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 National Science
Foundation Award #9218536 |
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Foraging Ecology and Reproductive Energetics of Antarctic Petrels
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| Investigator(s): |
Wesley Weathers (PI)
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| Sponsor: |
University of California-Davis, CA 95616 5307522075
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| Start Date/Expiration Date |
1993-06-01 to 1998-05-31 (amended 1996-05-30) |
| Awarded Amount to Date: |
$294,124 |
| Abstract: The feeding ecology and energetics of two common surface-nesting petrels that breed in the high Antarctic, the Cape Pigeon and the Snow Petrel will be addressed through a variety of field and laboratory techniques. Both the diet and energy requirements of adults and their offspring will be quantified. By conducting measurements over three consecutive breeding seasons, interannual variation in feeding ecology and reproductive performance will be assessed. The field metabolic rate of adult petrels will be determined during the incubation and chick-rearing stages of the breeding cycle using the doubly labeled water technique. Basal metabolic rates of adults will be determined from laboratory measurements of oxygen consumption and their reproductive effort expressed as the ratio of field metabolic rate to basal metabolism. Foraging trip length of adults will be partitioned into time spent resting on water and in flight and foraging energy cost will be estimated. Nestling growth will be assessed from measurements of body mass, size and composition as functions of nestling age and nestling energy budgets will be constructed. Diet of nestlings and their parents will be determined from parental food deliveries and stable isotope analysis of prey and feces. Diet information combined with doubly labeled water measurements will allow calculation of rates of food consumption, and, hence, the trophic impact of these breeding fulmarine petrels on the surrounding marine ecosystem. |
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| NSF Org: |
OPP - Office of Polar Programs |
| Award Number: |
9218536 |
| Award Instrument: |
Continuing grant |
| Program Manager: |
Polly A. Penhale
OPP Office of Polar Programs
O/D OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
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| NSF Program(s): |
ANTARCTIC BIOLOGY & MEDICINE, ANTARCTIC BIOLOGY & MEDICINE
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| Field Application(s): |
Ecology, Polar Programs-Related |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS, 9169 |
| Program Element Code(s): |
5111
, 5111
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