Abstract. Population-level estimates of species' distributions can reveal fundamental ecological processes and facilitate conservation. However, these may be difficult to obtain for mobile species, especially colonial central-place foragers (CCPFs; e.g., bats, corvids, social insects), because it is often impractical to determine the provenance of individuals observed beyond breeding sites. Moreover, some CCPFs, especially in the marine realm (e.g., pinnipeds, turtles, and seabirds) are difficult to observe because they range tens to ten thousands of kilometers from their colonies. It is hypothesized that the distribution of CCPFs depends largely on habitat availability and intraspecific competition. Modeling these effects may therefore allow distributions to be estimated from samples of individual spatial usage. Such data can be obtained for an increasing number of species using tracking technology. However, techniques for estimating population-level distributions using the telemetry data are poorly developed. This is of concern because many marine CCPFs, such as seabirds, are threatened by anthropogenic activities. Here, we aim to estimate the distribution at sea of four seabird species, foraging from approximately 5,500 breeding sites in Britain and Ireland. To do so, we GPS-tracked a sample of 230 European Shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis, 464 Black-legged Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla, 178 Common Murres Uria aalge, and 281 Razorbills Alca torda from 13, 20, 12, and 14 colonies, respectively. Using Poisson point process habitat use models, we show that distribution at sea is dependent on (1) density-dependent competition among sympatric conspecifics (all species) and parapatric conspecifics (Kittiwakes and Murres); (2) habitat accessibility and coastal geometry, such that birds travel further from colonies with limited access to the sea; and (3) regional habitat availability. Using these models, we predict space use by birds from unobserved colonies and thereby map the distribution at sea of each species at both the colony and regional level. Space use by all four species' British breeding populations is concentrated in the coastal waters of Scotland, highlighting the need for robust conservation measures in this area. The techniques we present are applicable to any CCPF.
Abstract1. To prevent further global declines in biodiversity, identifying and understanding key habitats is crucial for successful conservation strategies. For example, globally, seabird populations are under threat and animal movement data can identify key at-sea areas and provide valuable information on the state of marine ecosystems. To date, in order to locate these areas, studies have used global positioning system (GPS) to record position and are sometimes combined with time-depth recorder (TDR) devices to identify diving activity associated with foraging, a crucial aspect of at-sea behaviour. However, the use of additional devices such as TDRs can be expensive, logistically difficult and may adversely affect the animal. Alternatively, behaviours may be resolved from measurements derived from the movement data alone. However, this behavioural analysis frequently lacks validation data for locations predicted as foraging (or other behaviours).2. Here, we address these issues using a combined GPS and TDR dataset from 108 individuals by training deep learning models to predict diving in European shags, common guillemots and razorbills. We validate our predictions using withheld data, producing quantitative assessment of predictive accuracy. The variables used to train these models are those recorded solely by the GPS device: variation in longitude and latitude, altitude and coverage ratio (proportion of possible fixes acquired within a set window of time).3. Different combinations of these variables were used to explore the qualities of different models, with the optimum models for all species predicting non-diving and diving behaviour correctly over 94% and 80% of the time, respectively. We also demonstrate the superior predictive ability of these supervised deep learning models over other commonly used behavioural prediction methods such as hidden Markov models.4. Mapping these predictions provides useful insights into the foraging activity of a range of seabird species, highlighting important at sea locations. These models have the potential to be used to analyse historic GPS datasets and further our understanding of how environmental changes have affected these seabirds over time. K E Y W O R D Scommon guillemot, European shag, foraging, machine learning, prediction, razorbill, time-depth recorder This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The recent increase in data accuracy from high resolution accelerometers offers substantial potential for improved understanding and prediction of animal movements. However, current approaches used for analysing these multivariable datasets typically require existing knowledge of the behaviors of the animals to inform the behavioral classification process. These methods are thus not well‐suited for the many cases where limited knowledge of the different behaviors performed exist. Here, we introduce the use of an unsupervised learning algorithm. To illustrate the method's capability we analyse data collected using a combination of GPS and Accelerometers on two seabird species: razorbills (Alca torda) and common guillemots (Uria aalge). We applied the unsupervised learning algorithm Expectation Maximization to characterize latent behavioral states both above and below water at both individual and group level. The application of this flexible approach yielded significant new insights into the foraging strategies of the two study species, both above and below the surface of the water. In addition to general behavioral modes such as flying, floating, as well as descending and ascending phases within the water column, this approach allowed an exploration of previously unstudied and important behaviors such as searching and prey chasing/capture events. We propose that this unsupervised learning approach provides an ideal tool for the systematic analysis of such complex multivariable movement data that are increasingly being obtained with accelerometer tags across species. In particular, we recommend its application in cases where we have limited current knowledge of the behaviors performed and existing supervised learning approaches may have limited utility.
Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. conditions. We use mixed models to consider how SST, the potential energy anomaly 47 (indicating density stratification strength) and the timing of seasonal stratification influence 48 kittiwake productivity. Across all colonies, higher breeding success was associated with 49 weaker stratification before breeding and lower SSTs during the breeding season. Eight 50 colonies with sufficient data were modelled individually: higher productivity was associated 51 with later stratification at three colonies, weaker stratification at two, and lower SSTs at one, 52 whilst two colonies showed no significant relationships. Hence, key drivers of productivity 53 varied among colonies. Climate change projections, made using fitted models, indicated that 54 breeding success could decline by 21 -43% between 1961-90 and 2070-99. Climate change 55 therefore poses a longer-term threat to kittiwakes, but as this will be mediated via availability 56 of key prey species, other marine apex predators could also face similar threats. 57 58 4 INTRODUCTION 59Ecological impacts of climate change are increasingly well-understood, with changes in 60 species' ranges and phenology predicted and observed in both terrestrial and marine 61
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