Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 2009. / Title from web page (viewed on Oct. 5, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Wisconsin. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

No description available.

The aim of this thesis was to advance our understanding of the foraging needs of three North Sea seabirds by using fatty acids analysis, a new tool for seabird ecologists.  The first two chapters describe methodological advances in the form of a method for sampling adipose tissue via live biopsy, a simple method for extracting lipids from a variety of seabird tissues and appropriate statistical analysis for detecting differences in fatty acid profiles between groups of ecological interest.  Different tissue types were investigated as sources of fatty acids for addressing a range of ecological questions. The remaining chapters present results using fatty acid analysis to investigate the diet of the three study species the black-legged kittiwake (<i>Rissa tridactyla</i>), common guillemot (<i>Uria aalge</i>) and northern fulmar (<i>Fulmarus glacialis</i>), focussing on areas of research which have been difficult to explore using conventional techniques.  Diet outside the main breeding season is one such area and fatty acid profiles showed that kittiwake and guillemot sexes fed on similar diets before breeding but male and female fulmars used different foraging strategies.  This sex effect did not persist into the chick-rearing period with males and females of all three species feeding on similar diets.  Distinct seasonal shifts in fatty acid profiles were observed and adult and chick diets were shown to differ in the single prey loading species, the guillemot.  The final chapter presents some of the first evidence suggesting a link between individual variation in diet choice and potential fitness consequences in fulmars.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2002. / Thesis submitted to the Divison of Science and Engineering. Bibliography: leaves 311-323.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2007.

Recent declines in nesting success of some fish-eating seabirds in Alaska have been attributed to declines in availability of certain schooling forage fishes (e.g., capelin Mallotus villosus, Pacific sand lance Ammodytes hexapterus, and Pacific herring Clupea harengus pallasi). These fishes tend to have high lipid content compared with other species and, consequently, are assumed to have high nutritional value as food for young seabirds. I tested hypotheses that type of fish consumed by the nestling, and lipid:protein ratio of the diet constrain growth and development of piscivorous seabird nestlings. I raised seabird nestlings (Black-legged Kittiwakes, Rissa tridactyla and Tufted Puffins, Fratercula cirrhata) on controlled diets of either capelin, herring, or sand lance (high-lipid fish), or juvenile walleye pollock (Theragra chalcograma; a low-lipid fish). Seabird nestlings fed herring, sand lance, or capelin had higher growth rates (body mass and wing length) than nestlings fed equal biomass rations of pollock. Growth in body mass and wing length of kittiwake nestlings was not affected by lipid:protein ratio of the diet when on a high nutritional plane (i.e., high caloric intake), but growth was significantly affected by dietary lipid:protein ratio when on a low plane of nutrition. Growth in body mass and wing length of puffins was not significantly affected by the lipid:protein ratio of the diet. Diets with a higher lipid:protein ratio resulted in greater fat reserves in both seabird species, regardless of nutritional plane. Additionally, diets with a higher lipid:protein ratio resulted in higher apparent metabolizable energy coefficients. The increased growth rates, fat reserves, and energy utilization efficiencies of chicks fed high-lipid diets suggest that pre- and post-fledging survival are enhanced when parent seabirds have access to high-lipid forage fish. / Graduation date: 2000