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MEPS 723:151-170 (2023)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14468

Combining bio-logging, stable isotopes and DNA metabarcoding to reveal the foraging ecology and diet of the Endangered Bermuda petrel Pterodroma cahow

Letizia Campioni1,*, Francesco Ventura2, José Pedro Granadeiro3, Jeremy Madeiros4, Carina Gjerdrum5, Mónica C. Silva6

1MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre / ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Ispa - Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida, Lisboa 1149-041, Portugal
2Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1050, USA
3CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal
4DENR - Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Ministry of Home Affairs, Botanical Gardens, 169 South Road, Paget DV04, Bermuda
5Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 2N6, Canada
6CE3C - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: The foraging range of central-place predators is limited by spatiotemporal and energetic constraints. Gadfly petrels Pterodroma spp. are seabirds well adapted to travel vast distances in oceans with sustained wind conditions, although our understanding of their foraging ecology in these heterogeneous and highly dynamic environments is still limited. We studied the foraging behaviour, habitat use, ecological niche and diet of the Endangered Bermuda petrel P. cahow, endemic to the western North Atlantic. We used GPS loggers to track foraging trips during incubation and early chick-rearing in 2019 and 2022, and employed DNA metabarcoding coupled with stable isotope analyses to reveal dietary habits. Our analyses showed that petrels travelled over a vast area of the western North Atlantic while foraging over deep, pelagic waters. Specifically, in the early chick-rearing phase, they reduced their foraging range and time spent at sea compared to incubation. Foraging locations were associated with varying sets of environmental variables between breeding phases, including mesoscale oceanographic features, distance to the colony and wind speed. Petrels also showed narrow isotopic niches, and the ranges of δ15N and δ13C values suggested consistency in trophic habits. Finally, we found high taxonomic diversity in the diet, including exclusively meso-bathypelagic fishes and cephalopods. Our results contribute critical new knowledge on Bermuda petrel foraging-behaviour plasticity, a feature that can help predict how a small population of an endangered species may respond to climate-related changes in wind regimes and oceanic processes expected in the North Atlantic Ocean.


KEY WORDS: Foraging strategy · Gadfly petrel · Mesopelagic prey · Wind · Mesoscale feature · Sargasso Sea


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Cite this article as: Campioni L, Ventura F, Granadeiro JP, Madeiros J, Gjerdrum C, Silva MC (2023) Combining bio-logging, stable isotopes and DNA metabarcoding to reveal the foraging ecology and diet of the Endangered Bermuda petrel Pterodroma cahow. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 723:151-170. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14468

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