Dataset Information

Influence of fasting during moult on the faecal microbiota of penguins.

ABSTRACT: Many seabirds including penguins are adapted to long periods of fasting, particularly during parts of the reproductive cycle and during moult. However, the influence of fasting on the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota has not been investigated in seabirds. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the microbial composition and diversity of the GI microbiota of fasting little (Eudyptula minor) and king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) penguins during early and late moult. The results from this study indicated that there was little change in the abundance of the major phyla during moult, except for a significant increase in the level of Proteobacteria in king penguins. In king penguins the abundance of Fusobacteria increases from 1.73% during early moult to 33.6% by late moult, whilst the abundance of Proteobacteria (35.7% to 17.2%) and Bacteroidetes (19.5% to 11%) decrease from early to late moult. In little penguins, a decrease in the abundances of Firmicutes (44% to 29%) and an increase in the abundance of Bacteroidetes (11% to 20%) were observed from early to late moult respectively. The results from this study indicate that the microbial composition of both king and little penguins alters during fasting. However, it appears that the microbial composition of king penguins is more affected by fasting than little penguins with the length of fast the most probable cause for this difference.

SUBMITTER: Dewar ML

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4076183 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Influence of fasting during moult on the faecal microbiota of penguins.

Dewar Meagan L ML Arnould John P Y JP Krause Lutz L Trathan Phil P Dann Peter P Smith Stuart C SC

PloS one 20140630 6

Many seabirds including penguins are adapted to long periods of fasting, particularly during parts of the reproductive cycle and during moult. However, the influence of fasting on the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota has not been investigated in seabirds. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the microbial composition and diversity of the GI microbiota of fasting little (Eudyptula minor) and king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) penguins during early and late moult. The results from th ...[more]

PMID: 24979619

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Project description:Migratory species often roam vast distances bringing them into contact with diverse conditions and threats that could play significant roles in their population dynamics. This is especially true if long-range travels occur within crucial stages of a species' annual life-cycle. Crested penguins, for example, usually disperse over several hundreds of kilometres after completing the energetically demanding breeding season and in preparation for the costly annual moult. A basic understanding of crested penguins' pre-moult dispersal is therefore paramount in order to be able to assess factors affecting individual survival. The Fiordland penguin, or Tawaki, the only crested penguin species breeding on the New Zealand mainland, is currently one of the least studied and rarest penguin species in the world. We successfully satellite tracked the pre-moult dispersal of 17 adult Tawaki from a single colony located in the species' northern breeding distribution. Over the course of 8-10 weeks the penguins travelled up to 2,500 km away from their breeding colony, covering total swimming distances of up to 6,800 km. During outbound travels all penguins headed south-west within a well-defined corridor before branching out towards two general trip destinations. Birds leaving in late November travelled towards the Subtropical Front some 800 km south of Tasmania, whereas penguins that left in December headed further towards the subantarctic front. Using K-select analysis we examined the influence of oceanographic factors on the penguins' dispersal. Water depth, surface current velocity and sea level anomalies had the greatest influence on penguin movements at the subantarctic Front, while sea surface temperature and chlorophyll a concentration were key for birds travelling to the subtropical front. We discuss our findings in the light of anthropogenic activities (or lack thereof) in the regions visited by the penguins as well as the potential consequences of Tawaki pre-moult dispersal for the species' breeding distribution on the New Zealand mainland.

Project description:Anthropogenic climate change is resulting in spatial redistributions of many species. We assessed the potential effects of climate change on an abundant and widely distributed group of diving birds, Eudyptes penguins, which are the main avian consumers in the Southern Ocean in terms of biomass consumption. Despite their abundance, several of these species have undergone population declines over the past century, potentially due to changing oceanography and prey availability over the important winter months. We used light-based geolocation tracking data for 485 individuals deployed between 2006 and 2020 across 10 of the major breeding locations for five taxa of Eudyptes penguins. We used boosted regression tree modelling to quantify post-moult habitat preference for southern rockhopper (E. chrysocome), eastern rockhopper (E. filholi), northern rockhopper (E. moseleyi) and macaroni/royal (E. chrysolophus and E. schlegeli) penguins. We then modelled their redistribution under two climate change scenarios, representative concentration pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 (for the end of the century, 2071-2100). As climate forcings differ regionally, we quantified redistribution in the Atlantic, Central Indian, East Indian, West Pacific and East Pacific regions. We found sea surface temperature and sea surface height to be the most important predictors of current habitat for these penguins; physical features that are changing rapidly in the Southern Ocean. Our results indicated that the less severe RCP4.5 would lead to less habitat loss than the more severe RCP8.5. The five taxa of penguin may experience a general poleward redistribution of their preferred habitat, but with contrasting effects in the (i) change in total area of preferred habitat under climate change (ii) according to geographic region and (iii) the species (macaroni/royal vs. rockhopper populations). Our results provide further understanding on the regional impacts and vulnerability of species to climate change.

Dataset Information

Influence of fasting during moult on the faecal microbiota of penguins.

Publications

Influence of fasting during moult on the faecal microbiota of penguins.

Similar Datasets

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