The Effect of Environmental Conditions on Captures, Survival and Breeding Success of a Winter-Breeding Seabird.

Abstract

Demographic rates are shaped by extrinsic (May 1974) and intrinsic (Cam et al. 2002) constraints. In the case of species with large foraging ranges, broader climate effects may lead to significant variation in demographic parameters. Individuals and populations experience climate locally, through temperature, wind, currents and precipitation. However, such meteorological and oceanographic features are often governed by phenomena extending over much larger areas. Even slight changes induced by fluctuations in large-scale climate phenomena may produce large effects at various trophic levels (Post et al. 1999).Seabirds are known to wander over large distances, but still need to concentrate during at least one specific period of their life cycle: the breeding season. While nesting, seabirds are more dependent on local environmental conditions (