Dissertation Research: Foraging Ecology of Procellariiform Seabirds: Impacts on Reproduction and Life History

信天翁的觅食行为在海鸟中是前所未有的。它们在南大洋觅食，行程长达50天，总距离为1.5万公里。pi将研究成年漫游信天翁的能量消耗和觅食相关的特定活动。这将有助于评估与特定行为有关的成本，从而可以评估它们在繁殖中的重要性。将使用各种跟踪技术，如同位素示踪剂、卫星发射机以及活动记录仪来确定；1)父母是否通过改变觅食努力来调整能量消耗；2)雄性和雌性对觅食栖息地的不同使用是否导致各自的能量消耗不同；3)评估觅食策略是否受到飞行行为的影响，如果是这样，能量消耗是否与飞行动力学的差异有关。这项研究将提供觅食的一个全面的观点，以解决觅食策略如何影响成年动物抚养后代的能力的核心问题。在所有多细胞生物中，成体必须以不同的方式分配资源，用于自我维持、生长和生殖投资。所有这些生活史参数都与觅食密切相关。因此，在像南大洋这样的远洋环境中觅食的不可预测性塑造了像漂泊信天翁这样的远洋海鸟的繁殖策略。这个物种为研究觅食、繁殖和生活史之间的联系提供了机会。

Foraging behavior of wandering albatrosses is unprecedented among seabirds. They forage throughout the Southern Ocean with trips lasting up to 50 days and covering a total distance of 15,000 kilometers. The PIs will study the energy costs and specific activities associated with foraging in adult wandering albatross. This will allow assessment of the costs associated with specific behaviors so that their importance in reproduction can be evaluated. A variety of tracking techniques will be used such as Isotopic tracers, satellite transmitters along with activity recorders to determine; 1) if parents adjust their energy expenditure by changing their foraging effort, 2) if differences in the use of foraging habitat by males versus females results in different energy expenditures for each, and 3) assessment whether foraging strategies are influenced by flight behavior and, if so, can energy expenditure be linked to differences in flight dynamics. This study will provide a comprehensive view of foraging to address the central question of how foraging strategies impact the ability of adults to rear offspring. In all multicellular organisms, adults must differentially allocate resources toward self-maintenance, growth, and investment in reproduction. All of these life history parameters are intimately linked to foraging. Hence, the unpredictability of foraging in a pelagic environment such as the Southern Ocean has shaped the reproductive strategies of pelagic seabirds like the wandering albatross. This species provides an opportunity to investigate the link between foraging, reproduction, and life history.