Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
Bennison A.;Quinn J.;Debney A.;Jessopp M.
2019
July
Biology Letters
Tidal drift removes the need for area-restricted search in foraging Atlantic puffins
Validated
WOS: 9 ()
Optional Fields
area-restricted search energetics foraging movement ecology
15
7
20190208
Understanding how animals forage is a central objective in ecology. Theory suggests that where food is uniformly distributed, Brownian movement ensures the maximum prey encounter rate, but when prey is patchy, the optimal strategy resembles a Lévy walk where area-restricted search (ARS) is interspersed with commuting between prey patches. Such movement appears ubiquitous in high trophic-level marine predators. Here, we report foraging and diving behaviour in a seabird with a high cost of flight, the Atlantic puffin ( Fratercula arctica), and report a clear lack of Brownian or Levy flight and associated ARS. Instead, puffins foraged using tides to transport them through their feeding grounds. Energetic models suggest the cost of foraging trips using the drift strategy is 28-46% less than flying between patches. We suggest such alternative movement strategies are habitat-specific, but likely to be far more widespread than currently thought.
1744-957X
10.1098/rsbl.2019.0208
Grant Details