UC Santa Cruz UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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UC Santa Cruz UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Ontogeny Of Energetic Demand And Diving Ability In The Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra Lutris Nereis) And Implications On Diving And Foraging Behavior Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1np7r5x9 Author Thometz, Nicole Marie Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ ONTOGENY OF ENERGETIC DEMAND AND DIVING ABILITY IN THE SOUTHERN SEA OTTER (ENHYDRA LUTRIS NEREIS) AND IMPLICATIONS ON DIVING AND FORAGING BEHAVIOR A dissertation in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY by Nicole Marie Thometz June 2014 The Dissertation of Nicole M. Thometz is approved: _________________________________ Professor Terrie M. Williams, Chair _________________________________ Professor James A. Estes _________________________________ Professor Peter T. Raimondi _________________________________ Professor Paul J. Ponganis, M.D. _________________________________ Tyrus Miller Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright © by Nicole M. Thometz 2014 Table of Contents List of Figures vi List of Tables x Abstract xiii Acknowledgements xv 1 Introduction 1 2 Energetic Demands of Immature Sea Otters from Birth to Weaning: Implications for maternal costs, reproductive behavior, and population level trends 6 Abstract . 6 Introduction . 7 Methods . 10 Experimental Design . 10 Laboratory Studies . 11 Animals . 11 Respirometry and Metabolic Demand . 12 Field Studies . 13 Animals . 13 Activity Budgets . 14 Analyses . 16 Field Metabolic Rates . 16 Statistical Analyses . 17 Results . 18 Metabolic Rates . 18 Activity Budgets . 21 iii Energetic Demands and Field Metabolic Rates . 21 Discussion . 22 Energetic Demands of Immature Sea Otters . 22 Energetic Consequences for Adult Females . 24 Ecological Implications on Mother and Offspring . 26 Current Implications for Southern Sea Otters . 28 Conclusions . 29 Tables . 30 Figures . 37 3 Ontogeny of Oxygen Storage Capacity and Diving Ability in the Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis): The costs and benefits of large lungs 42 Abstract . 42 Introduction . 43 Methods . 46 Hematology . 46 Plasma and Blood Volume . 47 Myoglobin . 48 Muscle Mass . 49 Lung Mass and Lung Volume. 49 Total Oxygen Storage Capacity . 50 Calculated Aerobic Dive Limit (cADL) . 51 Statistical Analyses . 51 Results . 52 Hematology . 52 Plasma and Blood Volume . 53 Myoglobin . 54 Muscle Mass . 54 Lung Mass and Lung Volume . 55 Total Oxygen Storage Capacity and cADL . 56 Discussion . 57 Development of Oxygen Stores . 58 Lung Volume and Buoyancy . 62 Implications on Calculated Aerobic Dive Limit . 64 Conclusions . 66 Tables . 67 Figures . 73 iv 4 Diving and Foraging Behavior of Sub-Adult and Adult Sea Otters in Central California 79 Abstract . 79 Introduction . 80 Methods . 84 Study Animals and TDR Implantation . 84 TDR Analyses . 86 Statistical Analyses . 88 Results . 89 Dive Attributes – Analyses. 90 Dive Attributes – Overall Patterns. 91 Distribution of Dive Depths . 93 Distribution of Dive Durations . 93 Activity Budgets . 94 Discussion . 95 The Effects of Reproductive Stage on Foraging Behavior . 96 Development of Diving Ability and Foraging Behavior . 98 Demographic Consequences . 99 Conclusions . 101 Tables . 103 Figures . 106 5 Synthesis 111 Physiologically Challenging Life Stages . 111 What Does This Mean for Population Recovery? . 112 Future Directions . 113 Bibliography 115 v List of Figures 2.1 Metabolic rate in relation to age for southern sea otters. Values for resting (A), moderately active (B), and highly active (C) sea otters are compared. Each point represents results from a single respirometry trial, data points for all study animals (n = 7) are included, with in-air (open squares) and in-water (filled circles) measurements identified. Lines represent the results of piecewise linear regression analyses with breakpoints at the average age of weaning (~180 days) representing the point at which metabolic rates begin to plateau at approximately adult levels. Regressions and statistics are presented in the Results. 37 2.2 Daily activity budgets for wild sea otters across developmental stages from pup to adult. Data for dependent (n = 12) and juvenile (n = 14) sea otters in this study are compared to data for *adult male sea otters from Yeates et al. (2007). Daily activity budgets were calculated as the proportion of all records associated with six behavioral categories: resting, nursing, foraging, grooming, swimming,.