relationships to ocean climate. J Ornithol 153, 115–129 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-011-0704-3

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