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Experimental increase of flying costs in a pelagic seabird: effects on foraging strategies, nutritional state and chick condition

  • Behavioral Ecology
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Abstract

A central point in life history theory is that parental investment in current reproduction should be balanced by the costs in terms of residual reproductive value. Long-lived seabirds are considered fixed investors, that is, parents fix a specific level of investment in their current reproduction independent to the breeding requirements. We tested this hypothesis analysing the consequences of an experimental increase in flying costs on the foraging ecology, body condition and chick condition in Cory’s shearwaters Calonectris diomedea. We treated 28 pairs by reducing the wing surface in one partner and compared them with 14 control pairs. We monitored mass changes and incubation shifts and tracked 19 foraging trips per group using geolocators. Furthermore, we took blood samples at laying, hatching and chick-rearing to analyse the nutritional condition, haematology, muscle damage and stable isotopes. Eighty-day-old chicks were measured, blood sampled and challenged with PHA immune assay. In addition, we analysed the effects of handicap on the adults at the subsequent breeding season. During incubation, handicapped birds showed a greater foraging effort than control birds, as indicated by greater foraging distances and longer periods of foraging, covering larger areas. Eighty-day-old chicks reared by treated pairs were smaller and lighter and showed a lower immunity than those reared by control pairs. However, oxygen demands, nutritional condition and stable isotopes did not differ between control and handicapped birds. Although handicapped birds had to increase their foraging effort, they maintained physical condition by reducing parental investment and transferred the experimentally increased costs to their partners and the chick. This result supports the fixed investment hypothesis and is consistent with life history theory.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Suni García, Alejo Pastor and Raül Ramos their field support; Yaiza Amescoa, Pascual Calabuig and Cabildo de Gran Canaria for their logistical support; Gines Viscor for supervising biochemical analyses; Elena Gómez for sexing the chicks; Lluis Jover, Marc Franch, Maria del Mar, and the Asociación Amigos de las Pardelas for their help on different aspects; John Croxall, Vsevolod Afanasyev, Dirk Briggs and Xavier Ruiz for making available the geolocators. Joan Navarro was supported by a postgraduate grant of the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEyC) of Spain and Jacob González-Solís was supported by a contract of the Program Ramon y Cajal of MEyC and Fondos FEDER. Financial support was provided by the projects REN2002-01164 and BOS2000-0569-CO2-01 from MEyC and by 2001SGR-00091 from the Generalitat de Catalunya. All methods used in this study comply with the current laws of Spain.

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  1. Departament de Biologia Animal (Vertebrats), Universitat de Barcelona, Av Diagonal 645, Barcelona, 08028, Spain

    Joan Navarro & Jacob González-Solís

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  1. Joan Navarro
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  2. Jacob González-Solís
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Correspondence to Joan Navarro.

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Communicated by Roland Brandl.

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Navarro, J., González-Solís, J. Experimental increase of flying costs in a pelagic seabird: effects on foraging strategies, nutritional state and chick condition. Oecologia 151, 150–160 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0559-0

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