Flexibility of little auks foraging in various oceanographic features in a changing Arctic.

Using GPS-tracked individuals, we compared foraging ecology and reproductive output of a High-Arctic zooplanktivorous seabird, the little auk Alle alle, between three years differing in environmental conditions (sea surface temperature). Despite contrasting environmental conditions, average foraging fights distance and duration were generally similar in all studied years. Also, in all years foraging locations visited by the little auk parents during short trips (ST, for chick provisioning) were significantly closer to the colony compared to those visited during long trips (LTs, mainly for adults' self-maintenance).

Flexibility of foraging strategies of the great skua breeding in the largest colony in the Barents Sea region.

Background: Foraging strategies of seabird species often vary considerably between and within individuals. This variability is influenced by a multitude of factors including age, sex, stage of annual life cycle, reproductive status, individual specialization and environmental conditions.

Results: Using GPS-loggers, we investigated factors affecting foraging flight characteristics (total duration, maximal range, total distance covered) of great skuas of known sex breeding on Bjørnøya, Svalbard, the largest colony in the Barents Sea region.

Habitat foraging niche of a High Arctic zooplanktivorous seabird in a changing environment.

Here, we model current and future distribution of a foraging Arctic endemic species, the little auk (Alle alle), a small zooplanktivorous Arctic seabird. We characterized environmental conditions [sea depth, sea surface temperature (SST), marginal sea ice zone (MIZ)] at foraging positions of GPS-tracked individuals from three breeding colonies in Svalbard: one located at the southern rim of the Arctic zone (hereafter 'boreo-Arctic') and two in the high-Arctic zone on Spitsbergen ('high-Arctic'). The birds from one 'high-Arctic' colony, influenced by cold Arctic water, foraged in the shallow shelf zone near the colony.