TY - JOUR

T1 - A framework to unlock marine bird energetics

AU - Dunn, Ruth E.

AU - Duckworth, James

AU - Green, Jonathan A.

PY - 2023/12/18

Y1 - 2023/12/18

N2 - Energetics can provide novel insights into the roles of animals, but employing an energetics approach has traditionally required extensive empirical physiological data on the focal species, something that can be challenging for those that inhabit marine environments. There is therefore a demand for a framework through which to estimate energy expenditure from readily available data. We present the energetic costs associated with important time- and energy-intensive behaviours across nine families of marine bird (including seabirds, ducks, divers, and grebes) and nine ecological guilds. We demonstrate a worked example, calculating the year-round energetic expenditure of the great auk Pinguinus impennis under three migration scenarios, thereby illustrating the capacity of this approach to make predictions for data deficient species. We provide a comprehensive framework through which to model marine bird energetics and demonstrate the power of this approach to provide novel, quantitative insights into the influence of marine birds within their ecosystems.

AB - Energetics can provide novel insights into the roles of animals, but employing an energetics approach has traditionally required extensive empirical physiological data on the focal species, something that can be challenging for those that inhabit marine environments. There is therefore a demand for a framework through which to estimate energy expenditure from readily available data. We present the energetic costs associated with important time- and energy-intensive behaviours across nine families of marine bird (including seabirds, ducks, divers, and grebes) and nine ecological guilds. We demonstrate a worked example, calculating the year-round energetic expenditure of the great auk Pinguinus impennis under three migration scenarios, thereby illustrating the capacity of this approach to make predictions for data deficient species. We provide a comprehensive framework through which to model marine bird energetics and demonstrate the power of this approach to provide novel, quantitative insights into the influence of marine birds within their ecosystems.

KW - Insect Science

KW - Molecular Biology

KW - Animal Science and Zoology

KW - Aquatic Science

KW - Physiology

KW - Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

U2 - 10.1242/jeb.246754

DO - 10.1242/jeb.246754

M3 - Journal article

VL - 226

JO - Journal of Experimental Biology

JF - Journal of Experimental Biology

SN - 0022-0949

IS - 24

ER -