Combined measurements of prey availability explain habitat selection in foraging seabirds.
Combined measurements of prey availability explain habitat selection in foraging seabirds.
复制标题
猎物可用性的综合测量解释了觅食海鸟的栖息地选择。
DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2018.0348
复制
发表时间：
2018
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Waggitt JJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Waggitt JJ
了解栖息地特征和觅食效率之间的联系有助于预测环境变化如何影响顶级捕食者的种群。本研究旨在探讨是否测量的猎物（clupeids）的可用性不同分层梯度，并确定是否有任何这些测量值与觅食海鸟（常见的guillemotUria aalgeand马恩岛shearwaterPuffinus puffinus）在凯尔特海，英国的聚集相吻合。在混合水和分层水之间的锋面附近，遇到觅食海鸟的概率最高。猎物密度和浅混合水，而遇到的猎物是最常见的分层水。因此，没有一个单一的测量增加猎物的可用性符合前线的位置。然而，当结合考虑时，这些地区的整体猎物供应量最高。这些结果表明，顶级捕食者可能会选择觅食栖息地权衡几个测量猎物的可用性。通过显示顶级捕食者选择猎物在行为之间切换的区域，这些结果还确定了一种机制，可以解释边缘栖息地对这些类群的更广泛的重要性。随着近海开发（例如海洋可再生能源设施）改变分层模式，其建设可能对海鸟的觅食效率产生影响。
Understanding links between habitat characteristics and foraging efficiency helps predict how environmental changes influence populations of top predators. This study examines whether measurements of prey (clupeids) availability varied over stratification gradients, and determined if any of those measurements coincided with aggregations of foraging seabirds (common guillemotUria aalgeand Manx shearwaterPuffinus puffinus) in the Celtic Sea, UK. The probability of encountering foraging seabirds was highest around fronts between mixed and stratified water. Prey were denser and shallower in mixed water, whilst encounters with prey were most frequent in stratified water. Therefore, no single measurement of increased prey availability coincided with the location of fronts. However, when considered in combination, overall prey availability was highest in these areas. These results show that top predators may select foraging habitats by trading-off several measurements of prey availability. By showing that top predators select areas where prey switch between behaviours, these results also identify a mechanism that could explain the wider importance of edge habitats for these taxa. As offshore developments (e.g. marine renewable energy installations) change patterns of stratification, their construction may have consequences on the foraging efficiency of seabirds.