Effects of foraging mode and season on the energetics of the Marine Iguana, Amblyrhynchus cristatus |
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Authors: | J Drent W D Van Marken Lichtenbelt & M Wikelski |
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Institution: | Zoological Laboratory, University of Groningen, PO Box 14, 9750 AA Haren, the Netherlands,,;Human Biology, University of Maastricht, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, the Netherlands,,;Department of Ecology, Ethology and Evolution, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL 61820, USA, and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, APO 2072, Balboa, Panama |
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Abstract: | 1. Marine Iguanas ( Amblyrhynchus cristatus ) inhabiting the rocky shores of the Galápagos Islands apply two foraging strategies, intertidal and subtidal foraging, in a seasonal climate. Effects of both foraging strategy and seasonality on the daily energy expenditure (DEE) were measured using doubly labelled water. 2. Difference in foraging mode did not result in significant differences in DEE. 3. On Santa Fé the DEE in the warm season was significantly higher than in the cool season (67·8 ± 21·8 kJ kg–0·8 day–1 vs 38·0 kJ kg–0·8 day–1). This difference can be explained by body temperature. A model estimate of the body temperature was used to predict monthly DEE figures, giving a year round budget. On average a 1-kg iguana would need only 47 kJ day–1, or 17 mJ year –1. This is lower than previous estimates in which body temperatures were not taken into account. 4. The water flux of the Marine Iguana increases with increasing foraging time. The linear rise per minute foraging is roughly two times as high for subtidally foraging animals as for intertidal foragers. |
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Keywords: | Daily energy expenditure doubly labelled water Galápagos temperature water flux |
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