High spatial fidelity among foraging trips of Masked Boobies from Pedro Cays, Jamaica

PLoS One. 2020 Apr 27;15(4):e0231654. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231654. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

In marine environments, tropical and subtropical habitats are considered to be inherently less productive than more temperate systems. As such, foraging site fidelity among vertebrate predators occupying low-latitude marine systems is generally low as a response to an increased unpredictability of resources. We investigated the foraging movements of Masked Boobies breeding on Middle Cay, Jamaica using GPS loggers to examine if the presence of a nearby bathymetric feature influenced foraging site fidelity in a tropical system, the Caribbean Sea. According to the movements of tracked individuals, this population of boobies shows a high degree of spatial fidelity in foraging site selection, concentrated on the northern edge of Pedro Bank. We suggest this feature as an important location for marine conservation in the region and demonstrate its utility to foraging boobies via habitat modeling using a maximum entropy approach of relevant habitat variables. Finally, we place this study into the global context of Masked Booby foraging by examining the published literature of relevant tracking studies for population-level similarity in foraging metrics. According to hierarchical clustering of foraging effort, Masked Boobies demonstrate a density-dependent response to foraging effort regardless of colony origin or oceanic basin consistent with the principles of Ashmole's Halo.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Birds / physiology*
  • Consummatory Behavior*
  • Ecosystem
  • Endangered Species
  • Jamaica
  • Movement
  • Spatial Behavior*

Grants and funding

Funding and support for data collection, field logistics, and analysis was provided by The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and the South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Yardie Environmental Conservationists Limited currently provided support in the form of salary for author LM but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.