Seabirds and climate change: roadmap for the future

Abstract

Based in part on a symposium held at the first World Seabird Conference in September, 2010 in Victoria, BC, Canada, we present a Theme Section (TS) on the topic of seabirds and climate change. We introduce this TS with a meta-analysis of key attributes of the current seabird−climate literature, based on 108 publications representing almost 3000 seabird− climate associations (mostly correlations) published up to 2011. Using the papers in this TS and our metaanalysis, a brief roadmap for the future of seabird−climate change research is presented. Seabird studies have contributed substantially to the literature on marine climate effects. To improve our understanding of climate change effects on seabirds at the global scale, however, additional lowlatitude, mechanistic, and 'end-to-end' modeling studies, including integration of climatic, oceanographic, food web, and population dynamics models, should be conducted. This approach will enhance our understanding of the relationship between climate and population dynamics, and facilitate seabird conservation in a changing world.

Seabirds and climate: knowledge, pitfalls, and opportunities

“…Given that previous papers have recently reviewed thoroughly the state-of-the-art knowledge on seabirds and climate (Schreiber, 2002;Barbraud et al, 2012;Sydeman et al, 2012;Jenouvrier, 2013;Quillfeldt and Masello, 2013), here I shall concentrate on more conceptual issues, knowledge gaps and pitfalls typical of the studies dealing with how climate influences the ecology of seabirds.…”

“…Nevertheless, it was not until the end of the 90s that the literature on climate and seabirds exponentially increased (Montevecchi and Myers, 1997;Guinet et al, 1998;Lyver et al, 1999) (see Figure 1) and that the first paper relating climate and adult survival of a seabird appeared using reliable and robust quantitative methods (Barbraud et al, 2000). That exponential phase was likely the result of the increasing interest of the scientific community about climate change in the ecological literature during those years, together with the appearance of new statistical tools and the improvement of computational power (Figure 1) (Green et al, 2005).Given that previous papers have recently reviewed thoroughly the state-of-the-art knowledge on seabirds and climate (Schreiber, 2002;Barbraud et al, 2012;Sydeman et al, 2012;Jenouvrier, 2013;Quillfeldt and Masello, 2013), here I shall concentrate on more conceptual issues, knowledge gaps and pitfalls typical of the studies dealing with how climate influences the ecology of seabirds. …”

Marine birds and mammals foraging in the rapidly deglaciating Arctic fjord - numbers, distribution and habitat preferences

“…These are rapidly diminishing the area of sea: ice contact zone (Marginal Ice Zone [MIZ] in case of sea ice), an important part of the Arctic marine ecosystem. Any reduction in this zone will have detrimental consequences for iceassociated algae, invertebrates, fish and the foraging grounds of pagophilic seabirds and marine mammals (Moore and Huntington 2008;AMAP 2012;Sydeman et al 2012;Post et al 2013;Barber et al 2015). A strong relationship was found between glacial recession and the decline of the Kittlitz's murrelet Brachyramphus brevirostris population in Prince William Sound, Alaska (Kuletz et al 2003).…”

Future of biodiversity in the Barents Region

“…The black guillemot (Cepphus grylle) is a seabird dependent on both terrestrial and marine habitats, which makes it particularly susceptible to climate change (Sydeman et al 2012). The species is listed as vulnerable on the HELCOM red list, the red list of Baltic Sea species (Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission -Helsinki Commission).…”