Do long lived seabirds reduce the negative effects of acute pollution on adult survival by skipping breeding? A study with European storm petrels (Hydrobates pelagicus) during the “Prestige” oil-spill

Evaluating population impacts of predation by owls on storm petrels in relation to proposed island mouse eradication

“…Our results reveal that the magnitude of the change in population trend is not very sensitive to assumptions of baseline survival, though it does reflect assumptions regarding the expected degree of owl reduction. We note that our estimate of 0.861 for baseline survival with current levels of owl predation and 0.898-0.916 survival under assumptions of owl reduction are consistent with survival estimates for the European storm-petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus; Sanz-Aguilar et al 2010, Zabala et al 2011) and Leach's storm-petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa; Huntington et al 1996), which range from 0.89 to 0.94.…”

“…, Zabala et al. ) and Leach's storm‐petrel ( Oceanodroma leucorhoa ; Huntington et al. ), which range from 0.89 to 0.94.…”

Apparent survival of adult Leach’s Storm-petrels (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) breeding on Bon Portage Island, Nova Scotia

“…Seabirds are usually characterized as having high adult survival probabilities that should be quite resilient to environmental variability. Maintenance of high survival probabilities is possible in part because they can reduce reproductive effort, or even skip breeding in unfavorable years to focus instead on selfpreservation (Cubaynes et al 2011, Zabala et al 2011. However, given their slow reproductive rates, even minor reductions in adult survival can have pronounced effects on seabird populations (Wooller et al 1992), which are slow to recover after episodes of high adult mortality (Weimerskirch and Jouventin 1987).…”

“…Aside from predation, some of the main threats to storm-petrels are high levels of marine contaminants (e.g., mercury, Goodale et al 2008, Bond andDiamond 2009), activities associated with oil and natural gas exploration (e.g., collisions with offshore oil and gas platforms, Ronconi et al 2015; and contact with discharged residues from chronic and catastrophic hydrocarbon spills, Zabala et al 2011), ingestion of plastic debris (Bond and Lavers 2013), and adverse climatic conditions (Boersma andGroom 1993, Soldatini et al 2014). Moreover, recent tracking data during the breeding season showed that storm-petrels from Bon Portage Island and nearby Country Island, Nova Scotia (Fig.…”

Individual Quality Explains Variation in Reproductive Success Better than Territory Quality in a Long-Lived Territorial Raptor

“…Similarly, territory owners would risk their territory and also their lives in trying to move to a better territory, presuming that they could somehow assess territory quality. Several non-exclusive hypotheses could explain the observed lack of mobility of birds between territories: (1) lack of differences in quality between territories or lack of individual capability to assess it; (2) a queue hypothesis in which it would be easier and more rewarding for individuals to maintain already acquired territories than to fight for new ones; (3) a possibility of improved breeding through better knowledge of the territory and its resources, resulting from experience, although the lack of statistical significance of estimated experience in the models does not support this; (4) since lifetime reproductive success is related to lifespan [2], [3] individuals may optimise their survival probabilities and wait for more favourable breeding seasons [56], [57]; and (5) an existing match between individual and territory qualities, although this seems improbable because of the constant selection of models with individual identity as the best fit and the scarce support obtained by models in which individual identity was nested in territory. In this line, Germain and Arcese [32] report an effect of habitat on the productivity of the song sparrow ( Melospiza melodia ).…”