scholarly journals The Behavioral Ecology of Maternal Effort in Fur Seals and Sea Lions

Behaviour ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 114 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 3-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Trillmich
Keyword(s):  
Energy Transfer ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Food Abundance ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Intake Rate ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
Pup Growth

AbstractOtariid seals form a group of similar species distributed from subpolar to tropical seas. Many species were recently studied under conditions of low and high food abundance during major oceanographic disturbances. Evidence for the phenotypic flexibility of and constraints on the rearing strategy of these species derives from inter- and intra-specific comparisons and experimental measurements. I review how changes in food abundance influence foraging behavior and energetics of mothers, pup growth rates, milk composition, weaning age, and the fertility cost of pup rearing. Eared seal females rear young by alternating between lactation ashore and foraging at sea. Subpolar fur seals always wean pups at four month of age, a trait which seems to be genetically fixed and adaptive in their highly seasonal environment. Temperate and tropical fur seals and sea lions can respond to changes in food abundnace by increasing or decreasing time to weaning. During pup rearing, mothers regulate body mass to different absolute values when abundance of food resources changes. This seems to be a constraint caused by reduced foraging efficiency at low food availability. Most species feed exclusively during the night, but sea lions (Zalophus californianus) and Northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) also forage during the day by diving deeper. Females of some species increase the rate of at-sea energy expenditure at low food abundance while keeping the duration of foraging trips constant. Females of other species stay at sea longer working at the same rate. The latter species may be food specialist with a narrower time window for efficient foraging. Pups grow slower when mothers increase time at sea, and at very low food abundance pups may starve. Pups have little influence on the duration of maternal foraging trips, but may diminish the mothers' time ashore by increasing the rate of milk extraction and prolonged non-nutritive sucking. The impact of long maternal at-sea times is reduced by increasing milk fat content as time at sea increases. This mechanism does not fully compensate pup energy intake rate for longer trip durations. Non-migratory species can partly compensate for reduced pup growth rates by lengthening the lactation period. In the Galapagos fur seal (A. galapagoensis), this entails a considerable cost to the mother by reducing her future fertility. Lactation reduces the probability of a successful simultaneous pregnancy and, if pregnancy succeeds, sibling competition for maternal milk ensues. Competition is usually won by the older sibling leading in many cases to the death of the newborn. The rate of energy transfer to pups is high in food-rich years and low in scarce ones. Because pups are more likely to be weaned as yearlings when juvenile growth rate is high than when it is low, high energy transfer to the pup in year "a" reduces the cost of reproduction incurred in year "a+1". The flexibility of the rearing strategy of temperate and tropical species permits mothers to adjust phenotypically to variance in food availability thus partly masking the theoretically expected trade-offs in the life history of these species.

scholarly journals Practical Application of a Bioenergetic Model to Inform Management of a Declining Fur Seal Population and Their Commercially Important Prey

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. McHuron ◽  
Katie Luxa ◽  
Noel A. Pelland ◽  
Kirstin Holsman ◽  
Rolf Ream ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Intake ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
Food Limitation ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Prey Consumption ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
Fur Seal ◽  
Pup Growth

Food availability is a key concern for the conservation of marine top predators, particularly during a time when they face a rapidly changing environment and continued pressure from commercial fishing activities. Northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) breeding on the Pribilof Islands in the eastern Bering Sea have experienced an unexplained population decline since the late-1990s. Dietary overlap with a large U.S. fishery for walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) in combination with changes in maternal foraging behavior and pup growth has led to the hypothesis that food limitation may be contributing to the population decline. We developed age- and sex-specific bioenergetic models to estimate fur seal energy intake from May–December in six target years, which were combined with diet data to quantify prey consumption. There was considerable sex- and age-specific variation in energy intake because of differences in body size, energetic costs, and behavior; net energy intake was lowest for juveniles (18.9 MJ sea-day–1, 1,409.4 MJ season–1) and highest for adult males (66.0 MJ sea-day–1, 7,651.7 MJ season–1). Population-level prey consumption ranged from 255,232 t (222,159 – 350,755 t, 95% CI) in 2006 to 500,039 t (453,720 – 555,205 t) in 1996, with pollock comprising between 41.4 and 76.5% of this biomass. Interannual variation in size-specific pollock consumption appeared largely driven by the availability of juvenile fish, with up to 81.6% of pollock biomass coming from mature pollock in years of poor age-1 recruitment. Relationships among metabolic rates, trip durations, pup growth rates, and energy intake of lactating females suggest the most feasible mechanism to increase pup growth rates is by increasing foraging efficiency through reductions in maternal foraging effort, which is unlikely to occur without increases in localized prey density. By quantifying year-specific fur seal consumption of pollock, our study provides a pathway to incorporate fur seals into multispecies pollock stock assessment models, which is critical for fur seal and fishery management given they were a significant source of mortality for both juvenile and mature pollock.

Estimation of salmonid habitat growth potential through measurements of invertebrate food abundance and temperature

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (8) ◽  
pp. 1158-1170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Weber ◽  
Nicolaas Bouwes ◽  
Chris E. Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Food Abundance ◽  
Fish Growth ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Bioenergetics Model ◽  
Adequate Food ◽  
Consumption Rates

Criteria used to characterize lotic salmonid habitat suitability are often based on correlations between physical habitat characteristics and salmonid abundance. Focusing on physical habitat features ignores other habitat components, such as an adequate food supply, that limit the amount of energy available for growth and survival. We tested the degree that food availability and temperature influence lotic salmonid consumption and growth rates and outline an approach for assessing habitat quality based on measurements of these features. We collected benthic and drifting invertebrate abundances, stream temperatures, and juvenile steelhead – rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss gairdneri) summer growth rates among nine stream segments in central Oregon. Stream temperatures and growth rates were used in bioenergetics model simulations to estimate O. mykiss consumption rates. The variation in O. mykiss consumption rates was explained by measurements of total drift biomass along a type II predator response curve (R2 = 0.71). This simplified foraging relationship between food abundance and consumption is then used to estimate the consumption component of the bioenergetics model to allow estimation of salmonid growth potential. Validation of the growth potential model produced reasonably accurate estimates of fish growth rates at reaches within the study area and precise but biased estimates in novel systems. While additional reach-level habitat information may be required to make the model more generalizable, the assessment of invertebrate food availability offers a simple yet powerful approach for describing the growth potential of stream habitat.

Long-term evaluation of pup growth and preweaning survival rates in subantarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus tropicalis, on Amsterdam Island

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (7) ◽  
pp. 1222-1232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magaly Chambellant ◽  
Gwénaël Beauplet ◽  
Christophe Guinet ◽  
Jean-Yves Georges
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Birth Date ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
Pup Growth ◽  
Sst Gradient ◽  
Subantarctic Fur Seals ◽  
Arctocephalus Tropicalis

This study is the first to investigate pup preweaning growth and survival rates over seven consecutive breeding seasons in subantarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus tropicalis, on Amsterdam Island, southern Indian Ocean. Growth and survival were studied in relation to year and pup sex, birth date, birth mass, and growth rate at 60 days of age. The pup growth rate decreased over the 7-year study period and was the lowest ever found in otariids, which suggests that lactating females experience constant low food availability. Male and female pups grew and survived at similar rates. Pups that were heavier at birth grew faster and exhibited better early survival (i.e., the first 2 months of life) than pups that were lighter at birth. However, no such relationship was detected for late survival (i.e., from 2 months to weaning) in this long-lactating species. No relationship was found between pup growth rate, pup survival rate, and sea-surface temperature (SST) gradient during the study period, especially during the later years of good trophic conditions (i.e., a high SST gradient). Such dissociations suggest that variation in food availability may not be the only factor influencing pup performance until weaning. We therefore propose that the subantarctic fur seal population is reaching its carrying capacity and that a density-dependent effect is occurring on Amsterdam Island.

Timing of breeding, peak food availability, and effects of mismatch on chick growth in birds nesting in the High Arctic

2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (8) ◽  
pp. 961-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. McKinnon ◽  
M. Picotin ◽  
E. Bolduc ◽  
C. Juillet ◽  
J. Bêty
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Growth Curves ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Food Abundance ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Timing Of Breeding ◽  
Chick Growth

In seasonal environments, breeding events must be synchronized with resource peaks to ensure production and growth of offspring. As changes in climate may affect trophic levels differentially, we hypothesized that a lack of synchrony between chick hatch and resource peaks could decrease growth rates in chicks of shorebirds nesting in the High Arctic. To test this hypothesis, we compared growth curves of chicks hatching in synchrony with peak periods of food abundance to those hatching outside of these peak periods. We also tested for changes in lay dates of shorebirds in the Canadian Arctic using recent and historical data. Mean daily temperatures during the laying period increased since the 1950s by up to 1.5 °C, and changes in lay dates were apparent for three shorebird species, yet differences in median lay dates between 1954 and 2005–2008 were only significant for White-rumped Sandpiper ( Calidris fuscicollis (Viellot, 1819)). During 2005–2008, there was only 1 year of relatively high synchrony between hatch and resource peaks. Asynchrony between hatch and peaks in Tipulidae biomass reduced growth rates in chicks of Baird’s Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii (Coues, 1861)). As anticipated changes in climate may decouple phenological events, the effects of asynchrony on growth rates of arctic-nesting birds warrant further investigation.

Pup Growth and Maternal Care in New Zealand Fur Seals, Arctocephalus forsteri, at Maatsuyker Island, Tasmania

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary-Anne Lea ◽  
Mark. A. Hindell
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Maternal Care ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
Fur Seal ◽  
New Zealand Fur Seal ◽  
Pup Growth

The growth, maternal attendance and sucking behaviour of 11 New Zealand fur seal pups, Arctocephalus forsteri, on Maatsuyker Island, Tasmania, were studied during the first six months of lactation. Early growth rates (0–50 days) ranged from 78 to 138 g day-1 and were amongst the highest recorded for any fur seal. Male pups from Maatsuyker Island in 1993 grew at double the rate reported from Kangaroo Island in 1989 and 1990. Growth of pups was influenced by the attendance behaviour of mothers. Mothers that spent relatively long periods at sea had pups that grew more slowly. The proportion of time spent sucking by pups decreased during the attendance period of mothers. Distinct interannual variability was also determined for body masses of pups weighed in March in five successive years, 1990–94, with mean body mass differing by up to 20% between years.

scholarly journals Nanoscale optical writing through upconversion resonance energy transfer

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. eabe2209
Author(s):  
S. Lamon ◽  
Y. Wu ◽  
Q. Zhang ◽  
X. Liu ◽  
M. Gu
Keyword(s):  
Graphene Oxide ◽  
Energy Transfer ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Data Storage ◽  
High Capacity ◽  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Optical Data ◽  
Upconversion Nanoparticles

Nanoscale optical writing using far-field super-resolution methods provides an unprecedented approach for high-capacity data storage. However, current nanoscale optical writing methods typically rely on photoinitiation and photoinhibition with high beam intensity, high energy consumption, and short device life span. We demonstrate a simple and broadly applicable method based on resonance energy transfer from lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles to graphene oxide for nanoscale optical writing. The transfer of high-energy quanta from upconversion nanoparticles induces a localized chemical reduction in graphene oxide flakes for optical writing, with a lateral feature size of ~50 nm (1/20th of the wavelength) under an inhibition intensity of 11.25 MW cm−2. Upconversion resonance energy transfer may enable next-generation optical data storage with high capacity and low energy consumption, while offering a powerful tool for energy-efficient nanofabrication of flexible electronic devices.

scholarly journals Diving deep into trouble: the role of foraging strategy and morphology in adapting to a changing environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique Ladds ◽  
David Rosen ◽  
Carling Gerlinsky ◽  
David Slip ◽  
Robert Harcourt
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Strategy ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Dive Duration ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Body Morphology ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Fur Seals ◽  
Adequate Food ◽  
Physiological Capacity ◽  
Total Body Oxygen

Abstract Physiology places constraints on an animal’s ability to forage and those unable to adapt to changing conditions may face increased challenges to reproduce and survive. As the global marine environment continues to change, small, air-breathing, endothermic marine predators such as otariids (fur seals and sea lions) and particularly females, who are constrained by central place foraging during breeding, may experience increased difficulties in successfully obtaining adequate food resources. We explored whether physiological limits of female otariids may be innately related to body morphology (fur seals vs sea lions) and/or dictate foraging strategies (epipelagic vs mesopelagic or benthic). We conducted a systematic review of the increased body of literature since the original reviews of Costa et al. (When does physiology limit the foraging behaviour of freely diving mammals? Int Congr Ser 2004;1275:359–366) and Arnould and Costa (Sea lions in drag, fur seals incognito: insights from the otariid deviants. In Sea Lions of the World Fairbanks. Alaska Sea Grant College Program, Alaska, USA, pp. 309–324, 2006) on behavioural (dive duration and depth) and physiological (total body oxygen stores and diving metabolic rates) parameters. We estimated calculated aerobic dive limit (cADL—estimated duration of aerobic dives) for species and used simulations to predict the proportion of dives that exceeded the cADL. We tested whether body morphology or foraging strategy was the primary predictor of these behavioural and physiological characteristics. We found that the foraging strategy compared to morphology was a better predictor of most parameters, including whether a species was more likely to exceed their cADL during a dive and the ratio of dive time to cADL. This suggests that benthic and mesopelagic divers are more likely to be foraging at their physiological capacity. For species operating near their physiological capacity (regularly exceeding their cADL), the ability to switch strategies is limited as the cost of foraging deeper and longer is disproportionally high, unless it is accompanied by physiological adaptations. It is proposed that some otariids may not have the ability to switch foraging strategies and so be unable adapt to a changing oceanic ecosystem.

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