Toward a global strategy for seabird tracking

Abstract

Electronic tracking technologies revolutionized wildlife ecology, notably for studying the movements of elusive species such as seabirds. Those advances are key to seabird conservation, for example in guiding the design of marine protected areas for this highly threatened group. Tracking data are also boosting scientific understanding of marine ecosystem dynamics in the context of global change. To optimize future tracking efforts, we performed a global assessment of seabird tracking data. We identified and mined 689 seabird tracking studies, reporting on > 28,000 individuals of 216 species from 17 families over the last four decades. We found substantial knowledge gaps, reflecting a historical neglect of tropical seabird ecology, with biases toward species that are heavier, oceanic, and from high-latitude regions. Conservation status had little influence on seabird tracking propensity. We identified 54 threatened species for which we did not find published tracking records, and 19 with very little data. Additionally, much of the existing tracking data are not yet available to other researchers and decision-makers in online databases. We highlight priority species and regions for future tracking efforts. More broadly, we provide guidance toward an ethical, rational, and efficient global tracking program for seabirds, as a contribution to their conservation.

Habitat Selection and Specialisation of Herring Gulls During the Non-breeding Season

“…Although non-breeding distributions may be known to some extent from ring recoveries, this information can be biassed (Clark et al, 2009), and tracking studies allow seasonal movements and habitat selection to be studied in more detail. Since movement and habitat selection can vary among individuals and in space (Bonnot et al, 2015;Leclerc et al, 2016;Montgomery et al, 2018), we require multi-site studies to broaden our understanding of a species' non-breeding distribution (Bernard et al, 2021).…”

Seabird morphology determines operational wind speeds, tolerable maxima and responses to extremes

“…Quantifying the maximum reference speeds that birds can fly in can provide insight into the conditions that are likely to be costly or risky. This is particularly pertinent for birds at lower latitudes, where fewer tracking data exist 15 and where tropical cyclones form. Our maximum flyable wind speeds for species in higher latitudes are higher than those reported in other bio-logging studies.…”

Tracking the movements of North Atlantic seabirds: steps towards a better understanding of population dynamics and marine ecosystem conservation

“…For this, large-scale tracking, with coordinated deployments in multiple colonies is essential. Wide collaboration across countries is probably the most crucial element and prerequisite to be able to move from a single colony/species approach to a more holistic approach to understand the non-breeding distribution of seabirds and support their conservation (Bernard et al 2021).…”

“…The emergence and advances of light-level geolocators (also known as Global Location Sensors [GLS]; Wilson et al 1992, Hill 1994 Vandenabeele 2012) has, however, enabled us to study such movements in much greater detail, providing new and crucial knowledge for the management of seabirds and their marine habitats (Tremblay et al 2009, Block et al 2011. To be able to take full advantage of this development and to broaden the scope of scientific questions that can be answered, multi-year, multi-site and multi-species studies are ne cessary (Schimel & Keller 2015, Bernard et al 2021.…”