The Development of Olfactory Foraging Strategies in Antarctic Procellariiform Seabirds

南极 Procellariiform 海鸟嗅觉觅食策略的发展

• 批准号: 0229775
• 负责人: Gabrielle Nevitt
• 金额: $ 13.65万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-01-01 至 2006-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0229775&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Development; Olfactory; Foraging; Strategies; Antarctic

Procellariiform seabirds (petrels, albatrosses, shearwaters) are distinguished by their acute sense of smell. These birds have pelagic lifestyles and forage over thousands of miles of ocean to find patchily distributed resources. This project will explore the hypothesis that, during development chicks become tuned to odors associated with feeding in a manner analogous to olfactory imprinting. The development of olfactory sensitivity in burrow-nesting procellariiform seabirds will be studied within the Kerguelen Archipelago. There are three primary objectives. First, behavioral responses of chicks to two prey-related odors (dimethyl sulfide and cod liver oil), one novel odor (phenyl ethyl alcohol - rose scent) and burrow-related odors (burrow and colony dirt) will be characterized using videotape documentation. Second, it will be determined whether chicks can learn odor cues by pre-exposing chicks to a non-prey related odor during the egg stage, and then testing for increased sensitivity to that odor post-hatching. Finally, key behavioral responses induced when a chick is exposed to an odor plume within a portable wind flume will be quantified. Only a handful of studies have addressed olfactory abilities of procellariiform seabirds, or indeed any bird. Results from the proposed research will be among the first to address the development of olfaction in an ecologically important context. Overall, the results will greatly extend our knowledge of the foraging ecology of these fascinating birds. Such knowledge not only is useful to basic science, but also may help bolster efforts to ensure the conservation of procellariiforms, given the threatened or endangered status of many species. The broader impacts of this work include research experience for a graduate student and an active international collaboration with the French Institute for Polar Research and Technology. Furthermore, the results may be transferable to other potentially important organisms such as salmon and insects, where there is commercial importance in understanding the developmental stages of olfaction.

伞形海鸟（海燕、信天翁、海鸥）以其敏锐的嗅觉而著称。这些鸟类拥有远洋生活方式，在数千英里的海洋中觅食，寻找零散分布的资源。该项目将探讨这样一个假设：在发育过程中，小鸡会以类似于嗅觉印记的方式适应与进食相关的气味。将在凯尔盖朗群岛研究穴居伞状海鸟嗅觉敏感性的发展。有三个主要目标。首先，将使用录像带记录雏鸡对两种猎物相关气味（二甲基硫醚和鱼肝油）、一种新气味（苯乙醇 - 玫瑰香味）和洞穴相关气味（洞穴和群体污垢）的行为反应。其次，将确定雏鸡是否可以通过在卵阶段将雏鸡预先暴露于与猎物无关的气味中来学习气味线索，然后测试孵化后对该气味的敏感性是否增加。最后，当小鸡暴露在便携式风槽内的气味羽流中时，所引起的关键行为反应将被量化。只有少数研究探讨了伞状海鸟或任何鸟类的嗅觉能力。拟议研究的结果将是第一个解决生态重要背景下嗅觉发展问题的研究结果。总的来说，这些结果将极大地扩展我们对这些迷人鸟类的觅食生态的了解。这些知识不仅对基础科学有用，而且考虑到许多物种的受威胁或濒临灭绝状态，还可能有助于加强确保伞形动物保护的努力。这项工作的更广泛影响包括研究生的研究经验以及与法国极地研究与技术研究所的积极国际合作。此外，这些结果可能可以转移到其他潜在重要的生物体，例如鲑鱼和昆虫，在了解嗅觉的发育阶段方面具有商业重要性。