| feather mercury concentrations in southern ocean seabirds: variation by species, site and time. | we studied mercury contamination in 25 seabird species breeding along a latitudinal gradient across the southern ocean, from gough island (40°s) through marion island (47°s) to byers peninsula (63°s). total mercury concentrations in body feather samples of adults caught at breeding colonies from 2008 to 2011 were determined. krill (euphausia spp.) and other zooplankton consumers had low mercury concentrations (gentoo penguin pygoscelis papua, chinstrap penguin pseudomonas antarctica, common divi ... | 2016 | 27267741 |
| use of fibre-optic endoscopes in studies of gastric digestion in carnivorous vertebrates. | 1. two methods of assessing gastric digestion rates of three prey types fed to sooty albatrosses phoebetria fusca were compared: removal of stomach contents, using a water-flushing stomach pump (a technique used commonly in diet studies), and inspection using a fibre-optic gastroscope (a previously unused technique). 2. the stomach pump yielded quantitative information, but proved stressful and resulted in incomplete recovery of meals ingested 3-6 hr before pumping. gastric morphology of the ani ... | 1988 | 2904343 |
| avian cholera outbreaks threaten seabird species on amsterdam island. | infectious diseases may be particularly critical for the conservation of endangered species. a striking example is the recurrent outbreaks that have been occurring in seabirds on amsterdam island for the past 30 years, threatening populations of three endangered seabird species and of the endemic, critically endangered amsterdam albatross diomedea amsterdamensis. the bacteria pasteurella multocida (avian cholera causative agent), and to a lesser extent erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae (erysipelas ca ... | 2018 | 29847561 |
| foraging in a dynamic environment: response of four sympatric sub-antarctic albatross species to interannual environmental variability. | seasonal and annual climate variations are linked to fluctuations in the abundance and distribution of resources, posing a significant challenge to animals that need to adjust their foraging behavior accordingly. particularly during adverse conditions, and while energetically constrained when breeding, animals ideally need to be flexible in their foraging behavior. such behavioral plasticity may separate "winners" from "losers" in light of rapid environmental changes due to climate change. here, ... | 2020 | 33144964 |