Maps, models, and marine vulnerability: Assessing the community distribution of seabirds at-sea

Lieske, David J.; Fifield, David; Gjerdrum, Carina

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2014.02.010

Cited by 22 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…) and Dovekies were similarly distributed over the outer edge of the shelf (Lieske et al. ). Because it is an easily quantifiable metric, distance to shore presents a useful foundation on which to base MSP efforts, but not to the exclusion of the other covariates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, procellariformes (procellarids and hydrobatids) were most likely to be observed far from shore (e.g., Wilson's Storm-petrels, Fig. 3; Watson et al 2013) and Dovekies were similarly distributed over the outer edge of the shelf (Lieske et al 2014). Because it is an easily quantifiable metric, distance to shore presents a useful foundation on which to base MSP efforts, but not to the exclusion of the other covariates.…”

Section: Distribution Abundance and Habitat Use Of Marine Birdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We evaluate seasonal species abundance and community composition using 2 years of shipboard surveys and recently developed hierarchical community distance sampling (HCDS) models (Sollmann et al, 2016). Shipboard surveys that employ distance sampling have recently become a commonly used method to estimate seabird densities (Camphuysen et al 2004, Henkel et al 2007, Kissling et al 2007, Lieske et al 2014, Winiarski et al 2014a. By accounting for detection that varies with distance to the transect, distance sampling methods are generally considered less biased than strip-based methods (Tasker et al 1984, Hyrenbach et al 2007, Buckland et al 2008, Ronconi and Burger 2009, and are recommended for estimating the abundance of marine birds in order to assess their exposure to offshore wind facilities (Fox et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Predicting the offshore distribution and abundance of marine birds with a hierarchical community distance sampling model

Goyert

Gardner

Sollmann

et al. 2016

Ecological Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Proposed offshore wind energy development on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf has brought attention to the need for baseline studies of the distribution and abundance of marine birds. We compiled line transect data from 15 shipboard surveys (June 2012-April 2014), along with associated remotely sensed habitat data, in the lower Mid-Atlantic Bight off the coast of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, USA. We implemented a recently developed hierarchical community distance sampling model to estimate the seasonal abundance of 40 observed marine bird species. Treating each season separately, we included six oceanographic parameters to estimate seabird abundance: three static (distance to shore, slope, sediment grain size) and three dynamic covariates (sea surface temperature [SST], salinity, primary productivity). We expected that avian bottom-feeders would respond primarily to static covariates that characterize seafloor variability, and that surface-feeders would respond more to dynamic covariates that quantify surface productivity. We compared the variation in species-specific and community-level responses to these habitat features, including for rare species, and we predicted species abundance across the study area. While several protected species used the study area in summer during their breeding season, estimated abundance and observed diversity were highest for nonbreeding species in winter. Distance to shore was the most common significant predictor of abundance, and thus useful in estimating the potential exposure of marine birds to offshore development. In many cases, our expectations based on feeding ecology were confirmed, such as in the first winter season, when bottom-feeders associated significantly with the three static covariates (distance to shore, slope, and sediment grain size), and surface-feeders associated significantly with two dynamic covariates (SST, primary productivity). However, other cases revealed significant relationships between static covariates and surface-feeders (e.g., distance to shore) and between dynamic covariates and bottom-feeders (e.g., primary productivity during that same winter). More generally, we found wide interannual, seasonal, and interspecies variation in habitat relationships with abundance. These results show the importance of quantifying detection and determining the ecological drivers of a community's distribution and abundance, within and among species, for evaluating the potential exposure of marine birds to offshore development.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Distribution Abundance and Habitat Use Of Marine Birdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Predicting the offshore distribution and abundance of marine birds with a hierarchical community distance sampling model

Goyert

Gardner

Sollmann

et al. 2016

Ecological Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…European Storm-Petrels (Hydrobates pelagicus) have demonstrated decreased reproductive investment due to acute oil pollution (Zabala et al 2011), thus chronic spills within storm-petrel foraging ranges may further impact populations. Within the Bay of Fundy region, other seabird species have been shown to be at increased risk of oiling from chronic oil pollution (Lieske et al 2014). Assessment of cumulative risks to breeding seabirds, including risk of oiling, show areas of high vulnerability in the lower Bay of Fundy, and Leach's Storm-petrels rank among the highest in terms of species aggregate vulnerability across Atlantic Canada (Lieske et al, in press).…”

Section: Breeding Population Status and Trendmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breeding population decline and associations with nest site use of Leach’s Storm-Petrels on Kent Island, New Brunswick from 2001 to 2018

d’Entremont¹,

Zitske²,

Gladwell³

et al. 2020

ACE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Leach's Storm-Petrels (Hydrobates leucorhous) are burrow-nesting seabirds that breed on coastal islands throughout much of the North Atlantic, with most of the world's population breeding in Atlantic Canada. Population declines in the past 20-30 years have resulted in the species being uplisted to "Vulnerable" on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. One of the species' most well-studied colonies is on Kent Island, New Brunswick in the Bay of Fundy. To determine if this colony has faced declines over a similar timescale, census work was conducted in June and July of 2000/2001 and 2018. Forty-one east-west transects in 2000/2001 (516 plots) and 56 east to west transects in 2018 (678 plots) were established every 50 m along the length of the island, which were censused with 10 m² plots. Population estimates were calculated by extrapolating mean occupied burrow density over the area of suitable nesting habitat on the island. Additionally, habitat characteristics and predator presence were recorded within each plot, and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was used to determine which environmental factors affected burrow densities and occupancy rate. The estimated number of breeding pairs for the entire island in 2018 was 21,643 (CI 16,942-26,343) and has declined at an annual rate of-1.79% (CI-3.28% to-0.25%) since 2000/2001 (29,416 CI 23,015-35,817 pairs), though population trends varied across the island with forested habitat experiencing a large decline and the open habitat experiencing a marginal increase. CART models revealed that occupied burrow densities were highest in areas dominated by ferns or shrub/bramble that had no signs of forest regrowth, and had low gull nesting densities. Our results suggest that Leach's Storm-Petrels are declining at the southern extent of their range at similar rates exhibited at northern colonies, especially in forested habitat where habitat change may be influencing nest-site use. Déclin de la reproduction de la population et associations avec l'utilisation des sites de nidification des pétrels cul-blanc sur Kent Island, dans le Nouveau-Brunswick, de 2001 à 2018 RÉSUMÉ. Les pétrels cul-blanc (Hydrobates leucorhous) sont des oiseaux marins nichant dans des terriers, qui se reproduisent sur les îles côtières le long d'une grande partie de la côte nord-Atlantique, principalement le long de la côte Atlantique du Canada. Leur population a décliné au cours de 20 à 30 dernières années, de sorte que cette espèce est désormais classée comme « vulnérable » sur la Liste rouge des espèces menacées de Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature. L'une des colonies les plus étudiées de cette espèce habite Kent Island, dans le Nouveau-Brunswick, dans la baie de Fundy. Pour déterminer si cette colonie a décliné au cours de la même période, un recensement a été effectué en juin et juillet 2000/2001 et 2018. Quarante-et-un transects est-ouest en 2000/2001 (516 parcelles) et 56 transects est-ouest en 2018 (678 parcelles) é...

show abstract

“…water mass boundaries such as the Polar Front of the Southern Ocean). However, some seabird distribution models have been developed without considering any physical or biological properties of the sea water, but have instead focused on the underlying topography, such as bathymetry, shelf break distance or sea bank presence (Lieske et al 2014). Also, during the breeding season, the distance to the nearest colony or coast often explains a large part of the distribution , Mannocci et al 2014) and should be added as a further predictive variable.…”

Section: Sdms Of Seabird Distributions At Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

Avian SDMs: current state, challenges, and opportunities

Engler

Stiels

Schidelko

et al. 2017

Journal of Avian Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Quantifying species distributions using species distribution models (SDMs) has emerged as a central method in modern biogeography. These empirical models link species occurrence data with spatial environmental information. Since their emergence in the 1990s, thousands of scientific papers have used SDMs to study organisms across the entire tree of life, with birds commanding considerable attention. Here, we review the current state of avian SDMs and point to challenges and future opportunities for specific applications, ranging from conservation biology, invasive species and predicting seabird distributions, to more general topics such as modeling avian diversity, niche evolution and seasonal distributions at a biogeographic scale. While SDMs have been criticized for being phenomenological in nature, and for their inability to explicitly account for a variety of processes affecting populations, we conclude that they remain a powerful tool to learn about past, current, and future species distributions -at least when their limitations and assumptions are recognized and addressed. We close our review by providing an outlook on prospects and synergies with other disciplines in which avian SDMs can play an important role.

show abstract

Maps, models, and marine vulnerability: Assessing the community distribution of seabirds at-sea

Cited by 22 publications

References 56 publications

Predicting the offshore distribution and abundance of marine birds with a hierarchical community distance sampling model

Predicting the offshore distribution and abundance of marine birds with a hierarchical community distance sampling model

Breeding population decline and associations with nest site use of Leach’s Storm-Petrels on Kent Island, New Brunswick from 2001 to 2018

Avian SDMs: current state, challenges, and opportunities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Maps, models, and marine vulnerability: Assessing the community distribution of seabirds at-sea

Cited by 22 publications

References 56 publications

Predicting the offshore distribution and abundance of marine birds with a hierarchical community distance sampling model

Predicting the offshore distribution and abundance of marine birds with a hierarchical community distance sampling model

Breeding population decline and associations with nest site use of Leach&#8217;s Storm-Petrels on Kent Island, New Brunswick from 2001 to 2018

Avian SDMs: current state, challenges, and opportunities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Breeding population decline and associations with nest site use of Leach’s Storm-Petrels on Kent Island, New Brunswick from 2001 to 2018