The Development of Olfactory Foraging Strategies in Antarctic Procellariiform Seabirds

珍珠状海鸟(海燕、信天翁、剪尾鸟)以其敏锐的嗅觉而区别于其他鸟类。这些鸟类具有远洋生活方式，在数千英里的海洋中觅食，以寻找零星分布的资源。这个项目将探索这样一种假设，即在发育过程中，雏鸟会以类似于嗅觉印记的方式对与进食相关的气味产生适应。科尔盖伦群岛将研究洞巢前贝壳类海鸟嗅觉敏感度的发展。有三个主要目标。首先，将使用录像带记录雏鸟对两种与猎物有关的气味(二甲基硫化物和鱼肝油)、一种新气味(苯乙醇-玫瑰气味)和与洞穴有关的气味(洞穴和殖民地污垢)的行为反应。其次，将确定雏鸟是否可以通过在蛋阶段预先将雏鸟暴露在与猎物无关的气味中，然后在孵化后测试对该气味的敏感度来学习气味线索。最后，当雏鸟暴露在便携式风槽中的气味羽流中时，将对其关键行为反应进行量化。只有少数几项研究涉及原丝状海鸟的嗅觉能力，甚至是任何鸟类。这项拟议的研究结果将是第一批在生态重要背景下解决嗅觉发展问题的研究成果之一。总体而言，这些结果将极大地扩展我们对这些迷人鸟类觅食生态的了解。这些知识不仅对基础科学有用，而且考虑到许多物种受到威胁或濒临灭绝的状况，还可能有助于加强努力，确保保护原藻类。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和技术研究所的积极国际合作。此外，这一结果可能会被转移到其他潜在的重要生物，如鲑鱼和昆虫，这些生物在了解嗅觉发育阶段方面具有商业重要性。

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.