Biology Dept. features talk on fatty acid analysis and black-legged kittiwakes - Spring 2010

Friday, March 19, 3:30-4:45 p.m.
CPISB, Room 120

The Biology Department is pleased to have as our speaker Naomi Bargmann who will present: Using fatty acid analysis to assess technique sensitivity and  timelines of integration in the black-legged kittiwake.

The use of fatty acids (FAs) as biochemical markers of marine diets is quickly becoming a standard analytical technique to assess diets non-lethally in both marine mammals and seabirds.

Previous studies using fatty acid analysis have depended on entirely captive or entirely wild populations to test their hypotheses. This study was able to use adult birds from a supplementally fed, free-living colony of black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) to test whether adipose tissue and serum FAs could be used to infer their known diets in a background of natural foraging and to use captive chicks from the same colony to test whether serum and adipose tissue FAs can be used to infer their known diets and the period of time that FAs from the diet are incorporated into chick serum and adipose tissue.

In the free-living adult birds, adipose tissue and serum signatures were found to differ significantly between those fed high lipid diets, those fed low lipid diets and those in a control group. The FA profiles of the captive chicks showed significant differences that were consistent with the changes made to their diets and that represented multiple time frames of dietary assimilation.

These findings further demonstrate the value of FA analysis as a technique for non-lethal dietary analysis and its potential for further development and application.

Parking is free on Fridays at UAA. Refreshments provided. For more information, please call Elizabeth Winfree at (907) 786-4780.