How many genera of Stercorariidae are there?

Carlos, Caio J.

doi:10.1007/bf03544345

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 19 publications

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“…To address this gap of knowledge, we present here a comprehensive demographic study to understand how age‐related effects of density dependence, climate variation, and prey abundance affect the full life cycle of an apex marine predator, the South Polar Skua ( Catharacta maccormicki (Saunders, 1983) generic assignment Carlos ), using a 52‐yr longitudinal capture–recapture data set. In polar ecosystems, skuas are top predators and scavengers that play an important role in ecosystem functioning (Votier et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demographic and population responses of an apex predator to climate and its prey: a long‐term study of South Polar Skuas

Pacoureau

Delord

Jenouvrier

et al. 2019

Ecological Monographs

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Ecologists widely acknowledge that a complex interplay of endogenous (density‐dependent) and exogenous (density‐independent) factors impact demographic processes. Individuals respond differently to those forces, ultimately shaping the dynamics of wild populations. Most comprehensive studies disentangling simultaneously the effects of density dependence, climate, and prey abundance while taking into account age structure were conducted in terrestrial ecosystems. However, studies on marine populations are lacking. Here we provide insight into the mechanisms affecting four vital rates of an apex Antarctic marine predator population, the South Polar Skua Catharacta maccormicki, by combining a nearly half‐century longitudinal time series of individual life histories and abundance data, with climatic and prey abundance covariates. Using multistate capture–mark–recapture models, we estimated age classes effects on survival, breeding, successful breeding with one or two chicks and successful breeding with two chicks probabilities, and assessed the different effects of population size, climate, and prey abundance on each age‐specific demographic parameter. We found evidence for strong age effects in the four vital rates studied. Vital rates at younger ages were lower than those of older age classes for all parameters. Results clearly evidenced direct and indirect influences of local climate (summer sea ice concentration), of available prey resources (penguins), and of intrinsic factors (size of the breeding population). More covariate effects were found on reproductive rates than on survival, and younger age classes were more sensitive than the older ones. Results from a deterministic age‐structured density‐dependent matrix population model indicated greater effects of prey abundance and sea ice concentration on the total population size than on the breeding population size. Both total population size and the number of breeders were strongly affected by low values of sea ice concentration. Overall, our results highlight the greater sensitivity of reproductive traits and of younger age classes to prey abundance, climate variability, and density dependence in a marine apex predator, with important consequences on the total population size but with limited effects on the breeding population size. We discuss the mechanisms by which climate variability, prey abundance, and population size may affect differentially age‐specific vital rates, and the potential population consequences of future environmental changes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demographic and population responses of an apex predator to climate and its prey: a long‐term study of South Polar Skuas

Pacoureau

Delord

Jenouvrier

et al. 2019

Ecological Monographs

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Prey remains of brown skua is evidence of the long-term decline in burrow occupancy of blue petrels and thin-billed prions at Mayes Island, Kerguelen

et al. 2019

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Population response of an apex Antarctic consumer to its prey and climate fluctuations

et al. 2018

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A fundamental endeavor in population ecology is to identify the drivers of population dynamics. A few empirical studies included the effect of prey abundance when investigating simultaneously the effects of density-dependence and climate factors on marine top-predator population dynamics. Our aim was to unravel the mechanisms forcing population dynamics of an apex consumer seabird, the south polar skua, using long-term climatic and population time series of the consumer and its prey in Terre Adélie, Antarctica. Influences of density-dependence, climatic factors, and prey abundance with lag effects were tested on the breeding population dynamics with a Bayesian multi-model inference approach. We evidenced a negative trend in breeding population growth rate when density increased. Lagged effects of sea-ice concentration and air temperature in spring and a contemporary effect of prey resources were supported. Remarkably, results outline a reverse response of the south polar skua and one of its main preys to the same environmental factor (sea-ice concentration), suggesting a strong link between skua and penguin dynamics. The causal mechanisms may involve competition for food and space through territorial behavior as well as local climate and prey availability, which probably operate on breeding parameters (breeding propensity, breeding success, or recruitment) rather than on adult survival. Our results provide new insights on the relative importance of factors forcing the population dynamics of an apex consumer including density-dependence, local climate conditions, and direct and indirect effects of prey abundance.

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How many genera of Stercorariidae are there?

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

Demographic and population responses of an apex predator to climate and its prey: a long‐term study of South Polar Skuas

Demographic and population responses of an apex predator to climate and its prey: a long‐term study of South Polar Skuas

Prey remains of brown skua is evidence of the long-term decline in burrow occupancy of blue petrels and thin-billed prions at Mayes Island, Kerguelen

Population response of an apex Antarctic consumer to its prey and climate fluctuations

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