Effects of Air and Water Temperatures on Resting Metabolism of Auklets and Other Diving Birds

Abstract

For small aquatic endotherms, heat loss while floating on water can be a dominant energy cost, and requires accurate estimation in energetics models for different species. We measured resting metabolic rate (RMR) in air and on water for a small diving bird, the Cassin's auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus), and compared these results to published data for other diving birds of diverse taxa and sizes. For 8 Cassin's auklets (~165 g), the lower critical temperature was higher on water (21 °C) than in air (16 °C). Lowest values of RMR (W kg⁻¹) averaged 19% higher on water (12.14 ± 3.14 SD) than in air (10.22 ± 1.43). At lower temperatures, RMR averaged 25% higher on water than in air, increasing with similar slope. RMR was higher on water than in air for alcids, cormorants, and small penguins but not for diving ducks, which appear exceptionally resistant to heat loss in water. Changes in RMR (W) with body mass either in air or on water were mostly linear over the 5- to 20-fold body mass ranges of alcids, diving ducks, and penguins, while cormorants showed no relationship of RMR with mass. The often large energetic effects of time spent floating on water can differ substantially among major taxa of diving birds, so that relevant estimates are critical to understanding their patterns of daily energy use.