Abstract
MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 496:1-17 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10691 Theme Section: Tracking fitness in marine vertebrates INTRODUCTION: REVIEW Tracking fitness in marine vertebrates: current knowledge and opportunities for future research Glenn T. Crossin1,*, Steven J. Cooke2, Jeremy A. Goldbogen3, Richard A. Phillips4 1Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada 2Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology and Institute of Environmental Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada 3Department of Biology, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California 93950, USA 4British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB3 0ET, UK *Corresponding author: gtc@dal.ca ABSTRACT: For more than 60 yr, electronic tags (including acoustic transmitters, archival loggers, and satellite tags) have been applied to free-ranging marine vertebrates to track their behaviour and characterize their spatial ecology. However, only recently have researchers begun using electronic tags to elucidate the processes that relate directly to fitness, i.e. the ability of organisms to survive and reproduce. We briefly review the history of tracking studies focused on marine vertebrates and then provide a general overview of studies that have used tracking to address fitness-related questions. Although many studies have used at-sea movement and activity data to better understand feeding ecology, physiology, and energetics, there is growing interest in the coupling of electronic tracking techniques with other disciplines to resolve the mechanisms underlying individual fitness, or more precisely the proxies thereof (survival, timing of reproduction, foraging success, etc.). We categorized studies into 4 general fitness-related areas: (1) foraging dynamics, energetics, and growth; (2) migration and other non-breeding season activities; (3) survival; and (4) reproduction. Despite recent advances in tracking technologies, which include multi-sensor loggers, tri-axial accelerometers, and miniaturized geopositioning systems, etc., very few studies on wild marine vertebrates truly measure individual fitness or proxies thereof. There is thus a need to design experimental, multi-disciplinary, and longitudinal studies that use genetics, individual-based modeling, and other techniques in an effort to resolve the mechanisms responsible for individual variation in fitness in marine vertebrates. KEY WORDS: Electronic tracking · Telemetry · Biologging · Electronic sensors · Behaviour · Life history · Reproduction · Survival · Mortality · Migration · Non-breeding Full text in pdf format NextCite this article as: Crossin GT, Cooke SJ, Goldbogen JA, Phillips RA (2014) Tracking fitness in marine vertebrates: current knowledge and opportunities for future research. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 496:1-17. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10691 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 496. Online publication date: January 27, 2014 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2014 Inter-Research.
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