Skip Navigation

ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2001 58(1):355-361; doi:10.1006/jmsc.2000.1017
© 2001 by ICES/CIEM International Council for the Exploration of the Sea/Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cherel, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Chastel, O.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Cherel, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Chastel, O.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Capelin (Mallotus villosus) as an important food source for northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) breeding at Bjørnøya (Bear Island), Barents Sea

Yves Cherela,, Vincent Ridoux, Henri Weimerskircha, Torkild Tveraac and Olivier Chastela

a Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UPR 1934 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique F-79360, Villiers-en-Bois, France
b Laboratoire de Biologie et Environnement Marins, EA 1220 de l'Université de La Rochelle F-17026, La Rochelle Cedex, France
c Division for Arctic Ecology, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, The Polar Environment Centre N-9296, Tromsø Norway

Correspondence to Y. Cherel: tel: +33 5 49 09 78 35; fax: +33 5 49 09 65 26; e-mail: cherel{at}cebc.cnrs.fr

The food and feeding ecology of northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis was investigated in July 1999 at Bjørnøya (Bear Island). Fulmars relied almost exclusively on fish during the brooding period. The main fish prey was capelin Mallotus villosus (87.0% by reconstituted mass), Atlantic cod Gadus morhua accounting for most of the remainder (9.7% by reconstituted mass). The estimated total length of capelin and Atlantic cod eaten averaged 15 and 17 cm, respectively. Adult fulmars performed short foraging trips averaging 8 hours when brooding chicks, and they foraged at a mean maximum distance of about 60 km, the birds being concentrated on the shelf surrounding the island. The study emphasizes the importance of capelin as a key link between zooplankton and top predators, including seabirds, in the pelagic ecosystem of the Barents Sea.

Keywords: Arctic, pelagic ecosystem, procellariiform, satellite tracking, transponders

Received 27 July 2000; accepted 28 October 2000.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.