Project summary:

The project will compare patterns of movements and habitat use within and between different species breeding at South Georgia [Islas Georgias del Sur]*, and explore the implications for life-histories.  Analyses will explore: effects of age, sex and other intrinsic characteristics; individual consistency; links between foraging and individual life-history data or species strategies (timing of key breeding events and variability, critical stages/resource bottle-necks, provisioning, breeding performance and frequency, survival); reproductive constraints vs. seasonality in the environment (given the differences in distribution with breeding stage and year); intra- and inter-specific competition; and, potentially, prediction of long-term effects of environmental change based on IPCC climate change scenarios.

Importance of the area of research:

Albatross and petrel communities in the Southern Ocean are highly species-rich, and include many long-ranging taxa competing for patchy and unpredictable prey.  They often rely to some extent on Antarctic krill, but foraging strategies differ and the diet always includes other prey species which may not be in common.  Co-existence is enabled by variety of mechanisms – differences in timing of breeding, spatial distribution, diet and other aspects of behaviour – which reduce competition for resources among and within-species, and lead to niche partitioning.  Foraging decisions of individual birds reflect the interaction between these and other environmental factors, and intrinsic effects (sex, age, physiological status, carry-over effects etc.).  By exploring the links between movements, habitat use and life-history characteristics at the individual and species-level, this project will provide key insights into the structure and maintenance of marine predator communities in Antarctic and subantarctic ecosystems.

A Grey-headed Albatross family, photograph by Rowan Treblico

Contact the Lead Supervisor, Richard Phillips, British Antarctic Survey directly for further information relating to what the successful applicant will be expected to do, training to be provided, and any specific educational background requirements.

Read more here.

References:

Froy, H., Lewis, S., Catry, P., Bishop, C.M., Forster, I.P., Fukuda, A., Higuchi, H., Phalan, B., Xavier, J.C., Nussey, D.H. & Phillips, R.A. 2015.  Age-related variation in foraging behaviour in the wandering albatross at South Georgia: no evidence for senescence.  PLoS ONE 10  e0116415.

Wakefield, E.D, Phillips, R.A., Trathan, P.N., Arata, J., Gales, R., Huin, N., Robertson, G., Waugh, S.M., Weimerskirch, H. and Matthiopoulos, J. 2011.  Habitat preference, accessibility and competition limit the global distribution of breeding black-browed albatrosses.  Ecological Monographs 81: 141-167.

Phillips, R.A, Silk, J.R.D., Phalan, B., Catry, P. & Croxall, J.P 2004.  Seasonal sexual segregation in two Thalassarche albatross species: competitive exclusion, reproductive role specialization or trophic niche divergence?  Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B271: 1283-1291.

To find out about applying for this project click here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 November 2015

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

Jen Lavers (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Australia) and Alex Bond have published early view in the journal Marine Environmental Research on plastic pollution in Flesh-footed Shearwaters Puffinus (Ardenna) carneipes

The paper’s abstract follows:

The ingestion of plastic by seabirds has been used as an indicator of population and ocean health.  However, few studies have examined adults and juveniles of the same species concurrent with the availability of plastic in the local marine environment.  In King George Sound (KGS), Western Australia, 13% of adult flesh-footed shearwaters (Ardenna carneipes) and 90% of fledglings contained plastic items in their digestive tract.  On Lord Howe Island (LHI), New South Wales, 75% of adult shearwaters and 100% of fledglings contained plastic.

Ingested items were assessed using Jaccard’s Index (whereJ= 0 indicates complete dissimilarity andJ= 1 complete similarity).  The colour of items ingested by self- and chick-provisioning shearwaters from KGS exhibited broad overlap with plastic available in the local environment (J= 0.78-0.80), and plastic in adults and fledglings from LHI were less similar to those available (J= 0.31-0.58).  Additional data on seabird colour selection would improve our understanding of the factors influencing the behaviour of ingesting plastic, and its contribution to the decline of some species.

Flesh-footed Shearwater, photograph by Barry Baker

Reference:

Lavers. J.L. & Bond, A.L. 2015.  Selectivity of flesh-footed shearwaters for plastic colour: evidence for differential provisioning in adults and fledglings.  Marine Environmental Research  doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2015.10.011.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 November 2015

Kylie Scales (Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK) and colleagues have published early view in the journal Diversity and Distributions on modelling foraging of Grey-headed Albatrosses Thalassarche chrysostoma.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Aim

Ecological niche modelling can provide valuable insight into species' environmental preferences and aid the identification of key habitats for populations of conservation concern. Here, we integrate biologging, satellite remote-sensing and ensemble ecological niche models (EENMs) to identify predictable foraging habitats for a globally important population of the grey-headed albatross (GHA) Thalassarche chrysostoma.

Location

Bird Island, South Georgia; Southern Atlantic Ocean.

Methods

GPS and geolocation-immersion loggers were used to track at-sea movements and activity patterns of GHA over two breeding seasons (n = 55; brood-guard).  Immersion frequency (landings per 10-min interval) was used to define foraging events.  EENM combining Generalized Additive Models (GAM), MaxEnt, Random Forest (RF) and Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) identified the biophysical conditions characterizing the locations of foraging events, using time-matched oceanographic predictors (Sea Surface Temperature, SST; chlorophyll a, chl-a; thermal front frequency, TFreq; depth).  Model performance was assessed through iterative cross-validation and extrapolative performance through cross-validation among years.

Results

Predictable foraging habitats identified by EENM spanned neritic (<500 m), shelf break and oceanic waters, coinciding with a set of persistent biophysical conditions characterized by particular thermal ranges (3–8 °C, 12–13 °C), elevated primary productivity (chl-a > 0.5 mg m−3) and frequent manifestation of mesoscale thermal fronts.  Our results confirm previous indications that GHA exploit enhanced foraging opportunities associated with frontal systems and objectively identify the APFZ as a region of high foraging habitat suitability.  Moreover, at the spatial and temporal scales investigated here, the performance of multi-model ensembles was superior to that of single-algorithm models, and cross-validation among years indicated reasonable extrapolative performance.

Main conclusions

EENM techniques are useful for integrating the predictions of several single-algorithm models, reducing potential bias and increasing confidence in predictions.  Our analysis highlights the value of EENM for use with movement data in identifying at-sea habitats of wide-ranging marine predators, with clear implications for conservation and management.”

Grey-headed Albatross at sea, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

With thanks to Richard Phillips for information.

Reference:

Scales, K.L, Miller, P.I, Ingram, S.N., Hazen, E.L., Bograd, S.J. & Phillips, R.A. 2015.  Identifying predictable foraging habitats for a wide-ranging marine predator using ensemble ecological niche models.  Diversity and Distributions DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12389.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 November 2015

Maria Enriqueta Velarde (Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Pesquerías, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, México) and colleagues have published open-access in the journal Marine Ornithology on the discovery of the Near Threatened Black-vented Shearwater Puffinus opisthomelas breeding on Isla Rasa in the Gulf of California, Mexico.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The endangered Black-vented Shearwater has been reported nesting at only three islands in the Mexican Pacific Ocean, one of which contains ~95% of their world population.  We report on the nesting of this species at a new site, Isla Rasa in the Gulf of California, in 2010 and 2011, and on other signs of possible nesting in 2008 and 2009.  Evidence includes a nesting burrow; a genetically identified addled egg at a burrow entrance; nest activity, indicated by tracks and photographs of the nesting individuals; and, in several years, vocalizations, which were monitored to determine prevalence.  Although the number of nests at Isla Rasa has not been determined, our observations confirm the nesting of this species, which is the first such report for the Gulf of California.  We also report on the presence of the species at Isla Partida Norte, as well as on complementary records during marine surveys in the Midriff Islands Region.  Because of the endangered status of the Black-vented Shearwater and of the presence of introduced predators at islands where it is known to breed, the confirmed record of an alternative nesting site, which has now been freed of introduced rodents, bodes well for the conservation of the species.  It will be important to explore other potential nesting sites in the Gulf of California and to promote nesting of the species at Isla Rasa through the use of artificial burrows (nest boxes), vocalization playbacks or other methods.”

 Black-vented Shearwater

Reference:

Velarde, E., Ruiz, E.A., Aguilar, A. & Gallo, J.P. 2015.  Black-vented Shearwater Puffinus opisthomelas nesting in the Gulf of California: a major extension of breeding range.  Marine Ornithology 43: 249-254.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 08 November 2015