Anous tenuirostris; Sterna dougallii; diet; stable isotope; mercury; western indian ocean
Abstract :
[en] Inferences on seabird ecology from stable isotopes ratios (δ13C, δ15N) and mercury concentrations analysis of feathers have been made for temperate and polar species but are far more rare for tropical species. In this paper, we used this approach combined with analysis of regurgitations and feeding observations at colonies to examine diet segregation between Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) and Lesser Noddies (Anous tenuirostris) breeding sympatrically on Aride Island (Seychelles), western Indian Ocean. Our results indicated extensive overlap between the two species in trophic level and foraging area during the breeding season. Goatfish predominated (93-97%) in all diet samples of adults and chicks collected in the colonies, except in prey fed to mates by Roseate Terns, of which scad and tuna comprised 20%. The isotopic analyses of feathers replaced by adults during molt (primary and body feathers) suggested, however, that the two species differ in foraging ecology during the nonbreeding period. Roseate Tern adults had consistently lower δ15N values than Lesser Noddies which, in turn, had δ15N values comparable to those of chick feathers grown on Aride. Moreover, low but similar mercury levels were found in body feathers of Lesser Noddy adults and Roseate Tern chicks, whereas Roseate Tern adults were significantly more contaminated. Overall, these results support the hypothesis that the Lesser Noddy is largely sedentary, being associated with the same food web in the vicinity of the colonies year-round. In contrast, Roseate Terns rely on distinct prey during the molting (nonbreeding) season which may be also consistent with a change in food web (i.e., a migratory regime) although the assignment of potential wintering areas remain difficult without isotopic basemaps currently available for the Indian Ocean.
Research Center/Unit :
MARE - Centre Interfacultaire de Recherches en Océanologie - ULiège
Monticelli, David; Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux - FUSAGx > Laboratory of Tropical and subtropical forestry > Unit of Forest and Nature Management
Ramos, J. A.; University of Coimbra (Portugal) > Department of Zoology > Institute of Marine Research (IMAR)
Tavares, P. C.; University of Açores > Institute of Marine Research (IMAR)
Bataille, Baptiste; Université Catholique de Louvain - UCL > Biodiversity Research Center
Lepoint, Gilles ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences et gestion de l'environnement > Océanologie
Devillers, Pierre; Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique - IRSNB
Language :
English
Title :
Diet and foraging ecology of Roseate terns and lesser noddies breeding sympatrically on Aride Island, Seychelles
Publication date :
2008
Journal title :
Waterbirds
ISSN :
1524-4695
eISSN :
1938-5390
Publisher :
The Waterbird Society, Waco, United States - Texas
Ashmole, N. P. 1962. The Black Noddy Anous tenuirostris on Ascension Island. Part I. General biology. Ibis 103b: 297-364.
Bearhop, S., S. Waldron, D. R. Thompson and R. W. Furness. 2000b. Bioamplification of Mercury in Great Skua Catharacta skua chicks: the influence of trophic status as determined by stable isotope signatures of blood and feathers. Marine Pollution Bulletin 40: 181-185.
Bearhop, S., R. A. Phillips, D. R. Thompson, S. Waldron and R. W. Furness. 2000a. Variability in mercury concentrations of Great Skuas Catharacta skua: the influence of colony, diet and trophic status inferred from stable isotope signatures. Marine Ecology Progress Series 195: 261-268.
Becker, P. H., D. Henning and R. W. Furness. 1994. Differences in Mercury contamination and elimination during feather development in gull and tern broods. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 27: 162-167.
Becker, P. H., J. Gonzales-Solis, B. Behrends and J. Croxall. 2002. Feather mercury levels in seabirds at South Georgia: influence of trophic position, sex and age. Marine Ecology Progress Series 243: 261-269.
Bowler, J., M. Betts, I. Bullock and J. A. Ramos. 2002. Trends in seabird numbers on Aride Island Nature Reserve, Seychelles 1988-2000. Waterbirds 25: 26-38.
Burger, J. and M. Gochfeld. 1991. Lead, mercury and cadmium in feathers of tropical terns in Puerto Rico and Australia. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 21: 311-315.
Burger, J. and M. Gochfeld. 1997. Risk, mercury levels and birds: Relating adverse laboratory effects to field biomonitoring. Environmental Research 75:160-172.
Burger, J., I. C. T. Nisbet and M. Gochfeld. 1992. Metal levels in regrown feathers: Assessment of contamination on the wintering and breeding grounds in the same individuals. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 36: 327-338.
Catry, T., J. A. Ramos, J. Martins, F. Peste, S. Trigo, V. H. Paiva, A. Almeida, A. Luis, J. Palma and P. Andrade. 2006. Intercolony and annual differences in the diet and feeding ecology of little tern adults and chicks in Portugal. Condor 108: 366-376.
Cherel, Y., K. A. Hobson and H. Weimerskirch. 2000. Using stable-isotope analysis of feathers to distinguish molting and breeding origins of seabirds. Oecologia 122:155-162.
Cherel, Y., P. Bocher, C. De Broyer and K. A. Hobson. 2002. Food and feeding ecology of the sympatric thin-billed Pachyptila belcheri and Antarctic P. desolata prions at Iles Kerguelen, Southern Indian Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 228: 263-281.
Cramp, S. 1985. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 4. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Das, K., G. Lepoint, Y. Leroy and J. M. Bouquegneau. 2003. Marine mammals from the southern North Sea: feeding ecology data from δ 13C and δ15N measurements. Marine Ecology Progress Series 263: 287-298.
Diamond, A. W. 1983. Feeding overlap in some tropical and temperate seabird communities. Studies in Avian Biology 8: 2446.
Evans Ogden, L.J., K. A. Hobson and D. B. Lank. 2004. Blood isotopic (13C and 15N) turnover and diet-tissue fractionation factors in captive dunlins (Calidris alpine pacifica). Auk 121: 170-177.
Forero, M. G. and K. A. Hobson. 2003. Using stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon to study seabird ecology: applications in the Mediterranean seabird community. Scientia Marina 67(Suppl.2): 23-32.
Ginn, H. B. and D. S. Melville. 1983. Molt in Birds. Guide No. 19. British Trust for Ornithology. The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk.
Gochfeld, M., J. Burger and I. C. T Nisbet. 1998. Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) In The Birds of North America, No. 370 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia.
Hays, H., J. Hudon, G. Cormons, J. Dicostanzo and P. Lima. 2006. The pink feather blush of the Roseate Tern. Waterbirds 29: 296-301.
Hays, H., P. Lima, L. Monteiro, J. DiCostanzo, G. Cormons, I. C. T. Nisbet, J. E. Saliva, J. A. Spendelow J, J. Burger, J. Pierce and M. Gochfeld. 1999. A nonbreeding concentration of roseate and common terns in Bahia, Brazil. Journal of Field Ornithology 70: 455-464.
Higgins, P. J. and S. J. J. F. Davies. 1996. The Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Hobson, K. A. 1999. Tracing origins and migration of wildlife using stable isotopes: a review. Oecologia 120: 314-326.
Hobson, K. A. 2005. Stable isotopes and the determination of avian migratory connectivity and seasonal interactions. Auk 122: 1037-1048.
Hobson, K. A. and R. G. Clark. 1992. Assessing avian diets using stable isotope I: Turnover of 13C in tissues. Condor 94: 181-188.
Hobson, K A., J. F. Piatt and J. Pitocchelli. 1994. Using stable isotopes to determine seabird trophic relationships. Journal of Animal Ecology 63: 786-798.
Kumar, S., R. Ramesh, N. B. Bhosle, S. Sardesai and M. S. Sheshshayee. 2004. Natural isotopic composition of nitrogen in suspended particulate matter in the Bay of Bengal. Biogeosciences 1: 63-70.
Maul, A. M. 1998. Breeding biology and monitoring of three seabird species (Brown Noddy Anous stolidus, Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris, Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii) on Aride Island, Seychelles, with special comments on breeding behaviour and biometrics of the Brown Noddy. Ph.D. thesis, Karl-Franzens University, Graz, Austria.
Michener, R. H. and D. M. Schell. 1994. Stable isotope ratios as tracers in marine aquatic food webs. Pages 138-157 in Stable Isotopes in Ecology and Environmental Science (K. Lajtha and R. H. Michener, Eds.). Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
Monteiro, L. R., R. W. Furness and A. J. del Nevo. 1995. Mercury levels in seabirds from the Azores, Mid-North Atlantic Ocean. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 28: 304-309.
Nisbet, I. C. T., J. P. Montoya, J. Burger and J. J. Hatch. 2002. Use of stable isotopes to investigate individuals differences in diets and mercury exposures among common terns Sterna hirando in breeding and wintering grounds. Marine Ecology Progress Series 242: 267-274.
O'Neill, P., C. Minton, K. Ozaki and R. White. 2005. Three populations of non-breeding Roseate Terns (Sterna dougalliz) in the Swain Reefs, Southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Emu 105: 57-66.
Paiva, V. H., J. A. Ramos, T. Catty, P. Pedro, R. Medeiros and J. Palma. 2006. Influence of environmental factors and energetic value of food on Little Tern chick growth and food delivery. Bird Study 53: 1-11.
Pyle, P. 2008. Identification Guide to North American Birds. Part 2. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, California, USA. In press.
Ramos, J. A. 2000. Characteristics of foraging habitats and chick food provisioning by tropical Roseate Terns. Condor 102: 795-803.
Ramos, J. A., A. M. Maul, J. Bowler, D. Monticelli and C. Pacheco. 2004. Laying date, chick provisioning, and breeding success of Lesser Noddies on Aride Island, Seychelles. Condor 106: 888-896.
Ramos, J. A., A. M. Maul, V. Ayrton, I. Bullock, J. Hunter, J. Bowler, G. Castle, R. Mileto, and C. Pacheco. 2002. Influence of local and large-scale weather events and timing of breeding on tropical Roseate Tern reproductive parameters. Marine Ecology Progress Series 243: 271-279.
Saino, T. and A. Hattori. 1980. 15N natural abundance in oceanic suspended particulate matter. Nature 283: 752-754.
Saino, T. and A. Hattori. 1985. Variations of 15N natural abundance of suspended organic matter in shallow oceanic waters. Pages 1-13 in Marine and Estuarine Geochernistry (A. C. Sigleo and A. Hattori, Eds.). Lewis Publishers, Chelsea.
Sanpera, C., X. Ruiz, R. Moreno, L. Jover and S. Waldron. 2007. Mercury and stable isotopes in feathers of Audouin's Gulls as indicators of feeding habits and migratory connectivity. Condor 109: 268-275.
Sherwood, G. D. and G. A. Rose. 2005. Stable isotope analysis of some representative fish and invertebrates of the Newfoundland and Labrador continental shelf food web. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 63: 537-549.
StatSoft, Inc. 2001. STATISTICA System Reference. StatSoft, Tulsa.
Surman, C. A. and R. D. Wooller. 2003. Comparative foraging ecology of five sympatric terns at a sub-tropical island in the eastern Indian Ocean. Journal of Zoology London 259: 219-230.
Sydeman, W. J., K. A. Hobson, P. Pyle and E. B. McLaren. 1997. Trophic relationships among seabirds in central California: combined stable isotope and conventional dietary approach. Condor 99: 327-336.
Tavares, P. C., L. R. Monteiro, R.J. Lopes, M. M. Correira Santos and R. W. Furness. 2004. Intraspecific variation of mercury contamination in chicks of black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) in coastal wetlands from South-western Europe. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 72: 437-444.
Tavares, P. C., L. R. Monteiro, R. J. Lopes, M. M. Correira Santos and R. W. Furness. 2005. Variation of mercury contamination in chicks of little tern Sterna albifrons in South-west Europe: brood, age and colony related effects. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 74: 177-184.
Thompson, D. R. and R. W. Furness. 1989. Comparison of the levels of total and organic mercury in seabird feathers. Marine Pollution Bulletin 20: 577-579.
Thompson, D. R., S. Bearhop, J. R. Speakman and R. W. Furness. 1998. Feathers as a means of monitoring mercury in seabirds: insights from stable isotope analysis. Environmental Pollution 101: 193-200.
Tree, A. J. 2005. The known history and movements of the Roseate Tern sterna dougallii in South Africa and the Western Indian Ocean. Marine Ornithology 33: 41-47.
Tree, A. J. and N. T. W. Klages. 2003. Status, biometrics and possible relationships of the South African population of Roseate Terns. Ostrich 74: 74-80.
Vander Zanden, M. J. and J. B. Rasmussen. 2001. Variations in δ 15N and δ13C trophic fractionation: implications for aquatic food web studies. Limnology and Oceanography 46: 2061-2066.
