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Stable isotopes identify age- and sex-specific dietary partitioning and foraging habitat segregation in southern giant petrels breeding in Antarctica and southern Patagonia

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Abstract

We examined the isotopic signatures (δ13C, δ15N) of adult body feathers from southern giant petrels Macronectes giganteus collected at two breeding colonies in Antarctica (Potter Peninsula and Cape Geddes) and one in southern Patagonia (Observatorio Island), as well as in whole blood collected from adults of both sexes at each Antarctic colonies and from chicks at Potter Peninsula. As body feather moult is a continuous process in giant petrels, feathers provide an integrated annual signal of an adult’s diets and foraging habitats. In contrast, the stable isotope values of adult and chick blood are reflective of their diets during the breeding season. We found that sex-specific dietary segregation in adults breeding in Antarctica was notable during the breeding season (blood samples) but absent when examined across the entire year (feather samples). In addition, blood stable isotope values differed between chicks and adults, indicating that adults provision their offspring with a relatively higher amount of penguin and seal prey that what they consume themselves. This finding confirms previous work that suggests that chicks are preferentially fed with prey of presumably higher nutritional value such as carrion. Finally, based on isotopic differences between major oceanographic zones in the Southern Ocean, our data indicate population-specific differences in foraging distribution, with Antarctic populations move seasonally between Antarctic and subantarctic zones, while Patagonian populations likely forage in subtropical waters and in continental shelf habitats year-round.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank CONICET and Instituto Antártico Argentino for institutional support. Special thanks to the Argentine Navy for transportation to Staten Island and Dirección Nacional del Antártico for the logistical support to the Antarctic colonies. Thanks to R. Sáenz Samaniego, N. Rosciano, and J. M. Raya Rey for their help in the field. Many thanks to M. Goebel, C. Jones, S. Trivelpiece, W. Trivelpiece, J. Walsh, A. VanCise, and others from the US Antarctic Marine Living Resources (AMLR) program who helped collect the prey samples used in this manuscript. K Durenberger, J Seminoff, and N Spear provided helpful assistance with lipid extractions and stable isotope analysis. Southern giant petrel and penguin samples were collected under approved animal use protocols and Antarctic Conservation Act permits provided by Secretaría de Desarrollo Sustentable y Ambiente and Dirección Nacional del Antártico and the US National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas, Houssay 200, 9410, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

    Andrea Raya Rey

  2. Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 601 South College Road, Wilmington, NC, 28403, USA

    Michael Polito

  3. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, C1010AAZ, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Diego Archuby

  4. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, C1010AAZ, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Néstor Coria

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  1. Andrea Raya Rey
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  2. Michael Polito
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  3. Diego Archuby
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  4. Néstor Coria
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Correspondence to Andrea Raya Rey.

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Communicated by S. Garthe.

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Raya Rey, A., Polito, M., Archuby, D. et al. Stable isotopes identify age- and sex-specific dietary partitioning and foraging habitat segregation in southern giant petrels breeding in Antarctica and southern Patagonia. Mar Biol 159, 1317–1326 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1912-y

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