Northern Gannet foraging trip length increases with colony size and decreases with latitude

Density-dependent competition for food influences the foraging behaviour and demography of colonial animals, but how this influence varies across a species' latitudinal range is poorly understood. Here we used satellite tracking from 21 Northern Gannet <i>Morus bassanus</i> colonies (39% of colonies worldwide, supporting 73% of the global population) during chick-rearing to test how foraging trip characteristics (distance and duration) covary with colony size (138-60 953 breeding pairs) and latitude across 89% of their latitudinal range (46.81-71.23° N). Tracking data for 1118 individuals showed that foraging trip duration and maximum distance both increased with square-root colony size. Foraging effort also varied between years for the same colony, consistent with a link to environmental variability. Trip duration and maximum distance also decreased with latitude, after controlling for colony size. Our results are consistent with density-dependent reduction in prey availability influencing colony size and reveal reduced competition at the poleward range margin. This provides a mechanism for rapid population growth at northern colonies and, therefore, a poleward shift in response to environmental change. Further work is required to understand when and how colonial animals deplete nearby prey, along with the positive and negative effects of social foraging behaviour.

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Publication Details

Journal
Royal Society Open Science
Published
2024-09-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240708
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Avian ecology and behavior
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.38

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article

Northern Gannet foraging trip length increases with colony size and decreases with latitude

Freydís Vigfúsdóttir, Victoria Warwick‐Evans, Lucy J. Wright, Keith C. Hamer et al.
3 citations
Royal Society Open Science
Avian ecology and behavior
1.38
article

Northern Gannet foraging trip length increases with colony size and decreases with latitude

Freydís Vigfúsdóttir, Victoria Warwick‐Evans, Lucy J. Wright, Keith C. Hamer, Sarah Wanless, Jude V. Lane, Amélie Lescroël, Mark Jessopp, Saskia Wischnewski, Stephen C. Votier, Stuart Bearhop, David J. Pascall, Kyle J. N. d’Entremont, Jez Blackburn, Thomas W. Bodey, Stefan Garthe, William A. Montevecchi, Pascal Provost, Ewan D. Wakefield, Ashley Bennison, Bethany L. Clark, David Grémillet, Sam L. Cox
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Density-dependent competition for food influences the foraging behaviour and demography of colonial animals, but how this influence varies across a species' latitudinal range is poorly understood. Here we used satellite tracking from 21 Northern Gannet <i>Morus bassanus</i> colonies (39% of colonies worldwide, supporting 73% of the global population) during chick-rearing to test how foraging trip characteristics (distance and duration) covary with colony size (138-60 953 breeding pairs) and latitude across 89% of their latitudinal range (46.81-71.23° N). Tracking data for 1118 individuals showed that foraging trip duration and maximum distance both increased with square-root colony size. Foraging effort also varied between years for the same colony, consistent with a link to environmental variability. Trip duration and maximum distance also decreased with latitude, after controlling for colony size. Our results are consistent with density-dependent reduction in prey availability influencing colony size and reveal reduced competition at the poleward range margin. This provides a mechanism for rapid population growth at northern colonies and, therefore, a poleward shift in response to environmental change. Further work is required to understand when and how colonial animals deplete nearby prey, along with the positive and negative effects of social foraging behaviour.

Royal Society Open ScienceVol. 11(9)
Point Blue Conservation Science (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Memorial University of Newfoundland (CA), University of Leeds (GB), British Antarctic Survey (GB), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (GB), École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR), University of Iceland (IS), Durham University (GB), University of Aberdeen (GB), Université de Montpellier (FR), University of Exeter (GB), University of Cambridge (GB), University College Cork (IE), Heriot-Watt University (GB), Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive (FR), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (GB), MRC Biostatistics Unit (GB), BirdLife international (GB), Icelandic Fisheries Laboratories (IS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), British Trust for Ornithology (GB)
Sight Research UK, University of Exeter, Deakin University, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Natural Environment Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 18%
Avian ecology and behavior
1.38
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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