Accessible ecophysiological tools for seabird conservation

Abstract

1. Seabirds are the most endangered avian taxa on Earth, with over a third of species globally threatened. To help slow their decline, conservation physiology seeks to determine how seabird responses to climatic and anthropogenic threats influence demographic processes, but it is not widely utilized in monitoring.2. A wide variety of metrics and methods are available to the conservation practitioner; thus, the correct method selection is paramount. This is a review of physiological tools to assess both individual and population health in seabirds, outlining which tools could be accessible enough to incorporate into conservation management strategies to increase the efficacy and range of population monitoring.3. Ultimately, the cost and expertise required limits the use of some tools in a community-based management context, but they are useful in academic research in collaboration with conservation projects to generate data to inform management strategies for threatened species.4. The value of the data available from particular tools is weighed against the invasiveness of the methodology to assess the practicality of incorporating physiological tools into routine seabird monitoring programmes. 5. A broader application of conservation physiology tools in a monitoring context could help manage threatened species; this paper summarizes a set of physiological variables from minimally invasive samples that have potential to assist in monitoring population health for seabird conservation. The full potential of these physiological tools is yet to be realized in seabirds.

Capturing wild animal welfare: a physiological perspective

“…These peripheral physiological markers have been catalogued for a variety of animal taxa [e.g. vertebrates (Breuner, Delehanty & Boonstra, 2013; Meyer, 2015; Bateson, 2016; Gormally & Romero, 2020); birds (Minias, 2015; Whitehead & Dunphy, 2022); invertebrates (Perry & Baciadonna, 2017); aquatic animals (Jerez‐Cepa & Ruiz‐Jarabo, 2021); crustaceans (Adams et al ., 2019)].…”

The influence of tourist visitation on the heterophyl to lymphocyte ratios and trophic values of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) at Martillo Island, Argentina

“…Monitoring the H/L of the same individuals throughout and even between breeding seasons can be used to estimate the physiological cost of each breeding stage and potential interannual changes in stress of the individuals. In addition, the long-term monitoring of the H/L of a breeding population may provide insights as to the potential effects of changes in diet, weather or the impact tourism may have on the health of the population in time ( Kitaysky et al, 2007 ; Graña Grilli et al, 2018 ; Whitehead and Dunphy, 2022 ). Eosinophils have a less clear immune function but seem to be linked to allergic reactions and parasite infections ( Maxwell, 1987 ).…”