1,254 research outputs found
Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution
© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Fortune, S. M. E., Ferguson, S. H., Trites, A. W., Hudson, J. M., & Baumgartner, M. F. Bowhead whales use two foraging strategies in response to fine-scale differences in zooplankton vertical distribution. Scientific Reports, 10(1), (2020): 20249, doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76071-9.As zooplanktivorous predators, bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) must routinely locate patches of prey that are energy-rich enough to meet their metabolic needs. However, little is known about how the quality and quantity of prey might influence their feeding behaviours. We addressed this question using a new approach that included: (1) multi-scale biologging and unmanned aerial system observations of bowhead whales in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut (Canada), and (2) an optical plankton counter (OPC) and net collections to identify and enumerate copepod prey species through the water column. The OPC data revealed two prey layers comprised almost exclusively of lipid-rich calanoid copepods. The deep layer contained fewer, but larger, particles (10% greater overall biomass) than the shallow prey layer. Dive data indicated that the whales conducted long deep Square-shaped dives (80% of dives; averaging depth of 260.4 m) and short shallow Square-shaped dives (16%; averaging depth of 22.5 m) to feed. The whales tended to dive proportionally more to the greater biomass of zooplankton that occurred at depth. Combining behavioural recordings with prey sampling showed a more complex feeding ecology than previously understood, and provides a means to evaluate the energetic balance of individuals under current environmental conditions.Funding was awarded to S.H.F and provided by: Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Emerging Fisheries), World Wildlife Fund Canada (Arctic Species Conservation Fund), Nunavut Wildlife Research Trust Fund, Nunavut General Monitoring Program, Ocean Tracking Network and ArcticNet Centre of Excellence. Personal support was awarded to S.M.E.F and provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Canadian Graduate Scholarship, Northern Scientific Training Program (Canadian Polar Commission), The Molson Foundation and the W.Garfield Weston Foundation
Year-round foraging across large spatial scales suggest that bowhead whales have the potential to adapt to climate change
The ecological impact of environmental changes at high latitudes (e.g., increasing temperature, and decreased sea ice cover) on low-trophic species, such as bowhead whales, are poorly understood. Key to understanding the vulnerability of zooplanktivorous predators to climatic shifts in prey is knowing whether they can make behavioural or distributional adjustments to maintain sufficient prey acquisition rates. However, little is known about how foraging behaviour and associated environmental conditions fluctuate over space and time. We collected long-term movement (average satellite transmission days were 397 (± 204 SD) in 2012 and 484 (± 245 SD) in 2013) and dive behaviour data for 25 bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) equipped with time-depth telemetry tags, and used hierarchical switching-state-space models to quantify their movements and behaviours (resident and transit). We examined trends in inferred two-dimensional foraging behaviours based on dive shape of Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whales in relation to season and sea ice, as well as animal sex and age via size. We found no differences with regards to whale sex and size, but we did find evidence that subsurface foraging occurs year-round, with peak foraging occurring in fall (7.3 hrs d-1 ± 5.70 SD; October) and reduced feeding during spring (2.7 hrs d-1 ± 2.55 SD; May). Although sea ice cover is lowest during summer foraging, whales selected areas with 65% (± 36.1 SD) sea ice cover. During winter, bowheads occurred in areas with 90% (± 15.5 SD) ice cover, providing some open water for breathing. The depth of probable foraging varied across seasons with animals conducting epipelagic foraging dives (< 200 m) during spring and summer, and deeper mesopelagic dives (> 400 m) during fall and winter that approached the sea bottom, following the seasonal vertical migration of lipid-rich zooplankton. Our findings suggest that, compared to related species (e.g., right whales), bowheads forage at relatively low rates and over a large geographic area throughout the year. This suggests that bowhead whales have the potential to adjust their behaviours (e.g., increased time allocated to feeding) and shift their distributions (e.g., occupy higher latitude foraging grounds) to adapt to climate-change induced environmental conditions. However, the extent to which energetic consumption may vary seasonally is yet to be determined
Quantum Magnetization Plateau in Spin-1 Triangular-Lattice Antiferromagnet BaNiSbO
We report the results of magnetization and specific heat measurements on
BaNiSbO, which is a quasi-two-dimensional spin-1 triangular-lattice
antiferromagnet. We observed a nonclassical magnetization plateau at one-third
of the saturation magnetization that is driven by spin frustration and quantum
fluctuation. Exact diagonalization for a 21-site rhombic cluster was performed
to analyze the magnetization process. Experimental and calculated results agree
well.Comment: published in Journal of the Physical Society of Japan 80 (2011)
09370
Charge Order with Structural Distortion in Organic Conductors: Comparison between \theta-(ET)2RbZn(SCN)4 and \alpha-(ET)2I3
Charge ordering with structural distortion in quasi-two-dimensional organic
conductors \theta-(ET)2RbZn(SCN)4 (ET=BEDT-TTF) and \alpha-(ET)2I3 is
investigated theoretically. By using the Hartree-Fock approximation for an
extended Hubbard model which includes both on-site and intersite Coulomb
interactions together with Peierls-type electron-lattice couplings, we examine
the role of lattice degrees of freedom on charge order. It is found that the
experimentally observed, horizontal charge order is stabilized by lattice
distortion in both compounds. In particular, the lattice effect is crucial to
the realization of the charge order in \theta-(ET)2RbZn(SCN)4, while the
peculiar band structure whose symmetry is lower than that of
\theta-(ET)2RbZn(SCN)4 in the metallic phase is also an important factor in
\alpha-(ET)2I3 together with the lattice distortion. For \alpha-(ET)2I3, we
obtain a phase transition from a charge-disproportionated metallic phase to the
horizontal charge order with lattice modulations, which is consistent with the
latest X-ray experimental result.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol. 77 (2008)
No.
Theoretical study of the two-proton halo candidate Ne including contributions from resonant continuum and pairing correlations
With the relativistic Coulomb wave function boundary condition, the energies,
widths and wave functions of the single proton resonant orbitals for Ne
are studied by the analytical continuation of the coupling constant (ACCC)
approach within the framework of the relativistic mean field (RMF) theory.
Pairing correlations and contributions from the single-particle resonant
orbitals in the continuum are taken into consideration by the resonant
Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) approach, in which constant pairing strength is
used. It can be seen that the fully self-consistent calculations with NL3 and
NLSH effective interactions mostly agree with the latest experimental
measurements, such as binding energies, matter radii, charge radii and
densities. The energy of 2s orbital is slightly higher than that
of orbital, and the occupation probability of the
2s orbital is about 20%, which are in accordance with the
shell model calculation and three-body model estimation
High-Order Coupled Cluster Method Study of Frustrated and Unfrustrated Quantum Magnets in External Magnetic Fields
We apply the coupled cluster method (CCM) in order to study the ground-state
properties of the (unfrustrated) square-lattice and (frustrated)
triangular-lattice spin-half Heisenberg antiferromagnets in the presence of
external magnetic fields. Here we determine and solve the basic CCM equations
by using the localised approximation scheme commonly referred to as the
`LSUB' approximation scheme and we carry out high-order calculations by
using intensive computational methods. We calculate the ground-state energy,
the uniform susceptibility, the total (lattice) magnetisation and the local
(sublattice) magnetisations as a function of the magnetic field strength. Our
results for the lattice magnetisation of the square-lattice case compare well
to those results of QMC for all values of the applied external magnetic field.
We find a value for magnetic susceptibility of for the
square-lattice antiferromagnet, which is also in agreement with the results of
other approximate methods (e.g., via QMC). Our estimate for the
range of the extent of the () magnetisation plateau for the
triangular-lattice antiferromagnet is , which is in good
agreement with results of spin-wave theory () and
exact diagonalisations (). The CCM value for the
in-plane magnetic susceptibility per site is , which is below the
result of the spin-wave theory (evaluated to order 1/S) of .Comment: 30 pages, 13 figures, 1 Tabl
Alpha-decay branching ratios of near-threshold states in 19Ne and the astrophysical rate of 15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne
The 15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne reaction is one of two routes for breakout from the
hot CNO cycles into the rp process in accreting neutron stars. Its
astrophysical rate depends critically on the decay properties of excited states
in 19Ne lying just above the 15O + alpha threshold. We have measured the
alpha-decay branching ratios for these states using the p(21Ne,t)19Ne reaction
at 43 MeV/u. Combining our measurements with previous determinations of the
radiative widths of these states, we conclude that no significant breakout from
the hot CNO cycle into the rp process in novae is possible via
15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne, assuming current models accurately represent their
temperature and density conditions
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