Meta‐population feeding grounds of Cory's shearwater in the subtropical Atlantic Ocean: implications for the definition of Marine Protected Areas based on tracking studies

Abstract

Aim Apical pelagic species forage in predictable habitats, and their movements should signal biologically and ecologically significant areas of the marine ecosystem. Several countries are now engaged in identifying these areas based on animal tracking, but this is often limited to a few individuals from one breeding population , which may result in biased portrayals of the key marine habitats. To help identify such foraging areas, we compiled tracking data of a marine top predator from the main breeding colonies in the Central Macaronesia. Location Northeast Atlantic Ocean. Methods Over seven years, we tracked the foraging movements of Cory's shear-waters (Calonectris borealis) from several populations during the chick-rearing period using global positioning system and platform terminal transmitter devices. Results We obtained foraging trips from 174 shearwaters breeding on six important colonies representative of the range occupied in the Macaronesian Archipelagos of Madeira, Salvages and Canaries. Our results show that birds orient and move rapidly towards the closest neritic waters over the African continental shelf. Birds from different colonies show substantial spatial segregation in their foraging grounds but consistently overlap in some specific foraging areas along the Canary Current characterized by high productivity. By weight-ing the use of foraging grounds according to the size of each study population, we inferred the overall exploitation of such areas. Main conclusions Our meta-population approach provides a more comprehensive picture of space use from both perspectives: the studied species and the Canary Current system. Foraging grounds consistently used by several populations may not be adequately identified by tracking a single population, and therefore, multiple population tracking studies are needed to properly delineate key conservation areas and inform conservation planning in the marine ecosystem. Finally, we highlight the long-term stability and sustainability of identified foraging areas and propose that countries with geographical jurisdictions over the Canary Current area should work towards multilateral agreements to set management plans for this key marine ecosystem.

Irreplaceable area extends marine conservation hotspot off Tunisia: insights from GPS-tracking Scopoli’s shearwaters from the largest seabird colony in the Mediterranean

“…Conversely, pair-specific home-range areas for other colonies in the western Mediterranean (Fig. 4) were within the range of those found by Ramos et al (2013). Off Zembra island, the home-range of Scopoli's shearwaters was centred on Cap Bon, at the eastern end of the Gulf of Tunis, and ranged over most of this gulf, as well as to the east of Cap Bon, to areas off the Gulf of Hammamet.…”

“…large marine mammals, turtles, sharks and bony fish, are triggering a quantum leap in our capacity to explore the movement ecology of species at the population, and the meta-population levels (e.g. Frederiksen et al 2012;Fort et al 2012;Ramos et al 2013).…”

Breeding density, fine‐scale tracking, and large‐scale modeling reveal the regional distribution of four seabird species

“…, , Ramos et al. ). However, this is the first to model how colony‐level distributions vary due to the combined effects of sympatric and parapatric conspecific interactions, coastal geomorphology, and regional habitat availability.…”

Simultaneous multi-colony tracking of a pelagic seabird reveals cross-colony utilization of a shared foraging area

“…Much more information is needed as to how animals of known status from different colonies respond concurrently, and across multiple seasons (Ramos et al 2013, Wakefield et al 2013.…”