Bimodal Winter Haul-Out Patterns of Adult Weddell Seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the Southern Weddell Sea.
Bimodal Winter Haul-Out Patterns of Adult Weddell Seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the Southern Weddell Sea.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0155817
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发表时间：
2016
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Photopoulou T
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Boehme L;Baker A;Fedak M;Årthun M;Nicholls K;Robinson P;Costa D;Biuw M;Photopoulou T
拖出是鳍足动物生活史的一个重要组成部分。拖曳行为可能受到生物因素(例如性别、年龄和状况)和物理因素(例如食物供应和环境条件)的影响，确定这些因素可能有助于解释鳍足类的时空分布和栖息地用途。这项研究的目的是描述在威德尔海观察到的成年威德尔海豹的冬季拖曳模式，并调查潜在的预测因子的作用，以深入了解这些动物与该地区物理环境的相互作用。我们研究了与可用的生物学(即潜水努力、性别)和物理信息(即太阳角度)相关的拖拽行为。2007年2月、2009年和2011年，在南部韦德尔海的成年韦德尔海豹身上安装了33个卫星遥测标签，此前它们每年都会蜕皮，记录动物的行为模式：浮出水面、拖出或潜水。在南半球夏季结束时，韦德尔海豹平均有40%以上的时间是在冰面上拖出来的。在恒定的光照条件下，生理因素似乎在拖拽行为的时间和持续时间上造成了性别差异，女性在白天平均花在拖拽上的时间比男性多。到立秋时，两性被拖出的时间都下降到15%左右，并保持在这个水平，冬季有明显的夜间拉出模式。在此期间，潜水所花的时间增加了，这表明在冬季的几个月里，觅食的努力增加了，并导致了冬季两性共同的拖拽模式。我们发现，除女性在年初的白天出游外，男性和女性在出海前潜水的时间百分比与出海持续时间呈正相关。
Hauling out is an essential component of pinniped life-history. Haul-out behaviour may be affected by biological (e.g. sex, age and condition) and physical factors (e.g. food availability and environmental conditions), and identifying these factors may help explain the spatio-temporal distribution and habitat use of pinnipeds. The aim of this study is to describe observed winter haul-out patterns of adult Weddell seals in the Weddell Sea and investigate the role of potential predictors to gain insight into the way these animals interact with the physical environment in this region. We examined the haul-out behaviour in relation to available biological (i.e., diving effort, sex) and physical information (i.e., sun angle). Thirty-three satellite telemetry tags were deployed on adult Weddell seals in the southern Weddell Sea during February 2007, 2009 and 2011, following their annual moult recording information on the behavioural mode of the animal: at surface, hauled out or diving. At the end of the austral summer Weddell seals spent, on average, more than 40% of their time hauled out on the ice. Under constant light conditions, it appears that physiological factors drive sex differences in the timing and duration of haul-out behaviour, with females spending on average more time hauled out than males during daylight hours. This time spent hauled-out declined to around 15% in both sexes by the beginning of autumn and remained at this level with a clear nocturnal haul-out pattern during the winter. The time spent diving increased during this period, indicating an increase in foraging effort during the winter months, and led to a common haul-out pattern in both sexes over winter. We found a positive relationship between haul-out duration and the percentage of time spent diving prior to a haul-out in both sexes, with the exception of female daytime haul-outs early in the year.