Nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds: temporal and stochastic variation in provisioning and growth of short-tailed shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris

Procellariiform seabirds such as short-tailed shearwaters Puffinus tenuirostris accumulate large quantities of lipid during the nestling period. The functional significance of this pattern of development remains unclear, but has been related both to temporal variation in feeding conditions around the colony and to stochastic variation in the foraging success of individual parents. This paper examines temporal and age-specific variation in the pattern of food delivery to nestling short-tailed shearwaters, which have one of the lowest provisioning rates of any procellariiforms and are known to experience occasional long intervals between feeds. We assess whether variation in the provisioning rates of chicks was associated primarily with temporal variation in food delivery at the level of the colony or with stochastic variation in food delivery at the level of the individual. We then discuss this variability in the context of nestling obesity. For all but the youngest chick age-classes, individual meals delivered by adults averaged 141 g, which was 25% of adult body mass. The proportion of chicks fed each night was low (49%) and highly variable (coefficient of variation = 82%), which means that occasional long intervals between feeds would be expected to arise simply by chance. In keeping with this, intervals between feeding events for individual chicks followed a negative exponential distribution with a mean of 2 nights and a maximum interval of 13 nights. There was significant temporal variation in food delivery, but deviations from expected values for both feeding frequency and meal size were restricted to a small number of nights, included values both higher and lower than expected and did not persist for more than 2 nights in succession. These data suggest that even among those species with very low feeding frequencies and occasional long intervals between feeds, nestling obesity in Procellariiformes should be regarded as a response to chronic stochastic variability in food delivery at the level of the individual chick rather than as insurance against sporadic temporal variation at the level of the colony. Received: 3 March 1997 / Accepted: 10 May 1997     

Fly or die: the role of fat stores in the growth and development of Grey-headed Albatross Diomedea chrysostoma chicks

Chicks of albatrosses, like other Procellariiformes, become independent at a mass similar to their parents but during growth attain a peak mass some 30% or more greater, before losing mass prior to fledging. The current views are that this high peak mass represents chicks storing fat reserves as an energy sink, or as an insurance against periodic food scarcity, or as a Consequence of natural stochastic variation in provisioning rate. We analysed growth and body composition of Grey‐headed Albatross Diomedea chrysostoma chicks at Bird Island, South Georgia in 1984 and 1986, two years of very different food availability. In 1984 when overall breeding success was only 28% (the lowest in 20 years and less than halt that in 1986), chicks were significantly smaller in terms of peak mass (by 37%), primary length (by 25%), liver, lung, heart and kidney size (by 18–34%) and fat (by 75–80%) but not significantly different in terms of skeletal (tarsus, culmen, ulna, sternum) or muscle (pectoral, leg) size. Despite these differences, there were some important similarities in the patterns of growth in both years. Up to the attainment of peak mass, most of the growth of organs and of skeletal structures was completed and little fat was deposited. In the remaining part of the chick‐rearing period, feather growth and acquisition of fat stores were undertaken. Thus Grey‐headed Albatross chicks begin to acquire substantial fat stores only during the later part of the development period; this is contrary to the predictions of any of the existing hypotheses concerning provisioning patterns and the role of fat stores in Procellariiformes. We propose that the deposition of fat in the later stages of chick growth is an adaptation to: (a) ensure against energy demands and/or nutritional stress affecting the quality of flight feathers (many of which are not renewed for up to three years after fledging); and (b) provide an energy reserve for chicks to use in the critical period immediately after independence.     

Rates and consequences of relaying in little auks Alle alle breeding in the High Arctic an experimental study with egg removal

Most seabirds have a small clutch size. Thus, replacement of a clutch after loss can make important contributions to an individual’s lifetime reproductive success. However, in the condition of short polar summer, relaying propensity may be time‐constrained. In this study, we investigated rates and consequences of relaying in a small High Arctic seabird, the little auk Alle alle. We performed an experiment in which we removed the single egg from 20 nests of early‐laying breeders. We measured relaying rates, and compared chick body mass and breeding success between the experimental and control nests. Despite the narrow window of the Arctic summer and the closely synchronized breeding, 75% of females produced a replacement egg just 2.7% smaller in volume than the first egg. This indicates that in little auks, the demographic effects of disruptions to breeding attempts (by predators, adverse weather or human activity) may be mitigated to some extent by replacement clutches. However, peak body mass and fledging body mass were lower in the experimental than the control chicks. This effect was rather a consequence of late hatching – chicks from replacement clutches followed seasonal decline in peak body mass and fledging mass. Finally, breeding success and chick survival up to 20 d in the experimental nests were respectively 34 and 37% lower than in the control nests. Thus, the quality and post‐fledging survival of chicks from the replacement clutches were probably lower compared to the chicks hatched from the first‐laid eggs.     

Variability and stochasticity of meal size and feeding frequency in the Little Sheanvater Puffinus assimilis

The pattern of chick feeding in Little Shearwater Puffinus assimilis on Selvagem Grande was examined by weighing chicks at 4–h intervals throughout eight successive nights and daily for a further 11 days (19 days in all). Individual meals fed to chicks averaged 23.2 g (s.d. ±4.7) or 13.6% of adult mass. Mass increments over 24 h (NET) were linearly related to the sum of positive mass increments over 4–h intervals during the night (SUM) by the equation NET = 0.36SUM - 5.89 (r²= 0.60). Using this relationship, I estimated that over a period of 18 nights, a mean of 95% of chicks were fed each night, and the mean interval between feeds was 1.05 nights, with a maximum of three nights. There was no significant day-to-day variation in feeding rate. These results were not compatible with the prevalent idea that the purpose of large fat deposits in Procellariiformes is to tide chicks over periodic fasts resulting from poor feeding conditions. On average, chicks required 16 g of food per day to maintain constant mass and converted 33% of their intake of food above this requirement into biomass. Meal size and feeding frequency were independent of chick size and body condition (body-mass corrected for body-size), and the masses of food received by individual chicks each night varied in direct proportion to previous values. These results suggest that the rate of food supply to chicks was not regulated by adjustment according to chicks' nutritional requirements. To some extent, this supports the hypothesis that lipid accumulation among Procellariiformes is related to stochastic variation in food supply rate, resulting from an absence of regulation of feeding. However, feeding was not stochastic, in that adults tended to deliver consistent amounts of food to their chicks, and the pattern of feeding among even the worst-fed chicks was inconsistent with a need for large lipid stores based upon chance variation in food delivery.     

Foraging and provisioning strategies of black-browed albatrosses in relation to the requirements of the chick: natural variation and experimental study

We studied regulation of the food supply to black-browed albatrosschicks at Kerguelen by simultaneously recording the provisioningrates achieved by individual parents and satellite trackingforaging birds during two seasons, by studying changes in adultmass, and by experimentally manipulating the food requirementof chicks. In 1994 black-browed albatrosses had a higher breedingsuccess and produced heavier chicks that grew faster than in1995. They spent a similar time foraging but brought heaviermeals to their chick in 1994. Satellite tracking indicated thatin both seasons birds foraged in the same oceanographic area,250 km from the colony. Travel times to and from this area remainedunchanged, and similar times were spent foraging there. In ourstudy area, black-browed albatrosses appear to rely on a foodresource that is predictable in location, but whose availabilityvaries from one year to the next. The principal difference betweenyears of differing food availability was that birds broughtlarger meals when food was more abundant Costs of commutingto nearby feeding areas are probably low and allow the deliveryof energy to the chick at a high rate. A study carried out in1991 indicated that there was no relationship between the changesin adult mass from one trip to the next and the duration offoraging trips or feed mass, suggesting that adult body conditionhad little influence on the provisioning strategy of this species.An experiment whereby some chicks were deprived of food andothers received supplementary food showed that parents of underfedchicks spent the same time foraging and brought slightly largeramounts of food to their chicks as control parents. We suggestthat parents are searching for food to the maximum limits oftheir ability and thus cannot reduce further foraging time,but underfed chicks can swallow more food. Parents of overfedchicks delivered less food and increased the time between feeds.The reduction in provisioning frequency is interpreted as thecapacity of parents to modify their foraging behavior accordingto the nutritional status of the chick, but the reduction offeed mass is probably the result of chicks being close to theirmaximum assimilatory capacity. Comparison between Procellariiformspecies indicates extensive differences in the degree to whichparents can regulate the supply of food to their chicks. Neriticspecies like black-browed albatrosses appear to have a reducedability to regulate, and especially to increase provisioningrates, whereas more pelagic species may have a greater regulationability     

Provisioning and growth rates of nestling Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis: stochastic variation or regulation?

The pattern of chick feeding in the Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis at St Kilda, Scotland, was examined by repeated weighing of chicks throughout 14 consecutive days during the first half of the chick-rearing period in 1994. After correcting for metabolic weight losses, the sizes of positive mass increments between weighings were used to assess meal sizes and feeding frequency for each chick. Individual meals fed to chicks averaged 80.8 g (s.d. ± 21.0 g), or approximately 10% of adult mass. Each chick received 0 to 4 meals per day, with an average of 1.9 meals per chick per day, giving an average interval of around 25 h between meals delivered by each parent. The distribution of time intervals between feeds for each chick (whether single or double meals) followed a negative exponential function with a maximum value of 80 h. These results are not compatible with the idea that the purpose of large fat deposits in procellariiform chicks is to guarantee survival over long intervals between feeds. Over 14 days, the chicks' mean daily food requirements for zero-growth increased from 98 g to 160 g. This corresponded with an increase in feeding frequency but not meal size. Chicks with lower scores for body condition after feeding by both parents received more meals during the subsequent 16 h and had shorter intervals to the next feed, indicating that adults regulated feeding frequency in accordance with chick condition at the previous feed. This does not agree with the hypothesis that lipid accumulation by nestling Procellariiformes is a response to stochastic variation in food delivery associated with an absence of regulation. In view of the diversity of growth and feeding patterns present among the Procellariiformes, it is possible that lipid accumulation in this group does not have a unitary explanation.     

Raising young reduces body condition and fat stores in black-legged kittiwakes

We conducted a manipulative experiment to investigate how raising chicks affects the body condition (body mass scaled by body size) and body composition (percent fat vs. lean mass) of black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla). For 4 consecutive years (1991–1994) we removed eggs from randomly selected nests and then compared adults raising chicks with adults that had their eggs removed. At the end of the chick-rearing period, adults raising chicks were significantly lighter for their size than adults that had their eggs removed. Adults raising chicks also had a significantly lower percent body fat (by 28%) than adults from manipulated nests. The difference in percent body fat between the two groups was apparent at all levels of condition, suggesting that adults that are raising chicks apportion their reserves differently than adults that are working only to meet their own metabolic needs. End-of-season body condition of adults from manipulated and unmanipulated nests varied significantly among 5 years of study, and appeared to reflect differences in local foraging conditions. In all years, females were in worse condition than males at the end of the breeding season. This sex-specific condition difference did not, however, appear to indicate a greater short-term reproductive cost among females. Females were lighter for their size than males in both the manipulated and unmanipulated groups. Our results suggest that adult kittiwakes compromise their body condition and body composition during chick rearing to increase the likelihood of successfully fledging young, even though such adjustments may decrease their own post-reproductive survival probabilities. Prior to estimating the body composition of the experimental birds, we evaluated the usefulness of several noninvasive techniques for predicting fat mass in kittiwakes. We used cross-validation techniques to compare multiple regression models that included total body electrical conductivity (TOBEC), total body water (TBW), and morphometric measurements as independent variables. The most parsimonious model for predicting fat mass was based on TOBEC and mass measurements. TBW and morphometrics were of little utility in predicting fat mass in kittiwakes. Previous studies that have evaluated the usefulness of TOBEC as a predictor of fat mass have shown mixed results. We suggest that the size of the experimental subject relative to the size of the TOBEC measurement chamber may affect the accuracy of this technique. Received: 30 November 1998 / Accepted: 29 April 1999     

Lipid reserves,fasting capability and the evolution of nestling obesity in procellariiform seabirds

Several alternative explanations have been proposed to account for the evolution of nestling obesity in a variety of avian groups. These predict quite different patterns of fat accumulation, storage and use by chicks of different ages. Yet surprisingly few studies have measured changes in body composition during chick development. We tested the applicability of these hypotheses for fulmars, Fulmarus glacialis, by direct measurement of changes in water, lipid and lean dry mass in growing chicks. Lipid and lean dry mass increased until ca. 70% of the way through chick rearing, but then levelled off. Total body water also increased until the same stage, but gradually declined thereafter, and it was this change rather than fat metabolism that resulted in mass recession. The observed pattern of a continued increase in stored lipid, and most importantly, its maintenance all the way through the mass-recession phase until chicks reach fledging, is incompatible with many of the proposed hypotheses. We suggest that the most likely ultimate explanation for large fat deposits is to fuel chicks during the initial critical period away from the nest site while they learn to forage     

Nestling feeding strategy of the British storm-petrel Hydrobates pelagicus in a Mediterranean colony

The pattern of chick feeding of the British storm-petrel Hydrobates pelagicus in a Mediterranean colony was examined by weighing chicks at 24-h intervals on different days during the nestling period. In order to calibrate daily mass increments (NET) against number of feedings, daily mass changes of chicks were regressed upon the sum of positive mass increments recorded overnight (SUM) during four nights. The average meal size delivered to chicks per night by one parent was 3.5 ß 1.3 g or 12% of adult weight. This was insufficient for sustaining constant chick mass during a day. On average 85% of chicks were fed each night, and the mean interval between feeds was 1.2 ß 0.5 nights. Nightly feeding frequencies differed among days, but this night-to-night variation was not related to meteorological conditions. Both food requirements necessary for chick body maintenance (zero-growth) and meal size were relatively constant for ages up to 59 days. However, feeding frequency decreased throughout the fledging period, accounting for agespecific variation in growth rates until fledging. Food requirement and feeding patterns at Benidorm were different from North Atlantic colonies. None the less, growth patterns were almost identical, suggesting adjustment to maintain chick body mass at a determined level, as food delivery to nestling appears to be regulated to chicks'nutritional requirements.     

The effect of body condition on the timing and success of breeding in Little Penguins Eudyptula minor

We studied the effect of parental body condition on the breeding biology of Little Penguins Eudyptula minor . Daily attendance patterns and body mass were recorded using an Automated Penguin Monitoring System, which collected arrival and departure masses for approximately 200 breeding birds over the 2000 and 2001 breeding seasons. Breeding success varied between the two years; 2000 was a year of average breeding success (fledging 1.07 chicks per pair), and 2001 a year of poor breeding success (fledging 0.53 chicks per pair). In both years, adult body condition (body mass divided by flipper length) increased significantly prior to laying. The laying period began over a month later in 2000 than in 2001, and birds in 2000 exhibited significantly better body condition at laying. However, the mean laying dates in 2000 were less variable than in the 2001 breeding season. Body condition appeared to influence both the time of breeding and breeding synchrony in Little Penguins. Breeding success was correlated with adult body condition at incubation in 2000 but not in 2001, indicating that success was not solely influenced by adult body condition at incubation.     

Crop size as an index of chick provisioning in the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus

After being fed by their parents, Greater Flamingo chicks store food in their crops, which protrude outwards. We allocated the crop profiles of chicks to four categories to assess the relationship between body mass and crop profile variation, and so determine whether crop size can be used as an accurate index of the amount of food ingested, and to determine the timing and frequency of provisioning. We registered changes in body mass and crop fullness in eight chicks captured with turgid crops and kept in captivity until constant mass was achieved. The meal mass ingested by the chicks during each parental feeding was around 18% of net chick mass and varied greatly with crop profile. Mean transition times between the four crop profile categories ranged from 6 to 14 h. Between 1998 and 2009, 34% of chicks caught for ringing in a breeding colony had empty crops. From crop profiles recorded during the handling of chicks, it was estimated that approximately one‐third of the chicks were fed in the evening and another third during the night. Our results have implications for the estimation of body condition indexes because body mass should be free of the influence of the mass of the food in the crop.     

Composition of chick meals from one of the main little auk (Alle alle) breeding colonies in Northwest Greenland

During the last decade, increasing information on little auk (Alle alle) biology, ecology and behaviour has been reported. However, only a few of these studies have focused on the breeding population in the Avanersuaq (Thule) district of Northwest Greenland, where 80 % of the global little auk population is estimated to breed. This study reports on the chick diet composition from one of the largest colonies, the Paakitsoq colony, located on the south-eastern margin of the North Water (NOW) Polynya. Results revealed the highest proportion of Calanus hyperboreus, a large lipid-rich copepod, in chick diet reported for any little auk colony. Results confirmed that the cold, highly productive waters of the NOW Polynya are favourable foraging grounds for the little auks during the breeding season. Species diversity within and between the chick meals was low, which probably reflects a high availability of a few preferred prey species. Individual chick meals were generally low in number of prey items and total energy content compared with other published results. This may be explained by a higher feeding frequency or by the samples being collected late in the breeding period (during late chick rearing), when chicks have a reduced growth rate and may require less energy than at earlier developmental stages.     

Relationships between Body Fat Distribution,Epicardial Fat and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Obese Patients with and without Metabolic Syndrome

Background

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and metabolic syndrome, both closely related to obesity, often coexist in affected individuals; however, body mass index is not an accurate indicator of body fat and thus is not a good predictor of OSA and other comorbidities. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the occurrence of OSA could be associated with an altered body fat distribution and a more evident cardio metabolic risk independently from obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Methods and Results

171 consecutive patients (58 men and 113 women) were included in the study and underwent overnight polysomnography. Anthropometric data, blood pressure, lipid profile, glycaemic parameters were recorded. Body composition by DXA, two-dimensional echocardiography and carotid intima/media thickness measurement were performed. 67 patients (39.2%) had no OSA and 104 (60.8%) had OSA. The percentage of patients with metabolic syndrome was significantly higher among OSA patients (65.4%) that were older, heavier and showed a bigger and fatter heart compared to the control group. Upper body fat deposition index , the ratio between upper body fat (head, arms and trunk fat in kilograms) and lower body fat (legs fat in kilograms), was significantly increased in the OSA patients and significantly related to epicardial fat thickness. In patients with metabolic syndrome, multivariate regression analyses showed that upper body fat deposition index and epicardial fat showed the best association with OSA.

Conclusion

The occurrence of OSA in obese people is more closely related to cardiac adiposity and to abnormal fat distribution rather than to the absolute amount of adipose tissue. In patients with metabolic syndrome the severity of OSA is associated with increase in left ventricular mass and carotid intima/media thickness.     

Mortality of Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa and Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus chicks in wet grasslands: influence of predation and agriculture

Grassland-breeding shorebirds show widespread declines due to a reduction in breeding productivity following agricultural intensification. However, there is also concern that increasing predation causes further declines or precludes population recovery. Predation may itself be enhanced by agriculture through changes in habitat or food availability, but little is known about the mortality of nidifugous shorebird chicks. We studied mortality by radio-tagging 662 chicks of Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa and Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus in 15 farmland sites in the Netherlands. Tagging and handling had no effect on the condition and survival of godwit chicks, but body condition was reduced by 6–11% in lapwing chicks wearing a tag for longer than 3 days. Fledging success was 0–24% in both species. Mortality was highest in young chicks but remained considerable until after fledging. Losses were traced mostly to predators (70–85%; 15 species, predominantly birds), but at least 5–10% were due to mowing, and 10–20% were due to other causes, including entrapment in ditches and starvation. Chicks staying in fields that were cut before the next radio check were found much more often as mowing victims and somewhat more often as prey remains than chicks in fields not cut, indicating that predation includes a limited amount of scavenging. The predation hazard for godwit chicks was higher in recently cut or grazed fields than in the tall, uncut grasslands they preferred, while that for lapwing chicks was lowest in grazed fields. In godwit chicks, poor body condition increased mortality risk, not only from starvation but also from other causes. Predation on godwit chicks was thus enhanced by intensive farming through a decline in the availability of cover, augmented by a reduced body condition, possibly due to food availability problems. Changes in farming practice may therefore help reduce predation pressure, though the observed interactions explained only part of the high predation rate in godwits and none in lapwings. Predator abundance has increased in Dutch wet grassland regions, and chick predation has become a factor that should be considered in planning the type and location of conservation measures.     

Flexibility in the bimodal foraging strategy of a high Arctic alcid, the little auk Alle alle

A bimodal foraging strategy has previously been described for procellariiform seabird species and is thought to have evolved in response to local resource availability being too low for adult birds to meet chick requirements and simultaneously maintain their own body condition. Here, we examine the dual foraging trip pattern of an alcid, the little auk Alle alle , at five colonies with contrasting oceanographic conditions. In spite of large variation in local conditions, little auks at all colonies showed the same general pattern of alternating a single long-trip with several consecutive short-trips. However, we found that the foraging pattern was flexible and could be adjusted at three levels: (1) the length of long-trips, (2) the frequency of short-trips, and (3) the total time spent foraging. Birds facing unfavorable conditions increased the duration of long-trips and reduced the number of short-trips. These adjustments resulted in reduced provisioning rates of chicks despite the fact that birds also increased the time allocated to foraging. Travel times during foraging trips were positively correlated to the total duration of the trip suggesting that differences in trip length among colonies were partly driven by variation in the distance to foraging areas. Most birds spent substantially more time traveling during long compared to short-trips, indicating that they accessed distant foraging areas during long-trips but remained close to the colony during short-trips. However, the difference in travel times was small at the site with the most favorable conditions suggesting that bimodal foraging in the little auk may be independent of the existence of high-quality areas at distance from the breeding ground.     

The effects of incubation temperature on the morphology and composition of Australian Brush-turkey (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Alectura lathami</Emphasis>) chicks

Environmental heterogeneity during embryonic development generates an important source of variation in offspring phenotypes and can influence the evolution of life histories. The effects of incubation temperature on offspring phenotypes in reptiles has been well documented but remains relatively unexplored in birds as their embryos typically develop over a narrow range of temperatures. Megapode birds (Order Galliformes; Family Megapodiidae) are unique in that their embryos tolerate and develop over a wide range of incubation temperatures, yet little is known of the effect that temperature has on hatchling morphology and composition. Australian Brush-turkey eggs collected on the day of laying were incubated in the laboratory under constant temperatures of 32, 34 and 36°C until hatching in order to determine the influence of temperature on hatchling mass, size and composition. The dry mass of the yolk-free body and residual yolk of hatchlings were temperature dependent, such that higher temperatures produced chicks of lesser yolk-free body mass and greater residual yolk mass than chicks incubated at lower temperatures. However the overall size (linear dimensions) and lipid, protein and ash content of chicks were independent of temperature.     

Differences in food delivered to chicks by males and females of little auks ( Alle alle ) on South Spitsbergen

Sex differences in the quality and quantity of food loads brought to little auk (Alle alle) chicks were investigated in a large colony in Hornsund (South Spitsbergen). Adults returning to the colony were caught in mist-nets and food loads were taken from their gular pouch. The sex of each bird was determined by means of molecular methods. Females brought significantly more food per single load than males in terms of wet weight (30% more on average), number of prey items (46%) and energy contents (39%). However, there was no difference between the sexes in the size of prey taken. Energy-rich Calanus glacialis, originating from cold Arctic waters, was the most frequent prey item and made up the majority of food loads brought by both males and females (75 and 72%, respectively). This indicates that both sexes forage mainly in Arctic waters. However, differences in the proportion of cold water Calanus species (C. glacialis and C. hyperboreus), warm water Calanus species (C. finmarchicus), as well as other taxa, between males and females may suggest different ways of exploiting the feeding area.     

Age-dependent changes of fat body stores and the regulation of fat body lipid synthesis and mobilisation by adipokinetic hormone in the last larval instar of the cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus

Data on the hormonal regulation of the formation and mobilisation of fat body stores are presented and discussed in relation to general parameters of last instar larval development such as growth, food intake, and moulting. Crickets feed voraciously during the first half of the last larval stage. With the onset of feeding, fat body lipid synthesis increases, leading to increasing lipid stores in the fat body with a maximum reached on day 5. Lipid (42% of fat body fresh mass) is the main constituent of the fat body stores, followed by protein (6%) and glycogen (2%). During the second half of the last larval stage, feeding activity dramatically decreases, the glycogen reserves are depleted but lipid and protein reserves in the fat body remain at a high level except for the last day of the last larval stage when lipid and protein in the fat body are also largely depleted. The process of moulting consumes almost three quarters of the caloric equivalents that were acquired during the last larval stage. Adipokinetic hormone (AKH) inhibits effectively the synthesis of lipids in the larval fat body. Furthermore, AKH stimulates lipid mobilisation by activating fat body triacylglycerol lipase (TGL) in last larval and adult crickets. Both effects of AKH are weaker in larvae than in adults. This is the first report on the age-dependent basal activity of TGL in larval and adult insects. In addition, for the first time, an activation of TGL by AKH in a larval insect is shown.     

The individual age at menopause — An appropriate indicator of postmenopausal body composition?

The interaction between age at menopause and postmenopausal body composition development was tested with in 178 Viennese women aged 47 to 68 years (x=55.4 yr). Postmenopausal body composition was described using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry by absolute fat and lean mass and bone mineral content of the whole body, the arms, legs, the trunk and the head. Upper and lower amount of body fat, the fat percentages of the individual body compartments and the fat distribution index were calculated. Postmenopausal body fat and lean soft tissue mass and postmenopausal bone mineral content were significantly associated with the age at menopause. Women whose menopause occurred late showed the highest amount of body fat (31.2+/−7.7kg) and lean body mass (41.2+/−4.4 kg) postmenopausally, while women with an early menopause exhibited the lowest amount of body fat (27.5+/−8.9kg) and lean body mass (38.4+/−5.4 kg) during the postreproductive phase of life (p<0.05). Women whose menopause occurred later than 51 had a significant higher postmenopausal bone mass (2.26+/−0.9kg versus 2.09+/−0.3 kg; p<0.05). A late menopause was associated with a significantly higher value in fat mass, lean body mass and in bone mineral content. Therefore age at menopause may be assumed as an indicator for body fat and bone mineral content during postmenopause and postmenopausal fat distribution patterns.     

Fledging success of little auks in the high Arctic: do provisioning rates and the quality of foraging grounds matter?

Long-lived birds often face a dilemma between self-maintenance and reproduction. In order to maximize fitness, some seabird parents alternate short trips to collect food for offspring with long trips for self-feeding (bimodal foraging strategy). In this study, we examined whether temporal and spatial variation in the quality of foraging grounds affect provisioning and fledging success of a long-lived, bimodal forager, the little auk (Alle alle), the most abundant seabird species in the Arctic ecosystem. We predicted that an increase in sea surface temperature (SST), with an associated decrease in the preferred Arctic zooplankton prey, would increase foraging trip durations, decrease chick provisioning rates and decrease chick fledging success. Chick provisioning and survival were observed during three consecutive years (2008–2010) at two colonies with variable foraging conditions in Spitsbergen: Isfjorden and Magdalenefjorden. We found that a change in SST (range 1.6–5.4 °C) did not influence trip durations or provisioning rates. SST was, however, negatively correlated with the number of prey items delivered to a chick. Furthermore, provisioning rates did not influence chick’s probability to fledge; instead, SST was also negatively correlated with fledging probability. This was likely related to the prey availability and quality in the little auk’s foraging grounds. Our findings suggest that predicted warmer climate in the Arctic will negatively influence the ability of parents to provide their chicks, and consequently, the fledging prospects of little auk chicks.