Dear MARMAM colleagues,
My co-authors and I are pleased to share with you our recent publication
on the movement and activity of Antarctic fur seal pups:
Rebecca Nagel, Sina Mews, Timo Adam, Claire Stainfield, Cameron
Fox‑Clarke, Camille Toscani, Roland Langrock, Jaume Forcada*, & Joseph
I. Hoffman* (2021) Movement patterns and activity levels are shaped by
the neonatal environment in Antarctic fur seal pups. Scientific Reports.
11:14323. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93253-1
<https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93253-1>
*co-senior authors
Abstract:
Tracking studies of juveniles are rare compared to those of adults, and
consequently little is known about the influence of intrinsic and
extrinsic factors on activity during this critical life stage. We used
hourly GPS data, collected from 66 Antarctic fur seal pups from birth
until moulting, to investigate the explanatory power of multiple
individual-based and environmental variables on activity levels. Pups
were sampled from two nearby breeding colonies of contrasting density
during two subsequent years, and a two-state hidden Markov model was
used to identify modalities in their movement behaviour, specifically
‘active’ and ‘inactive’ states. We found that movement was typified by
central place exploration, with active movement away from and subsequent
return to a location of inactivity. The probability of such directed
exploration was unaffected by several factors known to influence marine
mammal movement including sex, body condition, and temperature. Compared
to pups born at the high-density colony, pups at low-density were more
active, increased their activity with age, and transitioned earlier into
the tussock grass, which offers protection from predators and extreme
weather. Our study illustrates the importance of extrinsic factors, such
as colony of birth, to early-life activity patterns and highlights the
adaptive potential of movement.
The article should be open access, but if you have any trouble accessing
the pdf or have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at
rebecca.na...@uni-bielefeld.de.
With kind regards,
Rebecca
--
Dr. Rebecca Nagel
mail: rebecca.na...@uni-bielefeld.de
office: +49 521 106-2192
mobile: +49 176 31688200
room: VHF-203a
Bielefeld University
Department of Animal Behaviour
PO Box 10 01 31
33501 Bielefeld
Germany
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