tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/seabirds-2466/articles
Seabirds – The Conversation
2024-02-20T23:41:46Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221992
2024-02-20T23:41:46Z
2024-02-20T23:41:46Z
Ridding Macquarie Island of pests pays off as seabirds come back from the brink – but recovery has just begun
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572744/original/file-20240201-21-lmp93f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C2472%2C1643&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Antarctic prion</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_prion#/media/File:Antarctic_Prion_0A2A3422.jpg">JJ Harrison/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the largest publicly funded <a href="https://parks.tas.gov.au/Documents/Evaluation_Report_Macquarie_Island_Pest_Eradication_Project.pdf">conservation investments</a> in history is starting to pay off on Macquarie Island, our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14239">newly published study</a> shows. </p>
<p>Sealers and whalers introduced cats, rats, rabbits and other animals to the island in the 19th century. Their impacts devastated the millions of seabirds breeding on the island. Numbers fell to a fraction of their former populations.</p>
<p>From 2011-14, the last non-native pests were cleared from the island. It was the end of a deadly chapter in the island’s history during which two bird species, a rail and a parakeet, were lost from the planet forever.</p>
<p>We looked for signs of recovery in populations of petrels, a group of highly specialised seabirds. We found that species listed as threatened have recovered to the point where they can be delisted. There’s still a long way to go, though, before their populations return to historical levels.</p>
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<img alt="A field research hut on Macquarie Island" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572646/original/file-20240201-25-hx7xmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572646/original/file-20240201-25-hx7xmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572646/original/file-20240201-25-hx7xmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572646/original/file-20240201-25-hx7xmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572646/original/file-20240201-25-hx7xmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572646/original/file-20240201-25-hx7xmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572646/original/file-20240201-25-hx7xmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Government-maintained research huts have supported science on Macquarie Island for over 70 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeremy Bird</span></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-good-news-25-australian-birds-are-now-at-less-risk-of-extinction-the-bad-news-29-are-gone-and-4-more-might-be-222759">The good news: 25 Australian birds are now at less risk of extinction. The bad news: 29 are gone and 4 more might be</a>
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<h2>A highly threatened group of birds</h2>
<p>Petrels can live for decades and spend most of their lives over the open oceans far from land. Some circumnavigate the Pacific each year. </p>
<p>Petrels return to land only to breed on remote islands that are naturally free of mammalian predators.</p>
<p>Under natural circumstances petrels can be enormously abundant. This means they play important roles in marine food webs. And, by transferring marine nutrients to breeding islands, they enrich whole island ecosystems. </p>
<p>Petrels usually come ashore only at night and nest in underground burrows to ward off predatory birds. However, these behaviours have been no defence against the cats and rats introduced to most of the world’s islands. As a result, petrels are among the world’s most threatened bird groups. </p>
<p>These habits make petrels extremely difficult to study, so good information is lacking. We used <a href="https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/rse2.235">novel technologies</a> and <a href="https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ecog.06204">new analytical approaches</a> to calculate the population and distribution of four species across Macquarie Island and to compare these with surveys from the 1970s. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Blue Petrels swirl around their nesting colony in the dark" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572583/original/file-20240131-17-qiigv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572583/original/file-20240131-17-qiigv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572583/original/file-20240131-17-qiigv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572583/original/file-20240131-17-qiigv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572583/original/file-20240131-17-qiigv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572583/original/file-20240131-17-qiigv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572583/original/file-20240131-17-qiigv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">At night, blue petrels come ashore to their nests, now back on the main island since pests were eliminated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeremy Bird</span></span>
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<p>
<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-dead-and-dying-seabirds-washing-up-on-our-beaches-in-their-hundreds-217349">Why are dead and dying seabirds washing up on our beaches in their hundreds?</a>
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<h2>What did the study find?</h2>
<p>Antarctic prions (<em><a href="https://ebird.org/species/dovpri1">Pachyptila desolata</a></em>) remain the most widespread and common of the four species. They survived on the barren, elevated interior of the island in areas relatively inhospitable to predators. There are about 160,000 breeding pairs today, increasing by around 1% each year.</p>
<p>In the 1970s, cats ate an estimated 11,000 white-headed petrels (<em><a href="https://ebird.org/species/whhpet1/">Pterodroma lessonii</a></em>) each year. Only 15% of nests were successfully fledging chicks. Today there are about 12,800 pairs with a breeding success rate of about 80%.</p>
<p>White-headed petrels’ range remains smaller than it was, and they were likely close to extinction before cats were eradicated in 2001. <a href="https://nre.tas.gov.au/conservation/threatened-species-and-communities/lists-of-threatened-species/threatened-species-vertebrates">Listed as vulnerable in Tasmania</a>, the population is growing by 1% a year and now warrants delisting.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572734/original/file-20240201-17-vmv1x7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A side view of a Grey Petrel in flight" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572734/original/file-20240201-17-vmv1x7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572734/original/file-20240201-17-vmv1x7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572734/original/file-20240201-17-vmv1x7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572734/original/file-20240201-17-vmv1x7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572734/original/file-20240201-17-vmv1x7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572734/original/file-20240201-17-vmv1x7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572734/original/file-20240201-17-vmv1x7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Grey petrels number in the low hundreds but are increasing by 10% a year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Procellaria_cinerea_2_-_SE_Tasmania.jpg">JJ Harrison/WIkimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>Two species, grey petrel (<em><a href="https://ebird.org/species/grapet/">Procellaria cinerea</a></em>) and blue petrel (<em><a href="https://ebird.org/species/blupet1/">Halobaena caerulea</a></em>), became extinct on the main island in the 1900s. Grey petrels disappeared altogether, while 500–600 pairs of blue petrels survived on a few coastal rock stacks. Both have now recolonised the main island. </p>
<p>Grey petrels still number only in the low hundreds and blue petrels in the thousands, but are increasing at more than 10% each year. Our data suggest blue petrels no longer qualify as a <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl">federally listed vulnerable species</a>. Grey petrels will no longer qualify for listing as endangered in Tasmania if they increase at the same rate until 2026.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572602/original/file-20240131-29-ciol24.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a graph showing changes in the populations of 4 petrel species as pests were eliminated" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572602/original/file-20240131-29-ciol24.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572602/original/file-20240131-29-ciol24.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572602/original/file-20240131-29-ciol24.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572602/original/file-20240131-29-ciol24.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572602/original/file-20240131-29-ciol24.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572602/original/file-20240131-29-ciol24.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572602/original/file-20240131-29-ciol24.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Petrel populations have increased as cats and then rabbits and rats were eradicated from Macquarie Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeremy Bird</span></span>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/penguin-paradise-and-geological-freak-why-macquarie-island-deserves-a-bigger-marine-park-201368">Penguin paradise and geological freak: why Macquarie Island deserves a bigger marine park</a>
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<h2>Recovery has only just begun</h2>
<p>It is testament to the hard work of all those involved in eradicating invasive species that these bird species are showing signs of recovery. Yet we found ourselves pondering what “recovery” really means. </p>
<p>We don’t know what Macquarie Island was like before humans first visited in 1810. To try to understand this, we identified suitable areas for recovering petrel populations by comparing with analogous islands with different invasive species histories. </p>
<p>The species we studied still occupy only a tiny fraction of the island. They were almost certainly many times more abundant historically. It will take decades for populations to fulfil their ecological roles again – if threats like climate change and <a href="https://theconversation.com/avian-influenza-has-killed-millions-of-seabirds-around-the-world-antarctica-could-be-next-216738">avian influenza</a> don’t halt their recovery.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A researcher surveying by torchlight" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572625/original/file-20240201-21-fqefgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572625/original/file-20240201-21-fqefgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572625/original/file-20240201-21-fqefgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572625/original/file-20240201-21-fqefgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572625/original/file-20240201-21-fqefgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572625/original/file-20240201-21-fqefgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572625/original/file-20240201-21-fqefgb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A researcher identifies a soft-plumaged petrel (<em>Pterodroma mollis</em>) in their spotlight while surveying at night.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeremy Bird</span></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/avian-influenza-has-killed-millions-of-seabirds-around-the-world-antarctica-could-be-next-216738">Avian influenza has killed millions of seabirds around the world: Antarctica could be next</a>
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<h2>A vision of an island of abundance reborn</h2>
<p>This is our vision of Macquarie Island if these amazing birds make a full recovery.</p>
<p>Days before visitors first sight land, thousands of seabirds swirl around the ship at sea. The white undersides of blue petrels and prions outnumber the spindrift cresting each wave. Rather than ones or twos, there’s a constant stream of white-headed and soft-plumaged petrels. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572642/original/file-20240201-25-jq88t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A White-Headed Petrel flies over the ocean" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572642/original/file-20240201-25-jq88t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572642/original/file-20240201-25-jq88t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572642/original/file-20240201-25-jq88t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572642/original/file-20240201-25-jq88t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572642/original/file-20240201-25-jq88t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572642/original/file-20240201-25-jq88t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572642/original/file-20240201-25-jq88t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Instead of seeing white-headed petrels fly past in ones and twos, we hope to see many more in future.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/whiteheaded-petrel-pterodroma-lessonii-flight-over-1439797040">Agami Photo Agency/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>On the island, all must tread carefully, sticking to managed paths to avoid collapsing burrows in the super-colonies that cover seaward-facing slopes. These areas, once denuded by rabbit grazing, have revegetated. A labyrinth of tunnels through the undergrowth blurs the lines between the surface and underground world. </p>
<p>In places the smell of ammonia is powerful. Even more pervasive is the warm, musty smell associated with petrel plumage. </p>
<p>By day, predatory skuas patrol the colonies, going from burrow entrance to entrance, as the occupants sit silently within. As the sun sinks, a scan from land with binoculars finds the petrels approaching en masse, loitering over coastal waters as they wait for the cover of darkness. </p>
<p>At dusk, black silhouettes swarm like flies up and down the coastal hills. Where once the night was silent save for the wind, the slopes are bubbling with the purr and chatter of blue petrels, the “<a href="https://subantarcticconservation.org/burrowing-petrels/">kwick, kwick, kwick</a>” calls of white-headed petrels and the mournful cries of <a href="https://ebird.org/species/soppet1/">soft-plumaged petrels</a>. Once a forlorn few, the calls have become an excited cacophony.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221992/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine Shaw receives funding from the Australian Antarctic Science Program, the Australian Research Council and Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Australia. She is a member of the Commonwealth Government's Threatened Species Scientific Committee, and a director of the Landscape Recovery Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Bird and Richard Fuller do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
One of the world’s largest programs to eradicate multiple predators and pests has started to restore the island and its once vast nesting colonies to their former glory.
Jeremy Bird, Research Associate, Ecology and Biodiversity, University of Tasmania
Justine Shaw, Senior Research Fellow in Antarctic and island conservation science, Queensland University of Technology
Richard Fuller, Professor in Biodiversity and Conservation, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/220747
2024-02-20T13:19:08Z
2024-02-20T13:19:08Z
Murderous mice attack and kill nesting albatrosses on Midway Atoll − scientists struggle to stop this gruesome new behavior
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575113/original/file-20240212-18-ff3txe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3968%2C2964&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Their 'island naïveté' means these seabirds are easy pickings when mice attack.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/37343873514/in/album-72157688010783584/">USFWS - Pacific Region/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At the far end of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands lies Kuaihelani – also known as Midway Atoll – a small set of islands home to the world’s largest albatross colony. <a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/laysan-albatross-phoebastria-immutabilis/text">Over a million albatrosses</a> return to Kuaihelani each year to breed. These seemingly pristine islands appear safe, but there’s a predator lurking among the seabirds. </p>
<p>House mice (<em>Mus musculus</em>) — the same kind that may be in your residence — have started to attack and kill albatrosses, eating them alive as they sit on their nests. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=w5r9C28AAAAJ">I’m an ecologist</a> who’s been studying the mystery behind these murderous mice.</p>
<h2>A predator hiding in plain sight</h2>
<p>Once the site of intense <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1942/midway.html">warfare during World War II</a>, Kuaihelani is now a <a href="https://www.fws.gov/refuge/midway-atoll">national wildlife refuge</a>. </p>
<p>Without predators such as cats, rats or mongooses, Kuaihelani provides a safe haven for millions of nesting and migratory birds, including mōlī (<em>Phoebastria immutabilis</em>), also known as <a href="https://abcbirds.org/bird/laysan-albatross/">Laysan albatrosses</a>. These seabirds, each about the size of a goose, nest in nearly the exact same spot each year, producing only one egg annually. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575991/original/file-20240215-26-727clu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="One person holds a large bird while another, wearing medical gloves, inspects a bloody wound on its back." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575991/original/file-20240215-26-727clu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575991/original/file-20240215-26-727clu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575991/original/file-20240215-26-727clu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575991/original/file-20240215-26-727clu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575991/original/file-20240215-26-727clu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575991/original/file-20240215-26-727clu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575991/original/file-20240215-26-727clu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Biologists examine wounds on an adult mōlī caused by invasive house mice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/37090466503/in/album-72157688010783584/">USFWS - Pacific Region/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the winter nesting season of 2015, bird-counting volunteers and biologists began seeing gruesome bloody wounds on nesting mōlī. At first, they found only a few mōlī with these mysterious injuries, which included severe chewing along the neck and even scalping. In the weeks that followed, they found dozens of injured mōlī, then hundreds.</p>
<p>Biologists were stumped. Had a black rat escaped off a docked boat? Had a peregrine falcon blown in with the latest winter storm? Desperate to identify the culprit, biologists set up game cameras around nesting mōlī. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R_go6iU3txg?wmode=transparent&start=72" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Time-lapse night vision footage shows a mouse attacking the head and body of a nesting mōlī.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The cameras captured bizarre nighttime footage of mice crawling and chewing on the backs and heads of mōlī. It was the first time a house mouse had ever been observed <a href="https://doi.org/10.7589/JWD-D-20-00065">attacking a live adult, nesting albatross</a>. </p>
<p>Mōlī, like many seabirds, have evolved without predators on remote islands. As a result, such seabirds are often oddly unafraid and curious – pulling on researchers’ shoelaces or nibbling at our clipboards. This phenomenon is called “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199735693.001.0001">island naïveté</a>” and, however charming, can spell disaster when nonnative predators such as rats and cats are introduced to islands. Lacking innate caution, even the largest seabirds can become the defenseless prey of predators as small as a mouse.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576029/original/file-20240215-26-vs2u2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white aerial photo of two small island. The one in the foreground has three intersecting landing strips." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576029/original/file-20240215-26-vs2u2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576029/original/file-20240215-26-vs2u2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576029/original/file-20240215-26-vs2u2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576029/original/file-20240215-26-vs2u2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576029/original/file-20240215-26-vs2u2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576029/original/file-20240215-26-vs2u2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576029/original/file-20240215-26-vs2u2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The World War II military base on Midway Atoll including an airfield on Eastern Island and more facilities on Sand Island, across the channel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aerial_view_of_Midway_Atoll_on_24_November_1941_(80-G-451086).jpg">U.S. Navy/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Developing a taste for flesh</h2>
<p>During World War II, the islands of Kuaihelani were cleared and covered with <a href="https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstreams/6e831988-862b-4eff-a3a3-e08e59e1e2db/download">wartime infrastructure</a>. Both black rats and house mice were <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1364149">inadvertently introduced</a> at this time. Soon, the rats began decimating populations of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27639258">burrowing seabirds</a>.</p>
<p>When the military importance of Kuaihelani faded in the 1990s, management of the atoll was transferred to the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/refuge/midway-atoll">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a>. Rats were successfully <a href="https://www-jstor-org.utk.idm.oclc.org/stable/1521854">eradicated in 1996</a>, but mice remained. Thought to be small and harmless, they didn’t generate much concern <a href="https://library.sprep.org/sites/default/files/control-house-mice-preying-adult-albatrosses-midway-atoll-national-wildlife-refuge.pdf">until 2015</a>. </p>
<p>Although scientists may never know exactly why mice began to attack and kill mōlī, we have some ideas. </p>
<p>Due to climate change, Kuaihelani has experienced increasingly erratic precipitation, sometimes resulting in <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1182/of2012-1182.pdf">long dry spells or intense downpours</a>. During dry periods, vegetation quickly dies back. It’s likely the usual food items for mice, namely seeds and bugs, decline during these periods. In order to survive, mice need to find a different food source. </p>
<p>On an island with millions of birds, seabird carcasses are plentiful and attract a rich community of bugs, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293092">cockroaches, isopods and maggots</a>. Mice appear to have quite an appetite for these critters and likely feed on seabird carcasses at the same time. The transition from scavenging dead seabirds to attacking live ones that don’t fight back is only a small step. </p>
<p>As mouse attacks on nesting mōlī escalated from 2015 on, it was clear something needed to be done – and fast. The solution was to get rid of the mice, which, unfortunately, is much easier said than done. </p>
<h2>Die-hard mice</h2>
<p>Mouse eradication is a challenging and risky conservation endeavor that requires years of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.10.014">research and careful planning</a>. Ideally, rodenticide, a type of poison used to kill rodents, should be offered when mice are most hungry and likely to eat it. This requires knowing exactly what they are eating and when those food sources are scarce.</p>
<p>By extracting and sequencing DNA from mouse poop and analyzing stable isotopes – a technique that identifies unique chemical fingerprints of organisms – my colleagues and I could figure out <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293092">what organisms mice were eating and in what quantities</a>. We found that mice on Sand Island of Kuaihelani mainly eat bugs (about 62% of their diet), followed by plants (27%) and finally albatross (likely mōlī, about 12%). The Fish and Wildlife Service identified July as the best time for the eradication attempt, since seabird density is typically lowest then. </p>
<p>Because of COVID-19 disruptions, the eradication attempt was delayed until July 2023, when the nonprofit organization <a href="https://www.islandconservation.org/">Island Conservation</a> and the Fish and Wildlife Service meticulously applied rodenticide in multiple rounds. At first, it seemed to be working. But in the weeks that followed, a few mice were spotted – then more. By September 2023, the eradication was declared <a href="https://www.fws.gov/project/midway-atolls-seabird-protection-project">unsuccessful</a>.</p>
<p>Some conservation practitioners believe eradication should be <a href="https://www.fws.gov/project/midway-atolls-seabird-protection-project">attempted again</a>, but others worry about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166290">creating mice resistant to rodenticide</a>. When generations of rodents are exposed to rodenticide repeatedly, they may start to carry genetic mutations resulting in <a href="https://guide.rrac.info/introduction.html">resistance to the poison</a>, making future eradication efforts ineffective. </p>
<p>Without a doubt, mice on Kuaihelani have already been exposed to rodenticide for a long time. When Kuaihelani – or Midway Atoll – was a naval base, rodenticide was likely applied in and around buildings and residences. The rat eradication in 1996 was another exposure. I’m currently researching whether the mice on Kuaihelani already have these genetic mutations. </p>
<p>The worries about rodenticide-resistant mice aren’t limited to Kuaihelani. Around the world, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.7261">especially in Europe</a>, there are more and more cases of rodents carrying resistance. Rodents continue to have severe and widespread ecological effects <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-008-9401-4">on islands worldwide</a>.</p>
<p>For now, I’m focused on helping the mōlī of Kuaihelani survive. But our research may also help inform the growing challenge of resistant mice around the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220747/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wieteke Holthuijzen received funding for research from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, Northern Illinois University, Sigma Xi, and Island Conservation. She is affiliated with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and has collaborated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Island Conservation. </span></em></p>
On a small, remote island in the Pacific Ocean, an unlikely predator feasts on the world’s largest albatross colony. Researchers are trying to figure out how to stop these murderous mice.
Wieteke Holthuijzen, Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/223171
2024-02-13T12:45:10Z
2024-02-13T12:45:10Z
Struggling seabirds thrown a lifeline by new commercial fishing ban in the North Sea – but it may not be enough
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574500/original/file-20240208-20-wgkkts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Puffins and many other seabirds rely on sandeels as a food source. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-atlantic-puffin-fish-beak-1909632901">Arnoud Quanjer/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With their bright, orange feet and colourful beaks full of glistening fish, puffins are really charismatic seabirds. But <a href="https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/seabirds-count/#results">puffin populations are in decline</a>, largely due to their struggle to catch enough of <a href="https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/atlantic-puffin-fratercula-arctica/details">these shiny fish: sandeels</a>. </p>
<p>Sandeels have been industrially fished on an industrial scale <a href="https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/59/2/261/619635">since the 1950s</a>, not for human consumption but to make fishmeal. They are the bedrock of marine ecosystems in the <a href="https://consult.defra.gov.uk/wg-management-measures-for-industrial-sandeel-fishing/consultation-on-spatial-management-measures-for-in/supporting_documents/What%20are%20the%20ecosystem%20risks%20and%20benefits%20of%20full%20prohibition%20of%20industrial%20Sandeel%20fishing%20in%20the%20UK%20waters%20of%20the%20North%20Sea%20ICES%20Area%20IV.pdf">North Sea</a>. But a new fishing ban could provide welcome respite for puffins and other marine wildlife. </p>
<p>The UK and Scottish governments have announced a permanent end to industrial sandeel fishing in English and Scottish waters. <a href="https://blogs.gov.scot/marine-scotland/2024/01/31/sandeel-fishing-to-be-banned-in-scottish-waters/">This ban</a> will begin on April 1 – the start of this year’s sandeel fishing season. </p>
<p>The news of the closure of this sandeel fishery has been met with praise from across the conservation sector. A quarter of a century of <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/sandeel-campaign-success-in-england">campaigning by the RSPB</a> seems to have paid off. </p>
<p>The health of sandeel populations in Scottish and English seas can link to the breeding success of the seabirds that feed on them, but the correlation is complex. This fishing ban is a start but, with the added pressures of climate change, more is needed to save Britain’s seabirds.</p>
<h2>The significance of sandeels</h2>
<p>These small, silver, schooling fish pack a large nutritional punch. They feed on zooplankton and are a vital source of food for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-1112.2004.00400.x">larger fish</a> such as cod, haddock and whiting, as well as <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08232">top predators such as seals</a>. </p>
<p>Sandeels are also a favourite food for seabirds such as surface-feeding gulls and terns, and deep-diving auk species including puffins, razorbills and guillemots.</p>
<p>As well as falling foul of marine predators, sandeels are caught by humans, largely to be used as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst087">feed for farmed fish</a>, such as salmon, or livestock. The sandeel fishing grounds around the UK are jointly managed by the UK and the European Union. </p>
<p>But the UK government has not allowed British vessels to fish for sandeels <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/sandeel-prohibition-fishing-scotland-order-2024-final-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/">since 2021</a>. Instead, commercial fishing for sandeels has most recently been carried out by European vessels, <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/sandeel-prohibition-fishing-scotland-order-2024-final-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/">particularly those from Denmark</a> that regularly fish in UK waters during the summer. </p>
<p>Data from the Marine Management Organisation suggests that an average of <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/sandeel-prohibition-fishing-scotland-order-2024-final-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/">257,000 tonnes of sandeels</a> were caught annually by EU vessels between 2015 and 2019.</p>
<p>One of the major sandeel fishing areas in the North Sea, a 21,000km2 area off the east coast of Scotland and northeast England called <a href="https://marine.gov.scot/sma/assessment/case-study-sandeels-scottish-waters#:%7E:text=The%20largest%20of%20the%20sandeel,one%20with%20an%20active%20fishery.">sandeel area 4</a>, has been closed to both UK and EU vessels since 2000 – although a small scientific fishery continued to conduct stock assessments <a href="https://data.marine.gov.scot/dataset/monitoring-consequences-northwestern-north-sea-sandeel-fishery-closure">during this time</a>. </p>
<p>Following the area’s closure, sandeel numbers grew and that corresponded with an initial increase in the number of fledged chicks in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/f07-164">black-legged kittiwakes</a>, an iconic gull species that has declined in recent decades.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in the world, closures of other “forage fish” fisheries (those that catch species that are prey for larger predators) have revealed positive impacts. African penguins rear more chicks in years when anchovy and sardine fishery areas off the coastline of <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2017.2443">South Africa are closed</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Small thin silver fish dead laying on brown fishing net" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574503/original/file-20240208-18-xt7od3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574503/original/file-20240208-18-xt7od3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574503/original/file-20240208-18-xt7od3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574503/original/file-20240208-18-xt7od3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574503/original/file-20240208-18-xt7od3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574503/original/file-20240208-18-xt7od3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574503/original/file-20240208-18-xt7od3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sandeels are caught for use as food within the fish farming industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/small-sandeel-on-fish-net-1312001660">Coulanges/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As well as removing sandeels from the sea, industrial fishing can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fss155">disturb them</a> and drive them to different locations or to deeper depths, away from the hungry beaks of kittiwakes that catch prey for themselves and their chicks at the sea’s surface. </p>
<p>Relationships between the closure of sandeel area 4 and the breeding success of other sandeel-reliant seabirds around northern England and Scotland have not been obvious. This is potentially due to differences in foraging ranges and diving abilities between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/07-0797.1">different seabirds</a>. </p>
<p>For kittiwakes, breeding success initially rose after the closures until 2018, but did not bounce right back to the levels observed before <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.109990">fishing here began</a>, despite 20 years of potential recovery time. This suggests that other factors influence breeding success in kittiwake colonies. </p>
<h2>Climate drivers</h2>
<p>Studies of the impacts that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2017.05.018">forage fishery closures</a> have on seabirds consistently flag the importance of environmental influences. Although fisheries could <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/07-0797.1">exacerbate declines</a> in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2017.2443">some seabird species</a>, changing environmental conditions have larger impacts. </p>
<p>Sandeels bury themselves in the sand during the winter and come out during the day to feed in the summer, but warmer temperatures can cause them to emerge from the sand <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8310">earlier in the year</a>. This change might have detrimental <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09520">knock-on effects</a> on the seabirds that feed sandeels to their chicks during their summer breeding seasons.</p>
<p>Climate change, which has already given rise to a <a href="https://www.mccip.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-03/The%20Impacts%20of%20Climate%20Change%20on%20Sea%20Temperature%20around%20the%20UK%20and%20Ireland.pdf">warmer North Sea</a>, is a main driver of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fog.12246">sandeel declines</a>. This has important ramifications for birds and other animals higher up the food chain. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/seabirds-count/">fourth national seabird census</a> (2015–2021) revealed that more than half the seabird species breeding around Britain and Ireland’s coastlines have declined over the past 20 years. Many of these declines have been linked to the influence of climate change on the availability of their prey. </p>
<p>The government’s environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection, recently warned that the government’s progress on its promise to stem declines in British nature by 2030 <a href="https://www.theoep.org.uk/report/government-remains-largely-track-meet-its-environmental-ambitions-finds-oep-annual-progress">has been scant</a>. The halting of sandeel fishing around Scotland and northern England is not enough to conserve the seabirds that breed around our coastlines. A more ambitious plan is called for.</p>
<p>Achieving the sandeel fisheries closure involved an immense lobbying effort that has been backed up by <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/sandeel-campaign-success-in-england">scientific evidence</a>. This success has demonstrated the importance that the British public places on protecting nature. Now, the government ought to not only combine fisheries closures with effective monitoring, but to diverge from burning fossil fuels that continue to heat our planet and choke conservation efforts. </p>
<p>Ultimately, to ensure that healthy sandeel populations will support seabirds in the future, we need to maintain cool seas that will allow their stocks to bounce back to pre-fishing levels.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223171/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Dunn has previously received funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).</span></em></p>
Many seabird colonies around UK coastlines struggle to breed because the sandeels they feed on have been overfished. The upcoming closure of sandeel fisheries will be good news for marine wildlife.
Ruth Dunn, Senior Research Associate in Marine Ecology, Lancaster University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222759
2024-02-12T03:40:47Z
2024-02-12T03:40:47Z
The good news: 25 Australian birds are now at less risk of extinction. The bad news: 29 are gone and 4 more might be
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574559/original/file-20240209-20-jdrrpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3982%2C2656&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/southern-cassowary-known-doublewattled-1845050383">mujiri/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What does it mean to save threatened species? How often do we achieve it? And how often do we fail? Our new research answers these questions for Australian birds.</p>
<p>One of the goals of conservation is to reduce the risk of a species becoming extinct. While this might be seen as a low bar for conservation managers, it is seldom achieved. A new set of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2024.2304903">research papers</a> on the conservation of Australian birds looks at cases of success over the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2023.2291140">past 30 years</a> and where we have failed over the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2023.2240345">past 200</a>.</p>
<p>We found extinction risks had reduced for 25 bird species and subspecies in at least one of the decades between 1990 and 2020. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2024.2304903">Nine of these</a> would have gone extinct if not for hard work and expertise to prevent it happening.</p>
<p>The most effective action has been eradicating invasive species from islands. This work benefited 13 birds. </p>
<p>Most Australians <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000632072100375X">approve of killing invasive species</a> to save threatened species. They have good reason: it works.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ridding-macquarie-island-of-pests-pays-off-as-seabirds-come-back-from-the-brink-but-recovery-has-just-begun-221992">Ridding Macquarie Island of pests pays off as seabirds come back from the brink – but recovery has just begun</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What were the successes?</h2>
<p>Nine of these successes are <a href="https://theconversation.com/ridding-macquarie-island-of-pests-pays-off-as-seabirds-come-back-from-the-brink-but-recovery-has-just-begun-221992">seabirds nesting on Macquarie Island</a>. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/10/rats-and-rabbits-invasive-species-macquarie-island-southern-ocean-aoe">program there</a> was so successful it had a significant positive impact on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2023.2289999">Australia’s Red List Index for birds</a>, a way of measuring overall progress on threatened species status. </p>
<p>This success also changed the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2023.2285821">average characteristics</a> of Australian threatened birds. Before the pest eradications on Macquarie Island, large seabirds dominated the profile of the threatened Australian birds. Now the average threatened bird is smaller and lives on land. </p>
<p>Further programs have the potential to have a similar impact. The likely huge benefits from <a href="https://lhirodenteradicationproject.org/">eradicating rodents</a> from Lord Howe Island, for example, are yet to show up in these figures.</p>
<p>Another four birds benefited simply from having their habitat protected. Protection of rainforest reduced extinction risk for the southern cassowary (<em><a href="https://ebird.org/species/soucas1">Casuarius casuarius</a></em>) and Albert’s lyrebird (<em><a href="https://ebird.org/species/alblyr1">Menura alberti</a></em>). One of the largest national parks in New South Wales <a href="https://npansw.org.au/2020/11/03/ambitious-expansion-of-national-parks-warmly-welcomed/">was acquired</a> for the Bulloo grey grasswren (<em><a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=67065">Amytornis barbatus barbatus</a></em>). The Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle (<a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=64435#:%7E:text=The%20Wedge%2Dtailed%20Eagle%20(Tasmanian)%20is%20a%20large%20bird,(Bell%20%26%20Mooney%201998).">Aquila audax fleayi</a>) also had more of its nesting habitat protected.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/prince-albert-had-nothing-to-do-with-the-lyrebird-bearing-his-name-should-our-birds-be-named-after-people-217792">Prince Albert had nothing to do with the lyrebird bearing his name. Should our birds be named after people?</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For another species, simply enforcing the law reduced the threat. In south-western Australia, culling of Muir’s corella (<em><a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=25981">Cacatua pastinator pastinator</a></em>) for agriculture threatened it with extinction. Now, with better protection, there are <a href="https://www.dbca.wa.gov.au/management/muirs-corella-management-western-australia">thousands</a>.</p>
<p>Some threatened birds have benefited from intensive interventions by dedicated conservation agencies, non-government organisations and individuals. </p>
<p>Translocations of <a href="https://ebird.org/species/goupet1/">Gould’s petrels</a> to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320705004416">new breeding islands</a> and of eastern bristlebirds (<em><a href="https://ebird.org/species/easbri1/">Dasyornis brachypterus</a></em>) to <a href="https://parksaustralia.gov.au/news/eastern-bristlebird-translocation-success/">heathlands</a> were exemplary. </p>
<p>Very few glossy black-cockatoos (<a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/recovery-plans/south-australian-subspecies-glossy-black-cockatoo-calyptorhynchus-lathami-halmaturinus"><em>Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus</em></a>) on Kangaroo Island were nesting successfully before their <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339831737_From_the_brink_of_extinction_successful_recovery_of_the_glossy_black-cockatoo_on_Kangaroo_Island">nests were protected</a> from predatory possums. </p>
<p>Rats twice <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320411348_Back_from_the_brink_-_again_the_decline_and_recovery_of_the_Norfolk_Island_green_parrot">almost wiped out</a> Norfolk Island green parrots <a href="https://ebird.org/species/noipar1/"><em>Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae cookii</em></a>. Their population has <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01584197.2023.2267606">increased ten-fold</a> since nests have been better protected.</p>
<p>These examples show our society can make changes that help to prevent extinctions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A glossy black-cockatoo eats seeds from a casuarina tree on Kangaroo Island" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574560/original/file-20240209-29-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574560/original/file-20240209-29-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574560/original/file-20240209-29-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574560/original/file-20240209-29-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574560/original/file-20240209-29-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574560/original/file-20240209-29-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574560/original/file-20240209-29-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protecting glossy black-cockatoo nests from possums on Kangaroo Island has boosted the population.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/glossy-black-cockatoo-picks-casuarina-seed-2120254118">Paleokastritsa/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-identified-the-63-animals-most-likely-to-go-extinct-by-2041-we-cant-give-up-on-them-yet-182155">We identified the 63 animals most likely to go extinct by 2041. We can't give up on them yet</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>There have also been setbacks</h2>
<p>Our stories contain salutary lessons too. The pathway to recovery can have reversals.</p>
<p>In the past decade, Gould’s petrel and the bristlebird have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2023.2291140">suffered setbacks</a> due to new or escalating threats. A <a href="https://afo.birdlife.org.au/afo/index.php/afo/article/view/2304">new report</a> suggests Tasmanian wind farms are killing and injuring significant numbers of eagles – and many more windfarms are planned.</p>
<p>Our analysis of improvements in the conservation outlook for Australian birds was complemented with an assessment of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2023.2240345">Australian bird extinctions</a>. Sadly, we found extinctions are continuing. </p>
<p>Even with the conservation effort of the past 30 years since Australia’s first endangered species legislation, three birds are gone forever. The Mount Lofty Ranges spotted quail-thrush (<em><a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/conservation-advices/cinclosoma-punctatum-anachoreta">Cinclosoma punctatum anachoreta</a></em>), white-chested white-eye (<a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=25899"><em>Zosterops albogularis</em></a>) and southern star finch (<em><a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=26027">Neochmia ruficauda ruficauda</a></em>) were still surviving in the 1990s, but were extinct by 2010. </p>
<p>The number of extinct birds has risen steadily since Australia was colonised in 1788. There was an initial burst of extinctions on islands, particularly big birds that were good to eat and probably had small populations. More recent losses have tended to be small birds whose mainland habitat has been cleared or modified.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-re-counted-australias-extinct-species-and-the-result-is-devastating-127611">Scientists re-counted Australia's extinct species, and the result is devastating</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574558/original/file-20240209-18-5jl1x3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A museum specimen of a white-breasted white-eye, now an extinct bird" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574558/original/file-20240209-18-5jl1x3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574558/original/file-20240209-18-5jl1x3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574558/original/file-20240209-18-5jl1x3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574558/original/file-20240209-18-5jl1x3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574558/original/file-20240209-18-5jl1x3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574558/original/file-20240209-18-5jl1x3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574558/original/file-20240209-18-5jl1x3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The white-breasted white-eye is now found only in museum collections, having gone extinct by 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Naturalis_Biodiversity_Center_-_RMNH.AVES.133455_1_-_Zosterops_albogularis_Gould,_1837_-_Zosteropidae_-_bird_skin_specimen.jpeg">Naturalis Biodiversity Center/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>29 birds are gone, but we can halt the losses</h2>
<p>At present, 29 Australian birds are known to have become extinct. It’s a <a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-re-counted-australias-extinct-species-and-the-result-is-devastating-127611">lower percentage than for mammals</a> but still far too high. </p>
<p>Grave fears are held for <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-identified-the-63-animals-most-likely-to-go-extinct-by-2041-we-cant-give-up-on-them-yet-182155">another four</a> – the Tiwi hooded robin (<em><a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=67092">Melanodryas cucullata melvillensis</a></em>), buff-breasted button-quail (<em><a href="https://ebird.org/species/bubbut1?siteLanguage=en_AU">Turnix olivii</a></em>), Coxen’s fig-parrot (<em><a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=59714">Cyclopsitta diophthalma coxeni</a></em>) and Cape Range rufous grasswren (<em><a href="https://bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-british-ornithologists-club/volume-140/issue-2/bboc.v140i2.2020.a6/Two-new-but-threatened-subspecies-of-Rufous-Grasswren-Amytornis-whitei/10.25226/bboc.v140i2.2020.a6.full">Amytornis striatus parvus</a></em>). We don’t know whether they persist or not.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-buff-breasted-button-quail-still-alive-after-years-of-searching-this-century-old-bird-mystery-has-yet-to-be-solved-175647">Is the buff-breasted button-quail still alive? After years of searching, this century-old bird mystery has yet to be solved</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For the 29 extinct birds, we can do nothing. The important lesson is that this number of losses need grow no more. We have the resources and skills to prevent extinction.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-31/bob-brown-judge-logging-suspension-tasmania-rare-swift-parrot/103411922">court order</a> halting forestry activity in swift parrot (<em><a href="https://ebird.org/species/swipar1/">Lathamus discolor</a></em>) habitat suggests at least some environmental laws are making a difference. </p>
<p>Other judgments expose legal shortcomings and show how much more needs to be done. The revisions of national environmental laws <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/pathway-reforming-national-environmental-law.pdf">now being negotiated</a> provide an opportunity to fill loopholes through which threatened species might fall.</p>
<p>Extinctions are neither accidental nor deliberate. They are a failure of policy and people. </p>
<p>However, the examples of birds whose risk of extinction has declined show what can be achieved. While some of these improvements were mostly a matter of good luck, many were the result of hard work, advocacy, investment and well-judged interventions. And they give the world hope.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222759/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Woinarski is affiliated with Charles Darwin University, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the Biodiversity Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Legge receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is a member of the Biodiversity Council; the Conservation and Science Committee for the Invasive Species Council; and the Threatened Species Committee for Birds Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Garnett receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with BirdLife Australia. </span></em></p>
It’s hard work saving birds from extinction, but we have the evidence of successful interventions to show we can avoid further losses.
John Woinarski, Professor of Conservation Biology, Charles Darwin University
Sarah Legge, Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Australian National University
Stephen Garnett, Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215945
2023-12-20T16:05:41Z
2023-12-20T16:05:41Z
Can seabirds hear their way across the ocean? Our research suggests so
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556160/original/file-20231026-17-8u6y4w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C2500%2C1736&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wandering albatrosses can cover huge distances in a single trip. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wandering-albatross-flying-above-ocean-bay-389163982">MZPhoto.cz/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Animals cover astonishing distances when they are looking for food. While caribou, reindeer and wolves clock up impressive mileage on land, seabirds are unrivalled in their travelling distances. <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Arctic_Tern/overview">Arctic terns</a> travel from the Arctic to Antarctica and back as part of their annual migration. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098113003602">Wandering albatrosses</a> (<em>Diomedea exulans</em>) fly the equivalent of ten times to the Moon and back over their lifetimes. </p>
<p>There has been a lot of research into how seabirds choose their flight paths and find food. They seem to use their sight or <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-09738-5">sense of smell</a> to assess local conditions. </p>
<p>Wandering albatrosses <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/about/antarctica/wildlife/albatross/">can travel more than 10,000km</a> in a single foraging trip, though, and we don’t know much about how these birds use mid- and long-range cues from their environment to decide where to go. </p>
<p>For the first time, however, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2314980120">my team’s recent study</a> gives an insight into how birds such as wandering albatrosses may use sound to determine what conditions are like further away.</p>
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<h2>How seabirds use low-frequency sound</h2>
<p>Previous research has shown that seabirds not only <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347223000362">seek information</a> about where to find food, but how to do so efficiently. We discovered that the way wandering albatrosses use their sense of sound may be crucial. </p>
<p>Our study looked at how these birds respond to a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079610706000848">very low-frequency</a> type of sound called infrasound, which can travel for thousands of kilometres. </p>
<p>While it’s <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15273023/">typically inaudible to humans</a>, we know that some animals can hear infrasound. When waves crash together or against coastlines, they create a frequency of infrasound called <a href="https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/221/1/569/5700715">microbarums</a>. This was the type of infrasound our study looked at. </p>
<p>We know that areas of high wave activity can be associated with <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/upwelling.html#:%7E:text=Upwelling%20is%20a%20process%20in,winds%20blow%20along%20the%20shore.">upwellings</a> – where fish are brought to the surface. Infrasound could provide information about where these areas are, and inform birds of good foraging patches. </p>
<p>Efficient foraging is particularly important for large seabird species like the wandering albatross, which have a wing span of 3.5 metres. Their size means they <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/albatrosses-fine-tuned-to-wind-conditions/">rely on wind</a> to take off and fly efficiently, unlike smaller birds such as puffins, which <a href="https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/facts/atlantic-puffin#:%7E:text=Well%20adapted%20for%20their%20home,arms%20in%20one%20minute%3F">flap their wings</a> up to 400 times a minute. </p>
<p>High wave activity also indicates strong winds. Given we know that wandering albatrosses depend on wind to fly efficiently, my team’s study suggests that infrasound could give them a long-range cue for where optimal foraging conditions may be. </p>
<p>Infrasound is also generated when <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2005GL025085">waves crash against coastlines</a>, and we know that many coastal seabirds <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8825984/">use the coast</a> to select their flight paths and find their way back to their breeding colonies. So, infrasound could reveal the location of static features like coastlines, giving seabirds important information across long distances. </p>
<p>Despite the <a href="https://www.cdip.ucsd.edu/themes/media/docs/publications_references/journal_articles/Measuring_Infrasound_from_the_Maritime_Environment.pdf">potential of this cue</a> for seabirds, our paper (published in PNAS) is the first evidence that seabirds may respond to infrasound, which is monitored globally through a network of sensors installed by the <a href="https://www.ctbto.org/">Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization</a> (CTBTO).</p>
<p>This system was installed to detect nuclear tests, but its byproduct is huge amounts of data which scientists can use. We combined the CTBTO’s records with our own GPS tracking data from 89 wandering albatrosses to compare microbarums and the birds’ movements. </p>
<h2>What we learned</h2>
<p>This allowed us to isolate data that showed how these albatrosses appeared to make decisions about where to go next. Our findings showed they chose the direction with the loudest infrasound. This suggests the birds could use infrasound to find food or to minimise the energy they use on their travels. However, we are not able to say for sure why louder areas are better.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556163/original/file-20231026-21-emtopk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young wandering albatross displaying open wings, with blue sky and mountain background," src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556163/original/file-20231026-21-emtopk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556163/original/file-20231026-21-emtopk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556163/original/file-20231026-21-emtopk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556163/original/file-20231026-21-emtopk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556163/original/file-20231026-21-emtopk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556163/original/file-20231026-21-emtopk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556163/original/file-20231026-21-emtopk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wandering albatross have a huge wing span.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-wandering-albatross-displaying-open-wings-372098686">MZPHOTO.CZ/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our findings may also give scientists insights into how other birds make decisions on medium- and long-distance journeys. </p>
<p>As with many studies testing a hypothesis for the first time, my team’s study raises as many questions as it answers. If seabirds respond to infrasound, they must be able to hear it and know where it is coming from. Lab studies have found evidence that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/brv.12596">some birds can hear infrasound</a>, but there have been no tests on seabirds.</p>
<p>Taking a wandering albatross into a lab and creating a sound chamber large enough to run experimental tests seems unlikely in the near term, but other seabird species <a href="https://www.conservationevidence.com/actions/604">can live in captivity</a> and research could focus on this. </p>
<p>Weather changes driven by climate change, and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/seabirds-can-starve-when-hit-by-repeated-severe-storms-but-we-still-dont-know-why-177569">damaging effects</a> these are having on seabirds as well as many other plants and animals, are well documented – making it harder for them to find food, for example. </p>
<p>As humans alter ocean habitats, infrasound may help birds adapt by aiding them to find food, even as stocks diminish. Or human activity, such as more noise, could mask this kind of essential information, with harmful consequences for wildlife. Either way, understanding how and why seabirds use infrasound will help scientists understand its importance in the climate crisis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215945/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Patrick receives funding from the Human Frontier Science Program</span></em></p>
Scientists have long been baffled by how seabirds decide where to go on their long journeys. Our study of wandering albatrosses offers new clues.
Samantha Patrick, Reader in Marine Biology, University of Liverpool
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/217349
2023-11-10T01:21:24Z
2023-11-10T01:21:24Z
Why are dead and dying seabirds washing up on our beaches in their hundreds?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558507/original/file-20231108-15-8cqks7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5184%2C3445&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Roman</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In October and November, horrified beachgoers often <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-06/migrating-shearwaters-found-dead-on-nsw-beaches/103068222">find dead and dying muttonbirds</a> washing up in an event called a seabird “wreck”. </p>
<p>Again this year, there are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-06/migrating-shearwaters-found-dead-on-nsw-beaches/103068222">reports</a> of Australia’s beautiful east coast beaches turned grim with hundreds of dying seabirds.</p>
<p>Here’s what we do and don’t know about seabird wrecks, and what you can do if you come across one.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A short-tailed shearwater sits on a beach with two dead ones behind it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558721/original/file-20231109-27-6so9wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558721/original/file-20231109-27-6so9wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558721/original/file-20231109-27-6so9wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558721/original/file-20231109-27-6so9wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558721/original/file-20231109-27-6so9wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558721/original/file-20231109-27-6so9wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558721/original/file-20231109-27-6so9wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dead and dying shearwaters are a common sight on our beaches in some years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/heathlrobertson/11553387345/in/photolist-iAW7h4-ge83Du-s2H7Yi-iAW8xx-r811fy-hzRj3H-qdhtq9-7u95JY-8PjPRt-peK3eW">Heath Robertson/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Wrecks are becoming more common</h2>
<p>Millions of <a>short-tailed shearwaters</a> (<em>Ardenna tenuirostis</em>), commonly known as muttonbirds, return to southern Australia from the Arctic each spring – a round trip of up to 35,000km. </p>
<p>Not all birds survive their long migration. The fit and healthy largely return in late September and October. The less fit lag behind. To some extent, deaths are natural. </p>
<p>Muttonbirds keep a strict timetable and, while failed migrants can wash up any time during spring, mass mortalities can occur from mid-October to November. Muttonbird wrecks have happened on rare occasions <a href="https://absa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/C27381.pdf">since time immemorial</a>, but are becoming more common. </p>
<p>The many ideas about what is causing wrecks range from storms and overfishing to plastic, blue-green algae and irradiated water from Fukushima. </p>
<p>University of Tasmania researchers have studied the muttonbirds for decades. While we can’t pinpoint the exact cause for every wreck, we can explain what we know and eliminate the unlikely culprits.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1233578600160346113"}"></div></p>
<h2>What we know</h2>
<p>When muttonbird wrecks occur, the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1720577115">casualties are starving</a>. These birds weigh only half their healthy body weight. The factors leading to this starvation <a href="https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v662/p157-168">start before they reach Australia</a>.</p>
<p>Muttonbirds chase an eternal summer. After <a href="https://absa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Cor-Vol-15-Pg45-52_AustBirdReviews_No3_ShortTailedShearwater.pdf">returning to Australia from the North Pacific</a>, they lay eggs in late November on Australia’s southern islands and raise a single chick. When the weather cools in April the adults depart on a great migration north where the sea ice is melting on the Bering Sea ahead of an Arctic summer. </p>
<p>Ecosystem changes in the sub-Arctic, where the birds fatten up over the northern summer, can lead to death on Australian beaches.</p>
<p>Many marine animals share the North Pacific Ocean with muttonbirds. Among them are <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/allenelizabeth/2019/08/14/abundance-of-pink-salmon-threatens-recovery-of-other-salmon-species/?sh=6f62e08e5c1c">several salmon species</a>, which compete with <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/feature/m719p001.pdf">muttonbirds and other marine wildlife</a> for the same zooplankton prey – the abundant small animals floating in the surface waters of the ocean. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-might-be-the-worlds-biggest-ocean-but-the-mighty-pacific-is-in-peril-150745">It might be the world's biggest ocean, but the mighty Pacific is in peril</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=pinksalmon.main#:%7E:text=Pink%20salmon%20have%20the%20shortest,year%20populations%20of%20pink%20salmon.">pink salmon</a> (<em>Oncorhynchus gorbuscha</em>), in particular, is central to the muttonbirds story. You may have seen them in documentaries, being eaten by bears on the annual “salmon run”. You may also eat them yourself, as <a href="https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/693763/woolworths-salmon-in-springwater">tinned salmon</a>. </p>
<p>Pink salmon live hard and fast. Their life cycle from hatching to spawning lasts two years. However, wild numbers couldn’t satisfy consumer demand and by the mid-20th century the species was in trouble. </p>
<p>To take pressure off wild fish stock and meet soaring demand, salmon hatcheries now <a href="https://hakaimagazine.com/features/too-many-pinks-in-the-pacific/">release billions</a> of fry, many more than would exist through nature, into the North Pacific Ocean. Pink salmon numbers, both hatchery and wild fish, have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1577/C09-054.1">more than doubled</a> in recent decades. </p>
<p>Increased salmon numbers have caused crashes in zooplankton in odd-numbered years, when <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/pink-salmon#:%7E:text=Because%20the%20pink%20salmon%20life,in%20some%20Puget%20Sound%20rivers.">most pink salmon reach spawning size</a> and are <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/feature/m719p001.pdf">25 times more abundant</a> than in even-numbered years. The effect is so strong that even healthy breeding muttonbirds arriving in Tasmania are lighter most odd-numbered years.</p>
<p>Other factors are also affecting zooplankton. The Arctic seas are <a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/study-finds-strong-marine-heatwaves-arctic">among the fastest warming</a> on Earth. Marine heatwaves have been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9895051/">causing shifts</a> in where and when zooplankton occur, and how large they grow. </p>
<p>When seabirds on a strict schedule arrive to feed, they can miss the zooplankton buffet. This has <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0226087">led to devastating wrecks</a> for Arctic and sub-Arctic seabird species, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/24/alaska-australia-anxious-observers-fear-mass-shearwater-deaths">including muttonbirds</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A large flock of short-tailed shearwaters at sea" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558511/original/file-20231108-21-r1i95d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558511/original/file-20231108-21-r1i95d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558511/original/file-20231108-21-r1i95d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558511/original/file-20231108-21-r1i95d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558511/original/file-20231108-21-r1i95d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558511/original/file-20231108-21-r1i95d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558511/original/file-20231108-21-r1i95d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muttonbirds often migrate and forage in large flocks, known as ‘rafts’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Roman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/seabirds-are-todays-canaries-in-the-coal-mine-and-theyre-sending-us-an-urgent-message-160279">Seabirds are today's canaries in the coal mine – and they're sending us an urgent message</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In 2013, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-03-25/shearwater-seabirds-famished-ate-pumice-stones-before-mass-wreck/100021882">millions of muttonbirds starved</a> along Australia’s coast from <a href="https://theconversation.com/celebrating-kgari-why-the-renaming-of-fraser-island-is-about-so-much-more-than-a-name-168378">K'gari/Fraser Island</a> to Tasmania. Though we don’t know the exact cause, this was likely influenced by a double whammy: competition for food with salmon and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blob_(Pacific_Ocean)">severe marine heatwave called “the blob”</a>. </p>
<p>But what about the other causes? Examination of wrecked birds rules out plastic, blue-green algae and irradiated water from Fukushima as causes of death. </p>
<p>Birds are already in poor condition when they arrive. Storms or strong winds might push an already poorly muttonbird over the edge, but are generally not the cause of its poor condition. People often find muttonbirds after storms because onshore winds blow them from the sea onto beaches.</p>
<h2>What should I do if I find a muttonbird?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558510/original/file-20231108-19-cychzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558510/original/file-20231108-19-cychzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558510/original/file-20231108-19-cychzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558510/original/file-20231108-19-cychzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558510/original/file-20231108-19-cychzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558510/original/file-20231108-19-cychzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558510/original/file-20231108-19-cychzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Only a muttonbird in very poor condition rests on the beach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Roman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If a muttonbird is too weak to fly, sadly it’s unlikely to recover. </p>
<p>If you want to give them a chance, though the odds are low, contact a specialist seabird rescue group. Seabirds have very specific care needs. Taking one home or feeding it, while well intended, may cause more harm than good. </p>
<p>If you find more than a few along the beach, you can report the wreck by emailing the author or contacting the University of Tasmania. Note the time, date, location and number of birds per kilometre. </p>
<p>If you find a muttonbird (or any bird) with a metal ring on its leg, please report the number to the <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/science-research/bird-bat-banding/get-involved/report-band-sightings">Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-hundreds-of-call-outs-every-day-wildlife-rescue-services-can-help-us-understand-the-threats-to-our-native-animals-205841">With hundreds of call-outs every day, wildlife rescue services can help us understand the threats to our native animals</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What if I find other dead seabirds or waterbirds?</h2>
<p>There’s another reason to watch out for unusual bird deaths this summer.
A deadly bird disease has a <a href="https://theconversation.com/migrating-birds-could-bring-lethal-avian-flu-to-australias-vulnerable-birds-204793">high probability of reaching Australia’s shores</a>. High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) has <a href="https://www.woah.org/en/disease/avian-influenza/">killed millions of birds</a> worldwide, including seabirds. </p>
<p>The disease <a href="https://wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au/Portals/0/ResourceCentre/FactSheets/Avian/Avian_Influenza_in_Wild_Birds_in_Australia.pdf">could enter Australia</a> if carried by birds, including muttonbirds, migrating from the Northern Hemisphere (where HPIA is infecting wild bird populations) to Australia. </p>
<p>If you find an unusual number of sick or dying seabirds, shorebirds or waterbirds, report the incident to <a href="https://wildlifehealthaustralia.com.au/Incidents/Report-An-Incident">Wildlife Health Australia</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/migrating-birds-could-bring-lethal-avian-flu-to-australias-vulnerable-birds-204793">Migrating birds could bring lethal avian flu to Australia's vulnerable birds</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217349/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Roman receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
She would like to thank Professor Emeritus Alan Springer and Dr Natalie Bool for providing advice on earlier drafts of this article. Alan led the initial discovery and research about the connection between pink salmon and shearwater wrecks. Natalie completed her PhD thesis on the foraging ecology of short-tailed shearwaters. Their contribution and expertise is much appreciated. </span></em></p>
Muttonbird ‘wrecks’ are becoming more common. Despite speculation about many possible causes, the evidence points to changes in the Arctic ocean ecosystem from where the birds migrate to Australia.
Lauren Roman, ARC DECRA Fellow, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211534
2023-08-18T13:17:17Z
2023-08-18T13:17:17Z
Europe’s wild bird species are on the brink – but there are ways to bring them back
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543458/original/file-20230818-28498-i65j2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5068%2C3107&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A flock of puffins on a cliff in Northumberland, England.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/flock-atlantic-puffins-standing-on-cliff-1723196842">Riska Parakeet/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Almost two out of every five species of wild bird are of conservation concern across Europe, according to an updated and comprehensive <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/361EC15802DF549056E2DA6933EA2A97/S0959270923000187a.pdf/birds-in-europe-4-the-fourth-assessment-of-species-of-european-conservation-concern.pdf">assessment of their population status</a>. That means these species are declining and becoming more scarce across the continent. Among the birds of conservation concern are some familiar species, including <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/dunnock">dunnock</a>, <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/goldcrest/">goldcrest</a> and <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/meadow-pipit/">meadow pipit</a>.</p>
<p>Since the first assessment, which was carried out in 1994, the number of European bird species that are of global conservation concern has trebled. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/snowy-owl">Snowy owl</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/lapwing">northern lapwing</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/curlew">Eurasian curlew</a>, <a href="https://ebird.org/species/steeag1?siteLanguage=en_GB">steppe eagle</a> and <a href="https://4vultures.org/vultures/bearded-vulture/">bearded vulture</a> have all been unlucky enough to make this list. </p>
<p>The assessment used data collected on 546 bird species to estimate population sizes and trends throughout Europe. Species were then assigned one of five categories depending on their extinction risk, considering whether a species is of global or European conservation concern and whether its distribution is concentrated within Europe.</p>
<p>The number of species that are of conservation concern across the continent is worrying, but sadly not particularly surprising. Many of the species that are declining have been doing so for at least the past three decades – and this study highlights that not much has changed. </p>
<h2>Which species are at risk?</h2>
<p>Birds around the world are facing a <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-environ-112420-014642">multitude of threats</a>. These include changes both to the climate and how land is used, but also over-exploitation, competition with invasive species and pollution. Habitat destruction and degradation, a key driver of bird population decline, affects <a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/sowb/casestudy/a-range-of-threats-drives-declines-in-bird-populations">93% of globally threatened species</a>.</p>
<p>Certain bird groups are being hit particularly hard. In the assessment, migratory birds, raptors, waders and duck species were noted as being of high conservation concern. </p>
<p>The recent assessment, along with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1087596/pdf/PB010025.pdf">many others</a>, found that farmland birds are among those of highest concern. In fact, almost 60% of the species in the highest conservation concern category were associated with farmland habitats. These species include many that, in the not-too-distant past, were common. </p>
<p>The gentle coo of the <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/turtle-dove/">European turtle dove</a>, for example, was once a familiar sound across Europe’s countryside. But since 1980, the species has <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ibi.13031">declined by almost 80%</a> across Europe. This decline is even more dire in the UK, where turtle doves have suffered a <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/uk-turtle-dove-survey-warns-of-low-numbers-but-hope-is-on-the-horizon/">staggering 98% reduction</a> in their population since the 1970s.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The European turtle dove." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543460/original/file-20230818-29-dv3j25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543460/original/file-20230818-29-dv3j25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543460/original/file-20230818-29-dv3j25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543460/original/file-20230818-29-dv3j25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543460/original/file-20230818-29-dv3j25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543460/original/file-20230818-29-dv3j25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543460/original/file-20230818-29-dv3j25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The European turtle dove.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/european-turtledove-streptopelia-turtur-adult-walking-1797595582">Neil Bowman/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2216573120">Research</a> reveals that agricultural intensification, including the use of pesticides and inorganic fertilisers, is one of the key drivers of population decline in farmland birds across Europe. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/europe-has-lost-over-half-a-billion-birds-in-40-years-the-single-biggest-cause-pesticides-and-fertilisers-206826">Europe has lost over half a billion birds in 40 years. The single biggest cause? Pesticides and fertilisers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The outlook is equally worrying for Europe’s seabirds. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/petrel">Petrels</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/shearwater">shearwaters</a>, <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/kittiwake/">kittiwakes</a> and – perhaps the most well-loved and recognisable seabird – <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/puffin/">puffins</a>, are among the species that are noted as being of global conservation concern in the assessment. </p>
<p>Climate change is altering environmental conditions and industrial fishing practices are depleting stocks of the fish that these seabirds rely on. This means that food quality, quantity and availability are all changing, which carries <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.14133#jpe14133-bib-0015">serious consequences</a> for the breeding performance and survival of these top predators. </p>
<p>A lack of prey near puffin colonies in the north-east Atlantic, for example, means adults are being forced to <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13442">travel further</a> to find food for their chicks. This comes with energy costs for adult puffins and also means that the chicks are fed less often.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/disease-and-garden-wildlife/avian-influenza-updates/">new strain of avian flu</a> that is killing birds worldwide adds further and very urgent threats to this already vulnerable group.</p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>The assessment suggests that current efforts to halt and reverse the loss of Europe’s bird species are not sufficient. More and urgent action is needed if we want nature to have a fighting chance. But there are some promising measures that can be implemented both nationally and internationally.</p>
<p>In recent decades, there has been a focus on protecting sites for important bird populations. Natura 2000, for example, are designated areas within the EU that contain rare habitats and important breeding and resting sites. Currently, 18% of the EU’s land surface area is designated as a Natura 2000 site, and the aim is to create a <a href="https://natura2000.eea.europa.eu/">network of connected protected sites</a> right across the continent. </p>
<p>Evidence on the effectiveness of protected areas is clear: when implemented appropriately, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12306">they work</a>. Globally, the number of species is 10.6% higher within protected areas compared with unprotected areas.</p>
<p>But protecting existing habitats is not enough to reverse declines alone. Habitats need to be restored. </p>
<p>A compelling case emerges from Hungary’s Hortobágy National Park, where areas of cropland have been converted into restored grassland. Over a three-year period after grassland restoration, the abundance and diversity of farmland bird species <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320722003998?casa_token=3EIhGcex29YAAAAA:5xqn9pz3hmAAldiAwOkRl3fCMAoNXAi9UZBRAndrDA17hGgsJkz3V2up0e5Hlqpc-Ban8wK5P6k">increased by 35% and 40%</a> respectively.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A flock of common cranes drinking from a pond." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543465/original/file-20230818-25206-71dfbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543465/original/file-20230818-25206-71dfbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543465/original/file-20230818-25206-71dfbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543465/original/file-20230818-25206-71dfbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543465/original/file-20230818-25206-71dfbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543465/original/file-20230818-25206-71dfbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543465/original/file-20230818-25206-71dfbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A flock of common cranes in the Hortobágy National Park, Hungary.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/flock-common-cranes-grus-drinking-national-2162785745">vadviz.studio/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also need to consider the way we produce our food and fuel. Enforcing legislation on what kinds of chemicals, and how much of them, we use to control agricultural pests and diseases is crucial.</p>
<p>In 2018, EU member states <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/european-union-expands-ban-three-neonicotinoid-pesticides">banned the use of certain neonicotinoids</a> (a class of insecticide) after mounting evidence of their widespread impact on insects – an important source of food for birds.</p>
<p>This is a promising start, but it will only be effective if implemented widely and not reversed. Unfortunately, the UK government has <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/government-allows-banned-pesticide">authorised the emergency application of neonicotinoids</a> in each of the past three years.</p>
<p>There are ways to stop Europe’s bird species from disappearing. We just need to make sure these ideas are put into action widely and in the right way. </p>
<hr>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Esther Kettel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A new assessment of the population status of Europe’s birds reveals that the number of species that are of conservation concern is increasing.
Esther Kettel, Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation, Nottingham Trent University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/209807
2023-07-31T11:44:09Z
2023-07-31T11:44:09Z
I’ve spent 50 years studying one seabird colony fight its way back from near extinction – now it faces new threats
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539505/original/file-20230726-27-rfmrqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C0%2C3500%2C2321&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A guillemot nesting on a cliff ledge on Skomer Island, south Wales.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/guillemot-nesting-on-cliff-ledge-skomer-454070743">Andrew Astbury/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past few decades, Skomer Island off the south coast of Wales has witnessed a remarkable resurgence in its guillemot population. Before 1930, Skomer was home to over 100,000 <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/guillemot/">common guillemots</a>. But by the end of the second world war, this number had <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320460192_Changes_in_the_numbers_of_common_guillemots_on_skomer_since_the_1930s">plummeted by about 95%</a> and continued to decline for the next few decades. </p>
<p>This population decline was probably caused by chronic oil pollution during the second world war and several major oil tanker incidents in the subsequent years. In 1967, for example, the supertanker SS Torrey Canyon <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39223308">spilled over 100,000 tonnes of crude oil</a> into the English channel.</p>
<p>However, counts conducted by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales show that Skomer’s guillemot population has consistently grown at an <a href="https://britishbirds.co.uk/content/june-2023">annual rate of about 5%</a> since the 1980s. In 1972, there were around 2,000 guillemots breeding on Skomer. Fast forward to 2023 and that number has skyrocketed to around 30,000. </p>
<p>This resurgence has been the subject of a long-term study conducted by myself and my colleagues over past 50 years. The increase in Skomer’s guillemot population is remarkable considering that populations in northern regions of the country have declined over the same period. </p>
<p>But our study also reveals that seabirds, including Skomer’s guillemots, now face several pressing threats – with climate change emerging as one of the most significant challenges.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Tim Birkhead sat on top of a cliff peering through binoculars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539550/original/file-20230726-15479-ui884.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539550/original/file-20230726-15479-ui884.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539550/original/file-20230726-15479-ui884.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539550/original/file-20230726-15479-ui884.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539550/original/file-20230726-15479-ui884.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539550/original/file-20230726-15479-ui884.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539550/original/file-20230726-15479-ui884.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tim Birkhead (pictured) has studied guillemots (Uria aalge) on Skomer Island for 50 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">K. Nigge</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Guillemots on the rise</h2>
<p>We have been monitoring the survival and breeding success of guillemots on Skomer. Our aim was to establish whether chick production, breeding age and adult and chick survival rates could explain the observed increase in their numbers. It took 30 years until we had a sufficient sample size to address these questions.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260104714_The_population_increase_of_common_guillemots_Uria_aalge_on_Skomer_Island_is_explained_by_intrinsic_demographic_properties">Our results</a> showed that the population increase since 1980 is entirely due to the productivity and survival of the Skomer birds themselves. In fact, there’s relatively little immigration or emigration affecting the colony’s numbers. </p>
<p>There has, however, been a <a href="http://www.seabirdgroup.org.uk/journals/seabird-34/seabird-34-1.pdf">marked reduction in oil pollution</a> in waters surrounding the UK in recent years. In the 1970s, around 90% of the dead guillemots found on beaches surrounding the North Sea were contaminated with oil. By 2020, this proportion had fallen to 10%. </p>
<p>This decline in oil pollution may be what has allowed the guillemot population on Skomer and other southern regions of the UK to bounce back towards the levels seen before 1930.</p>
<h2>Breeding earlier</h2>
<p>However, seabirds, including Skomer’s guillemots, continue to face a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0129342">multitude of threats</a>. Oil pollution has declined, but it has been superseded by the even more insidious and <a href="https://www.cebc.cnrs.fr/wp-content/uploads/publipdf/2021/SS372_2021.pdf">far-reaching effects of climate change</a>. Together with <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13442">persistent overfishing</a> and the recent <a href="http://www.seabirdgroup.org.uk/journals/seabird-34/seabird-34-C.pdf">emergence of avian flu</a>, climate change has further contributed to the increasing fragility of seabird populations.</p>
<p>One of our most striking results is that the timing of guillemot breeding has advanced by more than two weeks on average since the 1970s. The cause of this advance, which has also been noted in many bird species on land, is <a href="https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/publications/bto_climate_change_and_uk_birds_-_james_pearce-higgins_bto_web-compressed.pdf">probably climate change</a>.</p>
<p>We believe the early breeding season might be linked to the seasonal availability of their fish prey. There is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.2244">increasing evidence</a> that warmer seas are having a marked effect on both the distribution and abundance of marine fish in the UK.</p>
<h2>Dealing with extreme weather</h2>
<p>Climate change is also causing an increase in the frequency and intensity of winter storms. Sustained bad winter weather makes it difficult for guillemots and <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/puffin/">puffins</a> (another member of the bird family known as auks) to find food. This can lead to devastating “wrecks” where large numbers of dead seabirds wash up on the shore.</p>
<p>In early 2014, a series of storms resulted in the <a href="http://www.seabirdgroup.org.uk/journals/seabird-29/seabird-29-22.pdf">deaths of over 55,000 seabirds</a> around European coastlines, including 15,000 guillemots. In that year, the mortality rate of Skomer’s adult guillemots doubled to 12%. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Guillemots mating on Skomer island, UK." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539497/original/file-20230726-15-kg6ywj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539497/original/file-20230726-15-kg6ywj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539497/original/file-20230726-15-kg6ywj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539497/original/file-20230726-15-kg6ywj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539497/original/file-20230726-15-kg6ywj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539497/original/file-20230726-15-kg6ywj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539497/original/file-20230726-15-kg6ywj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Extreme weather is becoming more common during the breeding season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/guillemots-uria-aalge-mating-skomer-island-1055564837">Salparadis/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More worrying is the increasing incidence of extreme weather during the guillemots’ breeding season. Summers are witnessing stronger winds, rougher seas, torrential rain and extreme heat – all of which can reduce guillemot breeding success. </p>
<p>In May 2022, for example, two unseasonal storms resulted in many guillemots losing their eggs from breeding ledges, leading to the lowest breeding success we have seen on Skomer for several decades.</p>
<p>Long-term studies like mine provide the information that allows us to identify and measure the effects of different threats. In a few cases, they may also allow us to take action to minimise their effects. Yet these studies are few and far between.</p>
<p>As I see it, long-term studies on Skomer provide the ammunition that can help us fight the war against climate change and environmental degradation. Now more than ever, it is important that such studies continue.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 20,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209807/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Birkhead has in the past received funding from the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), the University of Sheffield and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), but for the last ten years the project has been supported entirely by crowd funding</span></em></p>
Studying a guillemot colony for 50 years has provided unique insights into how climate change and oil spills affect seabird populations.
Tim Birkhead, Emeritus Professor of Zoology, University of Sheffield
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/209081
2023-07-07T10:04:56Z
2023-07-07T10:04:56Z
Plastic pollution threatens birds far out at sea – new research
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535857/original/file-20230705-20979-fzq3sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=559%2C0%2C3174%2C2485&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Northern fulmar</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Beth Clark</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Seabirds are one of the world’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.06.033">most threatened animal groups</a>. They already contend with multiple issues, including climate change, accidental capture in fishing gear and being eaten by invasive species like cats and some rodents.</p>
<p>But these birds, which breed on land and forage for food at sea, are now facing another threat: plastic pollution. It’s becoming increasingly common to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X19310148">find seabirds that have ingested plastic</a> as they forage for food.</p>
<p>A group of seabirds called petrels are particularly at risk. They roam vast areas of the ocean and cannot easily regurgitate the plastic they ingest. During the breeding season, they may even inadvertently feed this plastic to their chicks.</p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38900-z">latest research</a>, we <a href="https://www.seabirdtracking.org/">tracked the movements</a> of over 7,000 petrels of 77 different species. We combined this data with existing maps of marine plastic pollution to calculate an “exposure risk score” for each species. These scores enabled us to create a detailed picture of when and where seabirds are most at risk of encountering plastic pollution at sea. </p>
<p>We found that many species spend a lot of time in areas of the ocean with high concentrations of plastic. Plastic exposure risk was highest in enclosed seas where plastic can become trapped, such as the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. These regions accounted for over half of the global plastic exposure risk for petrels, potentially affecting all four of the species studied that forage there.</p>
<p>But many other petrel species are at risk of encountering plastic in remote parts of the ocean, including the north-west and north-east Pacific, south Atlantic and south-west Indian Ocean. This is mainly due to large systems of circulating ocean currents, called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/044040">mid-ocean gyres</a>, which transport plastic debris thousands of miles from its source – such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/great-pacific-garbage-patch-46255">Great Pacific Garbage Patch</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, one-quarter of petrels’ plastic exposure risk occurred in the high seas. These areas are not within any country’s jurisdiction, so international efforts are required to reduce the threat of plastic pollution to seabirds and other marine wildlife.</p>
<h2>Vulnerable birds</h2>
<p>Plastic exposure risk varied depending on the species and whether it was breeding or non-breeding season. Notably, there were also differences in plastic exposure risk among populations of the same species.</p>
<p>Some already threatened species scored highly, including the critically endangered <a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/balearic-shearwater-puffinus-mauretanicus">Balearic shearwater</a>, which breeds in the Mediterranean. The <a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/newells-shearwater-puffinus-newelli">Newell’s shearwater</a>, which is endemic to Hawaii, was also at high risk of plastic exposure. </p>
<p>Another vulnerable species, the <a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/spectacled-petrel-procellaria-conspicillata">spectacled petrel</a>, also scored high for plastic exposure risk. This species nests solely on an uninhabited volcanic island in the south Atlantic Ocean called Inaccessible Island.</p>
<p>Even species with low exposure risk, such as the <a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/northern-fulmar-fulmarus-glacialis">northern fulmar</a> and <a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/snow-petrel-pagodroma-nivea">snow petrel</a>, have in the past <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-326X(88)90388-8">been found to eat plastic</a>. This goes to show that oceanic plastic pollution poses a problem for seabirds worldwide, even outside of high exposure areas.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Balearic shearwater flying over the Mediterranean Sea." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536081/original/file-20230706-29-rq9k7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536081/original/file-20230706-29-rq9k7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536081/original/file-20230706-29-rq9k7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536081/original/file-20230706-29-rq9k7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536081/original/file-20230706-29-rq9k7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536081/original/file-20230706-29-rq9k7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536081/original/file-20230706-29-rq9k7l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Balearic shearwater flying over the Mediterranean Sea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/balearic-shearwater-puffinus-mauretanicus-flying-over-2198407615">Arnau Soler/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Plastic pollution is an issue</h2>
<p>Seabirds often swallow plastic by accident, mistaking it for their food. They also ingest plastic that has already been eaten by their prey. </p>
<p>This can lead to injury, poisoning from toxic chemicals that leach from the plastic and starvation as plastic fills up their stomach. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749113006532">Research</a> from 2014 found that more than 60% of <a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/flesh-footed-shearwater-ardenna-carneipes">flesh-footed shearwater</a> fledglings surpass international targets for plastic ingestion by seabirds. Worryingly, 16% of fledglings failed these targets after just one feeding.</p>
<p>Over time, plastic debris also breaks down into minuscule fragments called microplastics. Research has found that microplastic exposure <a href="https://theconversation.com/seabirds-that-swallow-ocean-plastic-waste-have-scarring-in-their-stomachs-scientists-have-named-this-disease-plasticosis-201506">can cause inflammation</a> in a bird’s digestive system – a phenomenon called “plasticosis”.</p>
<p>We didn’t focus on the impact of plastic exposure on the petrel species studied, but many of these species are already threatened with extinction. Exposure to plastics may further reduce these birds’ resilience to the other threats they face.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A dead northern gannet trapped in plastic fishing net." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536091/original/file-20230706-19-gs6bxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536091/original/file-20230706-19-gs6bxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536091/original/file-20230706-19-gs6bxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536091/original/file-20230706-19-gs6bxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536091/original/file-20230706-19-gs6bxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536091/original/file-20230706-19-gs6bxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536091/original/file-20230706-19-gs6bxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A dead northern gannet trapped in plastic fishing net.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dead-northern-gannet-trapped-plastic-fishing-1120411439">Andrew Balcombe/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Beyond national boundaries</h2>
<p>Our study marks the first time that tracking data for so many species has been combined with existing knowledge of oceanic plastic pollution. This represents a big leap forward in our understanding of the threat plastic pollution poses to the natural world.</p>
<p>A significant proportion of plastic pollution accumulates in the high seas, far beyond the waters of the country where a seabird breeds. Our findings highlight the need for international cooperation to tackle marine plastic pollution, both directly from boats and from plastic waste on land.</p>
<p>Research suggests that <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00720-8">22% of ocean litter</a> is likely to originate from marine sources. Good waste management is therefore crucial to stop plastic waste from reaching the ocean. A key part of this will be improving compliance with the <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/ConferencesMeetings/pages/Marpol.aspx">existing ban</a> (which was adopted in 1973) on discarding any form of plastic from ships.</p>
<p>Protecting seabirds requires more than local solutions. We need <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714450114">regional and global treaties</a> that address plastic pollution in both national waters and the <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/news/2023/03/10/landmark-new-treaty-paves-the-way-for-the-protection-of-the-high-seas/">high seas</a>. Only by implementing solutions on a large scale can we safeguard the animals that inhabit our oceans.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 20,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Pearmain is based at the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey, and receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council C-CLEAR DTP.
This study was led by a partnership between BirdLife International, the University of Cambridge, and the British Antarctic Survey.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bethany Clark received funding for this study from the Cambridge Conservation Initiative’s Collaborative Fund for Conservation, sponsored by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. She is affiliated with BirdLife International. The study was led by a partnership between BirdLife International, the University of Cambridge, and the British Antarctic Survey, in collaboration with Fauna & Flora, the 5 Gyres Institute, and over 200 seabird researchers around the world. </span></em></p>
Some of the world’s most threatened birds are exposed to plastic pollution – even far out to sea.
Elizabeth Pearmain, PhD Candidate in Seabird Ecology, University of Cambridge
Bethany Clark, Seabird Science Officer, BirdLife International
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/206144
2023-05-25T15:55:00Z
2023-05-25T15:55:00Z
Greedy gulls decide what to eat by watching people – new research
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528236/original/file-20230525-29-gvd9ec.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C2851%2C2790&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Herring gull at Burghead Harbour, Scotland.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/common-herring-gull-burghead-harbour-2266864219">Tom McPherson/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ask anyone living in a coastal area of the UK and they’ll confirm that seagulls can be a nuisance. These birds’ pilfering of food knows no bounds, and no one is safe from one of their thieving attacks.</p>
<p>For many people, this behaviour is the result of the gulls’ inherent aggression. But in reality, gulls such as the <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/herring-gull/">herring gull</a> are more intelligent than we give them credit for, particularly in terms of their social skills. These birds are able to pay attention to the behaviour of others and use the information they gather to inform their own foraging choices.</p>
<p>Herring gulls thrive in modern urban areas. Urban gull colonies have taken off since making European cities their home in <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210615-why-sea-gulls-are-making-their-homes-in-our-cities">the mid-20th century</a>, despite the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/62030608/206585142">general decline in gulls’ overall population</a>. As a species, they have also shown great flexibility in their diet, nesting and reproductive behaviour. </p>
<p>As a scientist interested in animal cognition, I’m fascinated by the intelligent behaviour that allows gulls to successfully forage human foods. Research has already shown that urban herring gulls adapt their foraging behaviour to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12892">human activity patterns</a>, increase their attention <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.20.481240v2">towards a person in possession of food</a> and that they prefer food that has been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191959">touched by a person</a> compared to food that has not. </p>
<p>To build on this, my masters students Franziska Feist and Kiera Smith and I <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0035">set out to discover</a> if the birds could not only track objects handled by humans, but if they could also compare objects in their environment with those being manipulated by a person. The ability to compare objects and identify whether they are identical implies a higher cognitive ability than object tracking alone.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Pigeons and seagulls harassing a man with food next to a river." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528237/original/file-20230525-17-9e3u4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528237/original/file-20230525-17-9e3u4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528237/original/file-20230525-17-9e3u4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528237/original/file-20230525-17-9e3u4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528237/original/file-20230525-17-9e3u4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528237/original/file-20230525-17-9e3u4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528237/original/file-20230525-17-9e3u4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gulls can be a nuisance. Dublin, Ireland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dublin-ireland-june-28-2019-person-1436723789">jenniferdurann/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Quick learners</h2>
<p>We placed two Walkers brand crisp packets of different colours on the ground a few metres in front of single or small groups of herring gulls on Brighton beach. We sat on the sand and held a third crisp packet that matched the colour of either one of the packets on the ground. We then recorded the gulls’ response to see if, as hypothesised, they would choose the crisp packet that matched the colour of the one in our hand.</p>
<p>Of the gulls that pecked at the crisp packets, nearly all (95%) did so to the crisp packet that colour-matched the one we were holding. This suggests that these gulls possess the ability to identify and compare objects within their surroundings. In addition, the gulls’ seemed to observe the foraging choices of others – specifically people in this case – and use the information they obtained to decide what to eat.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A herring gull taking off from a railing at Brighton beach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528245/original/file-20230525-17-u5kf52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528245/original/file-20230525-17-u5kf52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528245/original/file-20230525-17-u5kf52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528245/original/file-20230525-17-u5kf52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528245/original/file-20230525-17-u5kf52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528245/original/file-20230525-17-u5kf52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528245/original/file-20230525-17-u5kf52.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A herring gull on a railing at Brighton beach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/european-herring-gull-native-seagull-western-1755362393">grandbrothers/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The number of approaches towards us did not differ significantly between adults and young birds (meaning, any with brown plumage). However, the majority that made an attempt at stealing one of the crisp packets were adults. Around 86% of the recorded pecks came from adults, despite these birds making up just 46% of our entire sample.</p>
<p>This suggests that stealing food requires a certain level of boldness and skill that most young birds lack. Another plausible explanation is that the young birds may have been deterred by the competition with adult birds, which they are likely to lose.</p>
<h2>Wide behavioural repertoire</h2>
<p>Our findings are interesting because herring gulls have not evolved with humans. In fact, their urbanisation only began relatively recently – around 80 years ago. </p>
<p>That means this behaviour cannot have come from an innate ability resulting from co-evolution or an extended period of living alongside humans. Rather, it must be the result of a broader, more general behavioural repertoire.</p>
<p>From a scientific perspective, this is fascinating. It seems that herring gulls are an intelligent and versatile predator that has successfully adapted to urban environments due to their observational skills and behavioural flexibility. </p>
<p>Yet, for many people, this may have some rather negative implications. Coastal residents and visitors frequently experience the impressive yet annoying ability of these birds to observe, target and steal food from picnics, bins and people directly. </p>
<p>We suggest that these problems likely stem from more than people feeding urban gulls directly. It seems that simply watching us eat something will make that specific food item, and any identical items in the vicinity, more attractive to these birds. It is this cognitive toolkit that will make tension between humans and urban herring gulls difficult to manage.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A seagull sitting on a bench marked with the text: " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528248/original/file-20230525-27-g2wlel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528248/original/file-20230525-27-g2wlel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528248/original/file-20230525-27-g2wlel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528248/original/file-20230525-27-g2wlel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528248/original/file-20230525-27-g2wlel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528248/original/file-20230525-27-g2wlel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528248/original/file-20230525-27-g2wlel.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not that herring gulls need any help.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seagull-sitting-on-rail-do-not-1542378374">JoMarB/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our work does, however, agree with <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0405">existing studies</a> that suggest only around a quarter of the UK urban gull population will actually attempt to steal food from a person. Less than a fifth of the gulls we sampled approached the crisp packets when when we were sitting nearby. </p>
<p>Regardless, any attempt to minimise conflict should extend beyond deterring people from feeding gulls and should take into account these birds’ exceptional observational skills. What is clear, though, is that we can’t rely solely on signs insisting that people “do not feed the birds”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Graham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Research has found that urban gulls work out what’s good to eat by watching humans.
Paul Graham, Professor of Neuroethology, University of Sussex
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202335
2023-04-06T07:02:17Z
2023-04-06T07:02:17Z
The untapped power of ocean winds – why New Zealand is looking offshore for future renewable energy
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519734/original/file-20230406-16-m663ss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C171%2C3536%2C2009&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nathan Stirk/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The latest <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/resources/spm-headline-statements/">synthesis report</a> released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (<a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">IPCC</a>) makes it clear we need to prepare for intensifying impacts, while also cutting emissions dramatically. </p>
<p>One beacon of hope is the global growth in renewable energy, with offshore wind in particular with new installations <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/renewable-energy-market-update-may-2022/renewable-electricity">increasing almost six-fold in 2021</a> compared to 2020.</p>
<p>Aotearoa New Zealand is one of a few regions – with Norway, Iceland, Brazil and Canada – with an already high proportion of electricity coming from renewable sources. However, electricity does not equal total energy and New Zealand must consider a fundamental shift for other parts of its energy spectrum, including industrial heat.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1538784426771234817"}"></div></p>
<p>There is no shortage of energy in New Zealand’s marine environment. A current <a href="https://www.mbie.govt.nz/have-your-say/enabling-investment-in-offshore-renewable-energy/">discussion document</a> (calling for public submissions by April 14) signals that offshore wind is poised to build a beachhead in a renewables market historically dominated by hydro power and underpinned by coal.</p>
<p>The technical and environmental challenges of offshore wind power are complex and expensive. Countries such as China, Denmark, Ireland and the UK currently lead the way, but New Zealand’s position in the southwest Pacific Ocean means there’s plenty of wind energy, both on land and at sea. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ireland-has-the-wind-and-seas-to-become-an-offshore-superpower-174553">Ireland has the wind and seas to become an offshore superpower</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A shift in energy supply</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.araake.co.nz/">Ara Ake</a>, an energy innovation centre with a mission to assist New Zealand’s decarbonisation, recently held a forum on offshore renewable energy in New Plymouth, the country’s centre for the natural gas sector. </p>
<p>The discussions centred around upcoming changes to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/managing-retreat-why-new-zealand-is-drafting-a-new-law-to-enable-communities-to-move-away-from-climate-risks-157394">Resource Management Act</a>, which will affect how development in the environment proceeds, and the recognition that any new initiatives need to engage with Te Tiriti and Māori perspectives on how resources are used and who benefits.</p>
<p>The discussion document highlights two regions: the Taranaki Bight and Foveaux Strait. Both locations are relatively shallow and well suited to installations of current technology. </p>
<p>A NZ$4 billion project to build the country’s <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/300728999/new-zealands-first-offshore-wind-farm-gets-under-way-in-taranaki">first 65-turbine offshore wind farm off the Taranaki coast</a> could be completed within a decade, but the document also identifies some potential future regions that are deeper and more exposed to the Southern Ocean. </p>
<h2>Potential impacts of offshore wind farms</h2>
<p>New Zealand is watching developments at a large Australian offshore wind farm off the coast of Gippsland, which aims to supply <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/news/offshore-windfarm-development-awarded-major-project-status">20% of the electricity</a> for the state of Victoria.</p>
<p>But offshore wind generation presents environmental challenges, including possible impacts of large arrays of wind turbines on seabirds and marine mammals. The seas around Aotearoa are home to a greater proportion of seabirds than almost any other populated centre, including many seabird species that <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/seabirds-overview/page-1">breed nowhere else</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-poised-to-be-a-world-leader-in-offshore-wind-but-any-potential-risks-to-marine-life-remain-poorly-regulated-193212">Australia is poised to be a world leader in offshore wind, but any potential risks to marine life remain poorly regulated</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>Other potential <a href="https://tos.org/oceanography/article/introduction-to-the-special-issue-on-understanding-the-effects-of-offshore-wind-development-on-fisheries">impacts extend to fisheries</a>. But these depend on the location as ecosystems, fisheries and regulatory structures are unique to specific regions.</p>
<p>But one set of impacts has so far received little consideration. As tides push water past turbine pylons, the resultant wakes affect ocean stirring. This effect can be <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89063/offshore-wind-farms-make-wakes">seen from space</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.830927/full">recent study</a> for UK offshore wind farms identified how large arrays are affecting the biological functioning of coastal seas.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sediment stirred up in the wakes of an offshore wind farm off the UK coast." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517526/original/file-20230326-18-fnkwc4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517526/original/file-20230326-18-fnkwc4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=230&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517526/original/file-20230326-18-fnkwc4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=230&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517526/original/file-20230326-18-fnkwc4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=230&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517526/original/file-20230326-18-fnkwc4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517526/original/file-20230326-18-fnkwc4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517526/original/file-20230326-18-fnkwc4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sediment stirred up in the wakes of an offshore wind farm off the UK coast.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89063/offshore-wind-farms-make-wakes">NASA Earth Observatory</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With growing impacts from a changing climate, we need to ask more nuanced questions. For example, when considering environmental impacts, what baseline should we consider? Will the impacts of any particular development exceed the projected impacts of climate-driven extremes for that region?</p>
<p>Another compound question is how offshore renewables infrastructure will cope with a changing ocean. Climate projections are unequivocal about increasing <a href="https://theconversation.com/floods-cyclones-thunderstorms-is-climate-change-to-blame-for-new-zealands-summer-of-extreme-weather-201161">future storminess</a> and stronger or more frequent tropical cyclones. These will be challenging for all infrastructure, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1111769109">not just marine</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Offshore wind turbines in a storm" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519739/original/file-20230406-22-988rz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519739/original/file-20230406-22-988rz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519739/original/file-20230406-22-988rz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519739/original/file-20230406-22-988rz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519739/original/file-20230406-22-988rz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519739/original/file-20230406-22-988rz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519739/original/file-20230406-22-988rz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Storms are likely to become increasingly intense as the climate warms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jason Brown/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Future thinking</h2>
<p>A notable aspect of the current discussions in New Zealand is the use of the term “offshore renewables” rather than “offshore wind”. This allows the focus to include a wider set of renewable energy resources, including next-generation ocean renewables such as wave and tidal energy. </p>
<p>While these approaches are niche compared to established offshore wind power, they bring a diversity of supply that will be vital when building a portfolio of renewable resources to move away from fossil fuels. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/offshore-wind-turbines-could-number-30-000-by-2030-new-ideas-in-ocean-engineering-are-needed-to-install-them-162618">Offshore wind turbines could number 30,000 by 2030 – new ideas in ocean engineering are needed to install them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This evolution will require people, but New Zealand’s education sector is not producing enough graduates with a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2015.1014377">speciality in marine engineering</a>. Beyond engineering, there are opportunities for data science, industrial services and infrastructure – and the possibility to develop a research initiative to foster long-term capability and ideas. </p>
<p>The climate emergency is upon us now and the rapidly closing window of opportunity requires a shift in energy perspective if we are to give future generations the best chance of a liveable and sustainable planet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202335/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Stevens receives funding from the Marsden Fund and MBIE (Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment). He is affiliated with AWATEA (Aotearoa Wave and Tidal Energy Association) and the NZ Association of Scientists. He is on the Interim Science Advisory Panel for the CE of the Ministry for the Environment.</span></em></p>
Building offshore wind farms is complex and expensive. But with plenty of wind coming in from the sea, New Zealand could harness the renewable resource as it aims to decarbonise the energy sector.
Craig Stevens, Professor in Ocean Physics, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201506
2023-03-21T12:41:39Z
2023-03-21T12:41:39Z
Seabirds that swallow ocean plastic waste have scarring in their stomachs – scientists have named this disease ‘plasticosis’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516127/original/file-20230317-28-upallj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C1%2C1192%2C795&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scientists have identified a condition they call plasticosis, caused by ingesting plastic waste, in flesh-footed shearwaters.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Flesh-footed_Shearwater_%28Puffinus_carneipes%29_%2823760497308%29.jpg">Patrick Kavanagh/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uo1sSBwAAAAJ&hl=en">conservation biologist</a> who studies plastic ingestion by marine wildlife, I can count on the same question whenever I present research: “How does plastic affect the animals that eat it?” </p>
<p>This is one of the biggest questions in this field, and the verdict is still out. However, a recent study from the <a href="https://adriftlab.org">Adrift Lab</a>, a group of Australian and international scientists who study plastic pollution, adds to a growing body of evidence that ingesting plastic debris has discernible chronic effects on the animals that consume it. This work represents a crucial step: moving from knowing that plastic is everywhere to diagnosing its effects once ingested. </p>
<h2>From individual to species-level effects</h2>
<p>There’s wide agreement that the world is facing a <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aba3656">plastic pollution crisis</a>. This deluge of long-lived debris has generated gruesome photos of <a href="http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/#CF000313%2018x24">dead seabirds</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/world/asia/whale-plastics-philippines.html">whales</a> with their stomachs full of plastic. </p>
<p>But while consuming plastic likely killed these individual animals, deaths directly attributable to plastic ingestion have not yet been shown to cause population-level effects on species – that is, declines in population numbers over time that are linked to chronic health effects from a specific pollutant. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LiH3f6AKFbc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Microplastic fragments are widely distributed in the ocean, from surface waters to some of its deepest reaches.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One well-known example of a pollutant with dramatic population effects is the insecticide DDT, which was widely used across North America in the 1950s and 1960s. DDT built up in the environment, including in fish that eagles, osprey and other birds consumed. It caused the birds to lay eggs with shells so thin that they often broke in the nest. </p>
<p>DDT exposure led to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/caddis-vol1/case-ddt-revisiting-impairment">dramatic population declines</a> among <a href="https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/bald-eagle-fact-sheet.pdf">bald eagles</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ospreys-recovery-from-pollution-and-shooting-is-a-global-conservation-success-story-111907">ospreys</a> and other raptors across the U.S. They gradually began to recover after the Environmental Protection Agency banned most uses of DDT in 1972.</p>
<p>Ingesting plastic can harm wildlife without causing death via starvation or intestinal blockage. But subtler, sublethal effects, like those described above for DDT, could be much farther-reaching.</p>
<p>Numerous laboratory studies, some <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep03263">dating back a decade</a>, have demonstrated chronic effects on invertebrates, mammals, birds and fish from ingesting plastic. They include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/C9EN01335K">changes in behavior</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136279">loss of body weight and condition</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.08.020">reduced feeding rates</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/es504525u">decreased ability to produce offspring</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117800">chemical imbalances in organisms’ bodies</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115090">changes in gene expression</a>, to name a few. </p>
<p>However, laboratory studies are often poor representations of reality. Documenting often-invisible, sublethal effects in wild animals that are definitively linked to plastic itself has remained elusive. For example, in 2022, colleagues and I published a study that found that some baleen whales ingest <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33334-5">millions of microplastics</a> per day when feeding, but we have not yet uncovered any effects on the whales’ health. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1633189369551937537"}"></div></p>
<h2>Scarring seabirds’ digestive tracts</h2>
<p>The Adrift Lab’s research focuses on the elegant <a href="https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/flesh-footed-shearwater">flesh-footed shearwater (<em>Ardenna carneipes</em>)</a>, a medium-size seabird with dark feathers and a powerful hooked bill. The lab studied shearwaters nesting on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Howe_Island">Lord Howe Island</a>, a tiny speck of land 6 miles long by one mile wide (16 square kilometers) in the Tasman Sea east of Australia.</p>
<p>This region has only moderate levels of floating plastic pollution. But shearwaters, as well as petrels and albatrosses, are part of a class known as tube-nosed seabirds, with tubular nostrils and an excellent senses of smell. As I have found in my own research, tube-nosed seabirds are <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.1600395">highly skilled</a> at seeking out plastic debris, which may smell like a good place to find food because of algae that coats it in the water. Indeed, the flesh-footed shearwater has one of the highest plastic ingestion rates of any species yet studied. </p>
<p>Marine ecologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cLd6oOgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Jennifer Lavers</a>, head of the Adrift Lab, has been studying plastic debris consumption in this wild shearwater population for over a decade. In 2014 the lab began publishing research linking ingested plastic to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2013.12.020">sublethal health effects</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516132/original/file-20230317-420-vpv8es.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dead seabird with plastic fragments in dishes next to it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516132/original/file-20230317-420-vpv8es.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516132/original/file-20230317-420-vpv8es.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516132/original/file-20230317-420-vpv8es.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516132/original/file-20230317-420-vpv8es.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516132/original/file-20230317-420-vpv8es.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516132/original/file-20230317-420-vpv8es.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516132/original/file-20230317-420-vpv8es.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In a 2021 study, scientists found 194 plastic fragments in the stomach of this great shearwater (<em>Ardenna gravis</em>).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/emcr/1/0/1_20210009/_article">Yamashita et al., 2021</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2019, Lavers led a study that described correlations between ingested plastic and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b02098">various aspects of blood chemistry</a>. Birds that ingested more plastic had lower blood calcium levels, along with higher levels of cholesterol and uric acid. </p>
<p>In January 2023, Lavers’ group published a paper that found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130117">multiorgan damage in these shearwaters</a> from ingesting both microplastic fragments, measuring <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html#">less than a quarter inch (five millimeters) across</a>, and larger macroplastic particles. These findings included the first description of overproduction of scar tissue in the birds’ proventriculus – the part of their stomach where chemical digestion occurs. </p>
<p>This process, known as <a href="https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Fibrosis.aspx">fibrosis</a>, is a sign that the body is responding to <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pulmonary-fibrosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20353690">injury or damage</a>. In humans, fibrosis is found in the lungs of longtime smokers and people with repeated, prolonged exposure to asbestos. It also is seen in the livers of heavy drinkers. A buildup of excessive scar tissue leads to reduced organ function, and may allow diseases to enter the body via the damaged organs. </p>
<h2>A new age of plastic disease</h2>
<p>The Adrift Lab’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131090">newest paper</a> takes these findings still further. The researchers found a positive relationship between the amount of plastic in the proventriculus and the degree of scarring. They concluded that ingested plastic was causing the scarring, a phenomenon they call “plasticosis.” </p>
<p>Many species of birds purposefully <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/do-all-birds-have-gizzards/">consume small stones and grit</a>, which collect in their gizzards – the second part of their stomachs – and help the birds digest their food by pulverizing it. Critically, however, this grit, which is sometimes called pumice, is not associated with fibrosis. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516131/original/file-20230317-24-7g2jqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="images of birds' stomach tissues, stained pink and blue." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516131/original/file-20230317-24-7g2jqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516131/original/file-20230317-24-7g2jqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=172&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516131/original/file-20230317-24-7g2jqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=172&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516131/original/file-20230317-24-7g2jqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=172&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516131/original/file-20230317-24-7g2jqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516131/original/file-20230317-24-7g2jqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516131/original/file-20230317-24-7g2jqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">These images show scarring (blue) in the stomachs of flesh-footed shearwaters, from least affected, at left, to most affected, at right. Researchers attributed the scarring to ingestion of plastic fragments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131090">Charlton-Howard et al., 2023</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scientists have observed associations between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161191">plastic ingestion and pathogenic illness</a> in fish. Plasticosis may help explain how pathogens find their way into the body via a lacerated digestive tract. </p>
<p>Seabirds were the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/4083505">first sentinels</a> of possible risks to marine life from plastics: A 1969 study described examining young <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Laysan_Albatross/overview">Laysan albatrosses (<em>Phoebastria immutabilis</em>)</a> that had died in Hawaii and finding plastic in their stomachs. So perhaps it is fitting that the first disease attributed specifically to marine plastic debris has also been described in a seabird. In my view, plasticosis could be a sign that a new age of disease is upon us because of human overuse of plastics and other long-lasting contaminants, and their leakage into the environment. </p>
<p>In 2022, United Nations member nations voted to negotiate a <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/historic-day-campaign-beat-plastic-pollution-nations-commit-develop">global treaty to end plastic pollution</a>, with a target completion date of 2024. This would be the first binding agreement to address plastic pollution in a concerted and coordinated manner. The identification of plasticosis in shearwaters shows that there is no time to waste.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201506/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Savoca does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Many marine animals, birds and fish are ingesting plastic. New research identifies the first named health effect from it.
Matthew Savoca, Postdoctoral researcher, Stanford University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201368
2023-03-09T05:01:46Z
2023-03-09T05:01:46Z
Penguin paradise and geological freak: why Macquarie Island deserves a bigger marine park
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514116/original/file-20230308-24-ho6ma5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5240%2C3404&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Agami/Marc Guyt</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Macquarie Island, around 1,500km southeast of Tasmania, is more than just a remote rocky outcrop. In fact, it’s the only piece of land on the planet formed completely from ocean floor, which rises above the waves to form peaks that teem with penguins and other bird species, some of them found nowhere else on Earth. </p>
<p>These are just some of the reasons why this unique island, and the seas that surround it, have globally significant conservation values. Our new <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/7623378">independent assessment</a> of these values forms the scientific evidence base of Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s <a href="https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/plibersek/media-releases/macquarie-island-marine-park-poised-triple-size">announcement last month</a> of plans to significantly increase protections for the waters surrounding Macquarie Island. </p>
<p>By comprehensively assessing the available data on the marine ecosystems and the many species that live on and around Macquarie Island, our report reveals a subantarctic environment that is crucial for breeding and feeding for millions of seabirds and thousands of marine mammals.</p>
<p>Macquarie Island and its surrounding seas (to a distance of 5.5km) are already protected as a <a href="https://parks.tas.gov.au/explore-our-parks/macquarie-island-world-heritage-area">Tasmanian reserve</a>, and the area (this time including seas to a distance of 22km) is also a <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/629/">World Heritage Area</a>. A Commonwealth marine park also covers most of the southeast quadrant of the island’s “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone">economic exclusion zone</a>”, including a sanctuary zone and two seafloor management zones. </p>
<p>The federal government’s proposed expansion of the marine park would cover the island’s entire economic exclusion zone, increasing the area of Australia’s marine sanctuaries by more than 388,000 square kilometres, an increase larger than the area of Germany.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of marine park" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514389/original/file-20230309-14-7ethaq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=656&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The existing marine park (green), and the proposed expansion (yellow).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian government</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An outstanding spectacle</h2>
<p>Macquarie Island is the exposed crest of the 1,600km-long undersea Macquarie Ridge, which makes Macquarie Island the only piece of land in the world formed entirely of oceanic crust. </p>
<p>Macquarie Ridge is one of only three such ridges that impede the eastward flow of a current called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Circumpolar_Current">Antarctic Circumpolar Circulation</a>, resulting in distinct differences between the west and east sides of the ridge, which are used in different ways by different species. </p>
<p>The oceanography is further divided north to south by two major <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_(oceanography)">ocean fronts</a>, the Sub-Antarctic Front and the Polar Front, creating three distinct bodies of water. They are closer here than anywhere else in the Southern Ocean, and as they interact with the Macquarie Ridge create at least six different large-scale oceanographic habitats. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Huge colony of birds on foggy hillside" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514385/original/file-20230309-24-btz5n2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A haven for penguins and other seabirds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Agami/Marc Guyt</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This creates an outstanding spectacle of wild, natural beauty and a diverse set of habitats supporting vast congregations of wildlife, including penguins and seals. Fifty-seven seabird species, including four species of penguins and four species of albatross, have been recorded on Macquarie Island, and 25 of these species have been observed breeding there. The royal penguin and the Macquarie Island imperial shag live nowhere else on Earth.</p>
<p>The ridge includes a series of undersea mountains that act as “stepping stones” linking subantarctic and polar animals on the sea floor, <a href="https://www.science20.com/news_releases/brittlestar_city_underwater_summit_taller_than_the_world_s_tallest_building">such as brittlestars</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/enjoy-them-while-you-can-the-ecotourism-challenge-facing-australias-favourite-islands-152679">Enjoy them while you can? The ecotourism challenge facing Australia's favourite islands</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Needing more protection</h2>
<p>Our report shows the area around Macquarie Island is not well represented by the current marine park. In particular, the entire area to the west, and most of the northern and southern parts of the Macquarie Ridge, are not protected by the current marine park, but will be included in the proposed expansion. </p>
<p>Our report also considers several options for protecting the area’s unique ecosystems and concludes that the most sensible approach, given the available data, would be to declare the whole area around the Macquarie Ridge as a marine park, increasing the protection outside the current sanctuary zone, while allowing the current fishery to continue in a habitat protection zone. </p>
<p>This provides the simplest, most expeditious reserve design that is relatively easy to implement, achieves environmental protection and sustainable fishing, recognises the importance of the entire Macquarie Island region, and provides the most resilience to climate change. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Blue sign on foggy hillside" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514386/original/file-20230309-22-ri9b9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The island is already a nature reserve, but its surrounding waters need greater protection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Agami/Marc Guyt</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Direct human impacts in the area are predominantly due to fishing and marine debris, although climate change is an ever-present threat too. The fishery targets the deepwater Patagonian toothfish using bottom longlines, mostly in the central zone of the Macquarie Ridge. This fishery is generally well regarded for its best-practice fishing methods and commitment to positive environmental outcomes, and this fishing activity would continue under the new plans. </p>
<p>But if new fisheries were allowed to develop targeting midwater species, or new industries such as seabed mining were permitted, these could directly impact the seabirds, marine mammals and other species that live in these areas. </p>
<p>The proposal put forward by Minister Plibersek protects all of the Commonwealth waters in two different zones of a marine park, effectively tripling the size of the current marine park. It protects the marine domain and allows the current fishery to continue without significant changes to current practices or catches. </p>
<p>Restrictions on any potential future fisheries would be determined by the distribution of “sanctuary zones” which would preclude fishing, and “habitat/species zones”, which could accommodate sustainable fishing. Mining would be precluded under either category of protection.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/disruption-over-macquarie-island-calls-for-some-clever-antarctic-thinking-65558">Disruption over Macquarie Island calls for some clever Antarctic thinking</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>The government’s proposal signals a clear priority for protection over development in this area. A period of public consultation on the proposal will commence in March. Any future development of the marine park would need to be orderly and careful, including prior consideration of environmental impacts. Any changes to the current fishery management arrangements should ensure that the changes maintain or enhance conditions for a long-term sustainable fishery.</p>
<p>More broadly, our report also demonstrates the potential for, and importance of, compiling the most up-to-date available data for any region prior to any formal review process to update Australia’s marine park network.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors thank Anthony D. M. Smith for his contribution to this article and the report on which it’s based.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201368/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Cresswell received funding from the Australian Marine Conservation Society and the Pew Charitable Trusts. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew John Constable has received Funding from the Australian Marine Conservation Society and Pew Charitable Trusts.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nic Bax has received funding from the Australian Marine Conservation Society and the Pew Charitable Trusts</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Reid does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Macquarie Island isn’t just a windswept rock halfway to Antarctica. It’s a globally unique home to dozens of bird and marine mammal species, hence the government’s plans to give it greater protection.
Ian Cresswell, Adjunct professor, UNSW Sydney
Andrew J Constable, Leader, Southern Ocean Ecosystem Research, University of Tasmania
Keith Reid, Honorary Research Associate, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania
Nic Bax, Director, NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub, CSIRO
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/187970
2023-02-14T13:26:35Z
2023-02-14T13:26:35Z
My art uses plastic recovered from beaches around the world to understand how our consumer society is transforming the ocean
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509865/original/file-20230213-409-u60wff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C15%2C3424%2C2281&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pam Longobardi amid a giant heap of fishing gear that she and volunteers from the Hawaii Wildlife Fund collected in 2008.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Rothstein</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I am obsessed with plastic objects. I harvest them from the ocean for the stories they hold and to mitigate their ability to harm. Each object has the potential to be a message from the sea – a poem, a cipher, a metaphor, a warning. </p>
<p><a href="https://artdesign.gsu.edu/profile/pamela-longobardi/">My work</a> collecting and photographing ocean plastic and turning it into art began with an epiphany in 2005, on a far-flung beach at the southern tip of the Big Island of Hawaii. At the edge of a black lava beach pounded by surf, I encountered multitudes upon multitudes of plastic objects that the angry ocean was vomiting onto the rocky shore. </p>
<p>I could see that somehow, impossibly, humans had permeated the ocean with plastic waste. Its alien presence was so enormous that it had reached this most isolated point of land in the immense Pacific Ocean. I felt I was witness to an unspeakable crime against nature, and needed to document it and bring back evidence. </p>
<p>I began cleaning the beach, hauling away weathered and misshapen plastic debris – known and unknown objects, hidden parts of a world of things I had never seen before, and enormous whalelike colored entanglements of nets and ropes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509862/original/file-20230213-409-crkctu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three large plastic art installations, the central one a cornucopia spilling plastic objects onto the floor." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509862/original/file-20230213-409-crkctu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509862/original/file-20230213-409-crkctu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509862/original/file-20230213-409-crkctu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509862/original/file-20230213-409-crkctu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509862/original/file-20230213-409-crkctu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509862/original/file-20230213-409-crkctu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509862/original/file-20230213-409-crkctu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Bounty Pilfered’ (center), ‘Newer Laocoön’ (left) and ‘Threnody’ (right). All made of ocean plastic from the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico, installed at the Baker Museum in Naples, Fla., 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pam Longobardi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I returned to that site again and again, gathering material evidence to study its volume and how it had been deposited, trying to understand the immensity it represented. In 2006, I formed the <a href="https://driftersproject.net/about/">Drifters Project</a>, a collaborative global entity to highlight these vagrant, translocational plastics and recruit others to investigate and mitigate ocean plastics’ impact. </p>
<p>My new book, “<a href="https://falllinepress.com/products/ocean-gleaning">Ocean Gleaning</a>,” tracks 17 years of my <a href="http://driftersproject.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2021-CV_-LONGOBARDI-Pam-.pdf">art and research</a> around the world through the Drifters Project. It reveals specimens of striking artifacts harvested from the sea – objects that once were utilitarian, but have been changed by their oceanic voyages and come back as messages from the ocean.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509512/original/file-20230210-28-ib15eh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Array of plastic objects, including toys, action figures and fragments of larger objects." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509512/original/file-20230210-28-ib15eh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509512/original/file-20230210-28-ib15eh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509512/original/file-20230210-28-ib15eh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509512/original/file-20230210-28-ib15eh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509512/original/file-20230210-28-ib15eh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509512/original/file-20230210-28-ib15eh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509512/original/file-20230210-28-ib15eh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Drifters Objects,’ a tiny sample of the plastic artifacts Pam Longobardi has collected from beaches worldwide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pam Longobardi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Living in a plastic age</h2>
<p>I grew up in what some now deem <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/are-we-living-plastic-age-180957817/">the age of plastic</a>. Though it’s not the only modern material invention, plastic has had the most unforeseen consequences. </p>
<p>My father was a biochemist at the chemical company <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1977/01/02/archives/the-men-from-glad.html">Union Carbide</a> when I was a child in New Jersey. He played golf with an actor who portrayed “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYkm7ts62VM">The Man from Glad</a>,” a Get Smart-styled agent who rescued flustered housewives in TV commercials from inferior brands of plastic wrap that snarled and tangled. My father brought home souvenir pins of Union Carbide’s hexagonal logo, based on the carbon molecule, and figurine pencil holders of “<a href="https://www.pinterest.ch/pin/vintage-union-carbide-dow-chemical-mascot-promo-figurine-tergie-statue--351773420877171292/">TERGIE</a>,” the company’s blobby turquoise mascot. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cr5m8b28eqA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">On the 2013 Gyre Expedition, Pam Longobardi traveled with a team of scientists, artists and policymakers to investigate and remove tons of oceanic plastic washing out of great gyres, or currents, in the Pacific Ocean, and make art from it.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today I see plastic as a zombie material that haunts the ocean. It is made from petroleum, the decayed and transformed life forms of the past. Drifting at sea, it “lives” again as it gathers a biological slime of algae and protozoa, which become attachment sites for larger organisms. </p>
<p>When <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-oceans-are-full-of-plastic-but-why-do-seabirds-eat-it-68110">seabirds</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bait-and-switch-anchovies-eat-plastic-because-it-smells-like-prey-81607">fish</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/newly-hatched-florida-sea-turtles-are-consuming-dangerous-quantities-of-floating-plastic-143785">sea turtles</a> mistake this living encrustation for food and eat it, plastic and all, the chemical load <a href="https://theconversation.com/hundreds-of-fish-species-including-many-that-humans-eat-are-consuming-plastic-154634">lives on in their digestive tracts</a>. Their body tissues <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep03263">absorb chemicals from the plastic</a>, which remain undigested in their stomachs, often ultimately <a href="https://theconversation.com/bait-and-switch-anchovies-eat-plastic-because-it-smells-like-prey-81607">killing them</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509514/original/file-20230210-16-7dsqrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two piles of tiny particles of virtually identical sizes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509514/original/file-20230210-16-7dsqrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509514/original/file-20230210-16-7dsqrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509514/original/file-20230210-16-7dsqrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509514/original/file-20230210-16-7dsqrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509514/original/file-20230210-16-7dsqrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509514/original/file-20230210-16-7dsqrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509514/original/file-20230210-16-7dsqrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Plastic ‘nurdles’ (left), tiny pellets that serve as raw materials for manufacturing plastic products, and herring roe, or eggs (right). These visually analogous forms exemplify how fish can mistake plastic for food.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pam Longobardi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The forensics of plastic</h2>
<p>I see plastic objects as the cultural archaeology of our time – <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojZhoPvhraw">relics of global late-capitalist consumer society</a> that mirror our desires, wishes, hubris and ingenuity. They become transformed as they leave the quotidian world and collide with nature. By regurgitating them ashore or jamming them into sea caves, the ocean is communicating with us through materials of our own making. Some seem eerily familiar; others are totally alien.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509539/original/file-20230210-19-9tzuuk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two views of a degraded arm from a plastic doll, found on Playa Jaco in Costa Rica." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509539/original/file-20230210-19-9tzuuk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509539/original/file-20230210-19-9tzuuk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509539/original/file-20230210-19-9tzuuk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509539/original/file-20230210-19-9tzuuk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509539/original/file-20230210-19-9tzuuk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509539/original/file-20230210-19-9tzuuk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509539/original/file-20230210-19-9tzuuk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A degraded plastic doll arm, from the series ‘Evidence of Crimes.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pam Longobardi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A person engaging in ocean gleaning acts as a detective and a beacon, hunting for the forensics of this crime against the natural world and shining the light of interrogation on it. By searching for ocean plastic in a state of open receptiveness, a gleaner like me can find symbols of pop culture, religion, war, humor, irony and sorrow. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509540/original/file-20230210-20-jweta0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A rolling landscape covered with thousands of life vests." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509540/original/file-20230210-20-jweta0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509540/original/file-20230210-20-jweta0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509540/original/file-20230210-20-jweta0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509540/original/file-20230210-20-jweta0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509540/original/file-20230210-20-jweta0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509540/original/file-20230210-20-jweta0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509540/original/file-20230210-20-jweta0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Division Line,’ 2016. This photograph shows the ‘life-jacket cemetery’ in Lesvos, Greece. Traumatized asylum-seekers and migrants arriving by boat from Türkey leave the life vests on shore as they stagger inland. Most of the waste is plastic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Pam Longobardi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In keeping with the drifting journeys of these material artifacts, I prefer using them in a transitive form as installations. All of these works can be dismantled and reconfigured, although plastic materials are nearly impossible to recycle. I display some objects as specimens on steel pins, and wire others together to form large-scale sculptures. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509543/original/file-20230210-22-89toay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A plastic bottle cap inscribed 'Endless' and a photograph of a beach littered with plastic objects." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509543/original/file-20230210-22-89toay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509543/original/file-20230210-22-89toay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509543/original/file-20230210-22-89toay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509543/original/file-20230210-22-89toay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509543/original/file-20230210-22-89toay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509543/original/file-20230210-22-89toay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509543/original/file-20230210-22-89toay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From the series ‘Prophetic Objects,’ a plastic cap from a Greek manufacturer of cleaning products, found on the Greek island of Kefalonia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pam Longobardi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I am interested in ocean plastic in particular because of what it reveals about us as humans in a global culture, and about the ocean as a cultural space and a giant dynamic engine of life and change. Because ocean plastic visibly shows nature’s attempts to reabsorb and regurgitate it, it has profound stories to tell.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509544/original/file-20230210-25-ixc2yr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large sculpted anchor in the center of an art gallery, with ties to life preservers mounted on the ceiling." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509544/original/file-20230210-25-ixc2yr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509544/original/file-20230210-25-ixc2yr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509544/original/file-20230210-25-ixc2yr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509544/original/file-20230210-25-ixc2yr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509544/original/file-20230210-25-ixc2yr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509544/original/file-20230210-25-ixc2yr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509544/original/file-20230210-25-ixc2yr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Albatross’ and ‘Hope Floats,’ 2017. Recovered ocean plastic, survival rescue blankets, life vest straps and steel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pam Longobardi</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I believe humankind is at a crossroads with regards to the future. The ocean is asking us to pay attention. Paying attention is an act of giving, and in the case of plastic pollution, it is also an act of taking – taking plastic out of your daily life; taking plastic out of the environment; and taking, and spreading, the message that the ocean is laying out before our eyes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187970/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pam Longobardi has received funding from Georgia State University, the Hudgens Prize, the Ionion Center for Art and Culture in Kefalonia, Greece, the Oceanic Society, and the Georgia chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. She is a member of the Plastic Pollution Coalition and the Oceanic Society.</span></em></p>
Pam Longobardi collects and documents ocean plastic waste and transforms it into public art and photography. Her work makes statements about consumption, globalism and conservation.
Pam Longobardi, Regents' Professor of Art and Design, Georgia State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/197215
2023-01-09T17:10:21Z
2023-01-09T17:10:21Z
Invasive rats are changing fish behaviour on coral reefs – new study
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503231/original/file-20230105-1808-63w6g0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C4866%2C2744&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Invasive rats can fundamentally alter the functioning of surrounding marine ecosystems.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/funny-image-three-positions-running-rat-48864871">Bluerain/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Coral reefs are degrading rapidly to the extent that their marine inhabitants must either adapt or die. For many animals, including reef fish, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0314-7">behaviour</a> is one of the first responses to changes in environmental conditions.</p>
<p>Behavioural changes may be critical for predicting the future survival of many animal species. This is encouraging marine scientists to study how, why or when these changes happen. </p>
<p>Much of the existing research into the impact of environmental change on reef fish species tends to focus on increasing sea temperatures and ocean acidification. But some coral reef ecosystems are also threatened by one, more surprising source. An invasive species – the black rat – has overrun many islands in the <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chagos_map.PNG">Chagos Archipelago</a>, a remote group of small islands in the Indian Ocean. The rats are altering the functioning of surrounding marine ecosystems. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01931-8">Recent research</a> that we co-authored alongside colleagues from Lakehead University in Canada revealed that these rats are affecting the territorial behaviour of fish by reducing the flow of nutrients from bird droppings into the ocean. </p>
<p>We focused on the <a href="https://seaunseen.com/jewel-damselfish/">jewel damselfish</a>, a small fish that aggressively defends patches of edible algae it cultivates through a process known as “farming”. Our research surveyed coral reefs both around islands with high seabird densities and without rats, and islands with low seabird densities and many rats. Jewel damselfish in the seas surrounding rat-infested islands were less aggressive and defended larger territories than those surrounding rat-free islands. </p>
<h2>Invasive rats</h2>
<p>The rats, many of which arrived on the Chagos Archipelago on ships in the 18th century, prey on small seabirds and their eggs. This has decimated seabird populations on these islands. Seabird densities are up to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0202-3">760 times smaller</a> on rat-infested islands than on islands without rats. </p>
<p>But seabirds are a key component of the nutrient cycle. They feed in the ocean and return to the islands to roost and breed where they deposit large quantities of droppings. Their droppings, which are rich in nutrients, are then washed into the sea and onto nearby coral reefs. </p>
<p>By supplementing coral reefs with additional natural nutrients, seabirds are able to fertilise these ecosystems. Rat predation has disrupted this cycle and removed the nutrients provided by seabirds to coral ecosystems. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bird in flight against the backdrop of the ocean." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503224/original/file-20230105-18-vbjshz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503224/original/file-20230105-18-vbjshz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503224/original/file-20230105-18-vbjshz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503224/original/file-20230105-18-vbjshz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503224/original/file-20230105-18-vbjshz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503224/original/file-20230105-18-vbjshz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503224/original/file-20230105-18-vbjshz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brown booby, a seabird species found in the Chagos.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/full-stretch-flight-juvenile-brown-bobby-1311357596">sushil20087817/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Aggressive economics</h2>
<p>We found that algae in jewel damselfish territories next to rat-free islands were richer in nutrients than in territories next to rat-infested islands. However, the total amount of algae within the territories was unaffected. </p>
<p>This means that the quality, but not the quantity, of the food resources available to the jewel damselfish is higher in the waters surrounding rat-free islands. The fish in these territories get “more for their money” when foraging. The quality of nutrients means that fish are able to find all the food they need in smaller territories than fish around rat-infested islands. </p>
<p>But this carries behavioural consequences. We found that jewel damselfish in reefs surrounding rat-free islands were five times more likely to be more aggressive and 70 times more likely to hold smaller territories than those next to rat-infested islands.</p>
<p>The additional nutrients from seabird droppings in seas around islands with large seabird populations raise the quality of jewel damselfish territories and make them worth defending. The quality of nutrients in these locations means that the nutritional benefits of defending a territory are higher than the energy costs expended by aggressively defending them. </p>
<p>This is not the case for jewel damselfish in seas around rat-infested islands. The disruption to the nutrient cycle here results in lower quality territories that are less worth defending. </p>
<h2>Small fish, big impact</h2>
<p>By disrupting the nutrient cycle, invasive rats have directly reduced the aggressive tendencies of damselfish. But this behavioural change may alter the wider coral ecosystem. </p>
<p>The social organisation of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/facts/blue-tang">blue tangs</a>, a fish native to coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific, can be influenced by the territoriality of farming damselfish. Tangs tend to form schools in areas of the reef with high densities of territorial damselfish. This is likely because it allows “safety in numbers” when accessing defended algae and increases competition for algal food resources. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-004-2861-1">research</a> has found that where damselfish densities are low, tangs rarely form schools. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A school of blue fish swimming through a coral reef." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503247/original/file-20230105-18-yexznc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503247/original/file-20230105-18-yexznc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503247/original/file-20230105-18-yexznc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503247/original/file-20230105-18-yexznc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503247/original/file-20230105-18-yexznc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503247/original/file-20230105-18-yexznc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503247/original/file-20230105-18-yexznc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Invasive rats may indirectly affect the social organisation of some species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/school-blue-tang-136660415">Isabelle Kuehn/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Algal productivity (grams of biomass per square metre) can also be affected by territorial damselfish. Algae within farming damselfish territories can, for example, be <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/40/m040p041.pdf">up to 3.4 times</a> more productive than algae growing outside of the territories.</p>
<p>Territorial damselfish can also impact the density of coral within an area and therefore the structure of a reef. In Kenya, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-014-1229-z">research</a> has shown that the density of juvenile coral is lower inside farming damselfish territories than that in non-defended areas. Invasive rats may therefore affect coral replenishment and the functioning of the wider ecosystem.</p>
<p>By establishing the link between fish behaviour and the seabird nutrient cycle, our study highlights the potential for rat eradication to restore territorial fish behaviour. Measures to eradicate invasive rats from tropical islands have slowly been introduced across the Indian Ocean over the past 16 years. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.104">Evidence</a> suggests that these measures have contributed to the return of seabird nutrients to tropical islands and coral reefs. </p>
<p>Animal behaviour is an important but understudied aspect of biological research into ecological responses to environmental change and should be a focal point for future studies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197215/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally Keith receives funding from NERC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (Rachel L. Gunn, grant number NE/L002604/1), with Rachel L. Gunns studentship through the Envision Doctoral Training Partnership.</span></em></p>
Rats are disrupting the flow of nutrients towards the sea on many tropical islands – this has consequences for fish behaviour and the wider ecosystem.
Sally Keith, Senior Lecturer, Lancaster University
Rachel Gunn, Postdoctoral researcher in the Animal Evolutionary Ecology, University of Tübingen
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/192092
2022-12-27T19:20:06Z
2022-12-27T19:20:06Z
4 facts about seagulls that will make you love these relentless chip thieves
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496355/original/file-20221121-6248-x18m8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C0%2C3700%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether they’re stealing your chips or screeching at your picnic table, seagulls are a hallmark of Australian summers. But how much do you really know about them? </p>
<p>In Australia, the most common species of seagull is the <a href="https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/Silver-Gull">silver gull</a> (<em>Larus novaehollandiae</em>), which is found throughout the continent. People in southern Australia may have also seen its larger, dark-winged cousin, <a href="https://ebird.org/species/pacgul1?siteLanguage=en_AU">the Pacific gull</a> (<em>Larus pacificus</em>). </p>
<p>And in fierce competition with the Pacific gull is the <a href="https://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Larus-dominicanus">kelp gull</a> (<em>Larus dominicanus</em>), which established itself in Australia in the 1940s and is found in all states.</p>
<p>Here are four fascinating facts about seagulls that might make you see them a little differently.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C5991%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Seagull stealing a chip" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C5991%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495236/original/file-20221115-22-kc6gen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seagulls are a hallmark of Australian summers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Seagulls thrive in cities</h2>
<p>Gulls are part of “Laridae” family of seabirds and are found worldwide. While they’re synonymous with the sea, they can also thrive inland, particularly in urban areas. </p>
<p>Life in urban areas can be hard for birds. Without natural habitat, birds must learn to live among human-made infrastructure. However, gulls have adapted well to our highly modified landscape.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.12012">research has found</a> gulls are highly tolerant to urban disturbances, such as loud traffic and industrial noise as well as pedestrian and vehicle traffic. They have even adapted their nesting behaviour to use, for instance, ovals and flat roofs on buildings.</p>
<p>Gulls have <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.00058/full">a large brain</a> relative to their body. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070110090918.htm">Research suggests</a> birds with larger brains can more successfully adapt to changing habitats and colonise new environments. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Seagull in Rome" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501743/original/file-20221219-32459-j6nnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seagulls thrive in cities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An <a href="https://theconversation.com/seagulls-songbirds-and-parrots-what-new-research-tells-us-about-their-cognitive-ability-173954">interesting study</a> last year tested the intelligence of ring-billed gulls, which are predominately found in Canada and northern United States. </p>
<p>Researchers attached a piece of sausage to a string, and placed it inside a clear box. Some 75% of the 138 gulls tested attempted to solve the task by pulling the string to bring the food closer, and 25% were successful. </p>
<p>This study shows gulls are curious and try to solve problems - both skills that serve them well in the urban jungle. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/seagulls-songbirds-and-parrots-what-new-research-tells-us-about-their-cognitive-ability-173954">Seagulls, songbirds and parrots: what new research tells us about their cognitive ability</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. They are expert food thieves</h2>
<p>Gulls are opportunistic feeders, meaning they will try almost any food they encounter. They’re renowned for stealing food from other gulls and even from us, a behaviour called “kleptoparasitism”. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0405">2019 study</a> showed herring gulls, found along the shores of western Europe and the UK, are aware of the direction of the human gaze. The herring gulls in the study more quickly snatched up food placed near a person, when the person was looking away from the gull.</p>
<p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.191959">Other research</a> looked at how herring gulls interacted with food after they watched a person handle it. It found the gulls were much more likely to peck at food a human had handled, rather than food that hadn’t been touched. </p>
<p>Silver gulls in Australia have a <a href="https://www.nhbs.com/handbook-of-australian-new-zealand-and-antarctic-birds-7-volume-set-book">diverse range</a> of natural prey. This includes cnidarians (such as jellyfish), squids, insects, fish, frogs, small birds such as sparrows and wrens, plants and, when possible, small rodents.</p>
<p>Gulls, especially silver gulls, are also expert scavengers, and often exploit landfills. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1521551">A study from 1993</a> recorded 6,000 silver gulls per hour leaving a single urban landfill site in Wollongong in Australia. </p>
<p>A more <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/MU/MU11031">recent study</a> in 2012 found a kelp gull breeding colony in the De La Guardia Islands of Patagonia, Chile, is sustained by food from an inland rubbish tip.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Sn4i9I2uS8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Seagulls snatching a sandwich in the UK | BBC.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-should-have-more-sympathy-for-seagulls-and-how-to-stop-them-stealing-your-chips-186979">Why you should have more sympathy for seagulls – and how to stop them stealing your chips</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. They can nest almost anywhere, anytime</h2>
<p>When conditions are right and food is plentiful, gulls can breed all year around. Peak breeding season for silver gulls is roughly between August and November and they lay one to four eggs.</p>
<p>Seagulls are traditionally found sleeping and nesting on flat beaches. Some gull species, including Australia’s silver gull, may create “nest scrapes” – shallow depressions in the the ground lined with, for instance, leaves and other vegetation. </p>
<p>Silver gulls prefer to nest in islands. But as urban development encroaches into their habitat, seagulls <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10336-019-01657-8">have adapted to</a> roost and nest in a range of places. Their simple nest design means they can nest in grass cricket pitches, ovals, car parks, low shrubs between rocks and even flat roofs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Seagulls nesting in gutter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501749/original/file-20221219-13-5rbkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seagulls nesting in a gutter in the UK.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The downside for ground-nesting birds such as gulls is that they’re especially vulnerable to human disturbances, such as lawnmowers, pedestrians and their dogs, and even footy games.</p>
<p>Still, gulls seem to make it work. The abundance of human food seems to benefit breeding birds – a <a href="https://bioone.org/journals/waterbirds/volume-31/issue-1/1524-4695_2008_31_122_SMDAFC_2.0.CO_2/Supersize-Me--Does-Anthropogenic-Food-Change-the-Body-Condition/10.1675/1524-4695(2008)31%5B122:SMDAFC%5D2.0.CO;2.short">Tasmanian study</a> on silver gulls in 2008 found urban males were heavier and had greater body condition then non-urban male gulls. Interestingly no difference were detected between females. </p>
<p>Further research is need to see how successful urban silver gulls are at breeding and raising young on human food. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/birds-on-beaches-are-under-attack-from-dogs-photographers-and-four-wheel-drives-heres-how-you-can-help-them-155962">Birds on beaches are under attack from dogs, photographers and four-wheel drives. Here's how you can help them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. They use teamwork to harass enemies</h2>
<p>Cats (both pet and feral) are a downside to urban life for gulls. Foxes and wild dogs can also pose a significant threat.</p>
<p>This is where team works come in. When silver gulls detect a predator, they <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/7/445">work together</a> using aerial group defence tactics to drive away the threat.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JwXVRKx0HN8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Black-headed gulls mobbing a crane.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One anti-predator strategy is called <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/birdwatching/bird-behaviour/what-is-mobbing/">social mobbing</a>. This is where a group of gulls unite to harass a potential enemy – such as a cat or fox – by flying towards it and making alarm calls, until it goes away. </p>
<p>Some gulls might even vomit or defecate on the predator, with startling accuracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grainne Cleary does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
For one, they’ll work as a team to dive bomb potential enemies, even vomiting or defecating on them.
Grainne Cleary, Researcher, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/185058
2022-06-14T13:52:23Z
2022-06-14T13:52:23Z
Avian flu has jumped into wild seabirds and is spreading fast
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468770/original/file-20220614-14-dwibs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Seabirds like gannets appear to be particularly at risk.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Coatesy / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After a series of localised outbreaks in the past few years, avian flu has re-emerged as a major driver of bird deaths across the UK. Until the past few weeks, the latest outbreak of the disease – also known as bird flu or, to scientists, highly pathogenic avian influenza – was treated primarily as a problem for chickens and other domestic birds. This triggered localised responses such as culls, and farmers were ordered to keep the animals indoors for six months over the winter, which is why the UK had a period with <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/free-range-eggs-supermarkets-bird-flu-outbreak-keep-hens-indoors-1606150">no free-range eggs</a>.</p>
<p>But reports of large numbers of wild seabirds found dead in <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/highly-pathogenic-bird-flu-killing-hundreds-of-seabirds-along-scottish-coast-12631202">Scotland</a> and increasingly in <a href="https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/20206446.bird-flu-reports-dead-birds-north-east-beaches/">England</a> and Wales, suggest that avian flu is now prevalent in wild birds across most of northern Britain. I encountered a number of these birds myself on the Northumberland coast. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1534252537595015170"}"></div></p>
<p>Scenes like these will make the crisis far more visible to the general public, and naturally they will be asking what more we can do to tackle the outbreak.</p>
<h2>The 2021-22 avian flu outbreak</h2>
<p>The 2021-22 outbreak is a global problem, with cases of the virulent H5N1 subtype detected in West Africa, Asia, and nearly every country of Europe and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/avian-flu-birds-cape-breton-shores-1.6479304">North America</a>. It is primarily a disease of domesticated birds, where it is thought to have originated, and has led to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/06/us-bird-flu-outbreak-millions-of-birds-culled-in-most-inhumane-way-available">38 million</a> in the US this year alone.</p>
<p>In the UK, the disease was first detected in October 2021. As elsewhere, the outbreak was at first largely confined to poultry, and farmers were forced to cull <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/news/2022/01/10/israel-and-uk-facing-record-breaking-bird-flu-outbreaks/">500,000 chickens and other birds</a>. In response the UK established an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone including buffer zones of 10km around detected cases, with restrictions on bird movement and enhanced biosecurity. </p>
<p>Over winter there were reports of a number of wild bird populations being affected by avian flu, including great skua, pink-footed geese and barnacle geese. These included the mass death of <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/rspb-news/rspb-news-stories/avian-flu-devastating-bird-populations/?from=hphero">4,000 birds on the Solway Firth</a>, representing one-third of the Svalbard barnacle goose population that spend winters in the area.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1534583761362354176"}"></div></p>
<p>As spring has turned to summer, there is now no doubt that avian flu is now spreading into <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1081982/HPAI_Europe_6_June_2022.pdf">a wider diversity of wild birds</a> in the UK. For some species this probably reflects their return to summer breeding colonies, and the increased mixing that involves (avian flu is spread by contact with saliva or droppings).</p>
<p>As this breeding season reaches its peak, a wide array of seabirds have been affected, including great skua, eider ducks, fulmar, terns, gannets and guillemots. The UK holds over half the world’s population of gannet and great skua, both of which have been officially recognised as birds of moderate conservation concern (“<a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/great-skua/">amber status</a>”). Avian flu adds to the litany of problems these birds face – from climate change to entanglement in abandoned fishing gear – and increases the concerns of organisations such as RSPB and Birdlife, who already consider this outbreak to be <a href="https://community.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/b/birdflu/posts/bird-flu-update-june-2022">the worst the UK has ever faced</a>.</p>
<h2>More resources needed</h2>
<p>Conservation organisations have asked for more resources to help with monitoring and tackling the problem. Many bird wardens and reserve managers already work on the nature reserves most affected by avian flu, and so they will be an important part of the solution. We could also reduce the level of human disturbance at particularly sensitive sites, for example by introducing buffer zones or seasonal restrictions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468784/original/file-20220614-16-xr7zgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two birds on a rock" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468784/original/file-20220614-16-xr7zgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468784/original/file-20220614-16-xr7zgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468784/original/file-20220614-16-xr7zgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468784/original/file-20220614-16-xr7zgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468784/original/file-20220614-16-xr7zgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468784/original/file-20220614-16-xr7zgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468784/original/file-20220614-16-xr7zgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Great skuas were already threatened by fishing lines and climate change. Now they’re fighting off the flu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Erni / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But, more broadly, we simply need more surveillance of avian flu so that we can get a better idea of the problem. This will mean also giving the relevant government <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu">departments</a> and <a href="https://aphascience.blog.gov.uk/2021/12/16/bird-flu-outbreak-2021/">agencies</a> the resources they need to monitor and test more wild birds.</p>
<p>In summer, avian flu retains infectivity in the environment for <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1081982/HPAI_Europe_6_June_2022.pdf">up to 18 days</a>. So the large number of dead birds on the coast with possible infections presents a continuing pathway for transmission to birds of prey and carrion feeders, particularly gulls, which are known to be susceptible to avian flu. Increasing the number of carcasses being collected would have the added benefit of removing the potential for carrion feeders to become infected, and so further infect other birds. </p>
<p>Given some of these seabirds can range over huge distances in search of food – <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/406991/OESEA2_North_Sea_Gannet_Tracking_Year3_Report.pdf">up to 400km for gannets</a>, for instance – we will need a national approach to this, with coordination across the four nations of the UK. And because the virus has been repeatedly transmitted between the domestic stocks and wild bird populations, we should also look again at biosecurity measures in the poultry industry.</p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>What does this mean for the general public? Although avian flu is a zoonotic disease like COVID-19, the risk to human health is very low, and cases in humans have almost exclusively arisen from close contact between bird keepers and their stock. The advice for the public is not to touch any dead birds you see and to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu#public">report them</a>. </p>
<p>If you feed wild birds, remember to wash and disinfect feeders every week and to clean bird baths every day, as avian flu is mainly transmitted via saliva and droppings. And if you’re out walking the dog, keep a closer eye on them when you’re on the beach or by water, and use a lead when you’re on a nature reserve or see a dead bird. </p>
<p>There is no doubt that the increased visibility of the deaths will bring home the scale of the problem to the general public. Bird flu has now “arrived” in our minds, and will take on more prominence as the summer continues and holidays begin. Though the risk to humans is very low, it serves as another reminder of how <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/one-health-high-level-expert-panel-annual-report-2021">connected we are to nature</a>, and how our interactions with the natural world have huge consequences for what we regard as “human” systems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185058/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Suggitt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Seabirds seem to be particularly at risk.
Andrew Suggitt, Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/181230
2022-05-08T12:22:48Z
2022-05-08T12:22:48Z
Once the slick is gone: New tool helps scientists monitor chronic oil in Arctic wildlife
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461107/original/file-20220503-25-juotko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2658%2C1665&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sea lions, otters and birds were some of the many wildlife species that were hit hard by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Oil spills like these expose the wildlife to new contaminants and can be fatal.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Jack Smith, File)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/once-the-slick-is-gone--new-tool-helps-scientists-monitor-chronic-oil-in-arctic-wildlife" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>When we think about the Arctic, most of us think of a snow-covered barren landscape and vast stretches of icy ocean. This is far from the reality of the Canadian Arctic today. With approximately <a href="https://arctic-council.org/about/states/canada/">150,000 people calling it home,</a> this region is certainly not barren.</p>
<p>The Arctic is warming <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/arctic-warming-four-times-faster-rest-world">faster than anywhere else on Earth</a>. This stark increase in temperature affects wildlife, plants and humans and results in less sea ice, which many predators and hunters use year-round. </p>
<p>The loss of sea ice is also making the North more accessible than ever, thus increasing the probability of major oil spills as ship and tanker traffic multiplies. These spills expose the wildlife to new contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic compounds — the main contaminant in oil spills — which can cause <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041363">cancer in birds.</a> </p>
<p>This influx of new contaminants in the environment makes it challenging for researchers to monitor their effect on wildlife. After studying ways to monitor the quantity and variety of contaminants in Arctic wildlife, we have created a new tool — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c00229">ToxChip</a> — to analyze changes in the DNA of animals exposed to oil and solve this challenge.</p>
<h2>Increased oil exploration and extraction</h2>
<p>Between 1995 and 2015, shipping traffic <a href="https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4698">nearly tripled in the Canadian Arctic</a> due to depleting sea ice. Newly accessible shipping routes, including the Northern Sea Route, <a href="https://transportgeography.org/contents/chapter1/transportation-and-space/polar-shipping-routes/">cut transit time between East Asia and Western Europe by about 10 days</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461231/original/file-20220504-27-z7xzez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="oil" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461231/original/file-20220504-27-z7xzez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461231/original/file-20220504-27-z7xzez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461231/original/file-20220504-27-z7xzez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461231/original/file-20220504-27-z7xzez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461231/original/file-20220504-27-z7xzez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461231/original/file-20220504-27-z7xzez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461231/original/file-20220504-27-z7xzez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Exxon Valdez tanker discharged over 37,000 tonnes of crude oil in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, killing thousands of birds and other wildlife.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/John Gaps III)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.offshore-technology.com/features/oil-spills-in-the-ocean-arctic/">As the Arctic contains around 13 per cent of the world’s unexploited oil</a>, the race to claim this precious resource is on. Unfortunately, more extraction and shipping in the Arctic will inevitably lead to more oil spills.</p>
<p>The infamous Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 discharged nearly 37,000 tonnes of crude oil into Alaska’s southern coast, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/4087623">killing over 30,000 birds</a>. </p>
<p>More recently, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/03/vladimir-putin-orders-state-of-emergency-huge-fuel-spill-siberia-power-plant-kerch">fuel tank at a power plant released 20,000 tonnes of diesel into the Ambarnaya river</a> in Russia in 2020.</p>
<p>The main compounds found in oil and petroleum products called polycyclic aromatic compounds, or PACs, can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/jmsc.1997.0254">harm birds in the marine environment</a>. When emitted through exhaust or spills, these chemicals make their way into wildlife and plants in the area. They easily attach to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2542-3_4">fat in animals and can accumulate in them throughout their lifetime</a>.</p>
<h2>Birds reveal environmental contaminants</h2>
<p>Seabirds are especially vulnerable to the effects of oil, as they feed on the water surface. Oil can coat a bird’s feathers, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/how-oil-spills-harm-birds-dolphins-sea-lions-and-other-wildlife-1.5613181">making them unable to fly or regulate their temperature</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A bird with oil-covered wings" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461215/original/file-20220504-23-euyt2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461215/original/file-20220504-23-euyt2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461215/original/file-20220504-23-euyt2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461215/original/file-20220504-23-euyt2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461215/original/file-20220504-23-euyt2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461215/original/file-20220504-23-euyt2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461215/original/file-20220504-23-euyt2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Birds with oil-covered feathers are unable to fly or regulate their body temperature.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Birds also clean their feathers with their beaks, which introduces oil into their digestive system. Oil and petroleum products also affect birds, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2015-0086">causing stunted limbs, reduced breeding and population declines</a>.</p>
<p>In fact, there are documented long-term effects on ducks, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3354/meps241271">whose survival rates were lower compared to non-oiled birds for at least 11 years after a spill</a>.</p>
<h2>New technologies can help track contaminants</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Biological-Pathways-Fact-Sheet">Each gene in an animal’s DNA</a> contributes to a specific natural function. Some genes are responsible for regulating an animal’s metabolism, while others take care of suppressing tumours. Therefore, if a specific gene is induced after exposure to a contaminant like oil, we can tell what biological processes have been affected. </p>
<p>Changes in an animal’s gene expression — ability to convert DNA instructions into functional products, like protein — can tell us a lot about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.08.034">how it responds to a specific chemical, or group of chemicals</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4309">Current methods to measure the contaminants in animals</a> are costly, rely heavily on lab animal use and can only measure the effects of one contaminant at a time.</p>
<p>We have developed a new tool called a ToxChip, which investigates the effects of contaminants on the DNA level in sensitive genes. It can quickly detect changes in the genes of seabirds in response to a contaminant. The ToxChip can be customized to species, contaminants and genes of interest. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1393239149646331906"}"></div></p>
<p>So far, we have developed two ToxChips: one for the black guillemot and one for the thick-billed murre. These seabirds nest on rocky cliffs which serve as breeding grounds. </p>
<p>The guillemot doesn’t stray far from its colony and feeds on fish close to the shore. The thick-billed murre, on the other hand, can travel far from the colony and is known for <a href="https://oceana.ca/en/marine-life/thick-billed-murres/">diving deep into the water to catch their prey</a>. </p>
<p>Both species are far from endangered and their colony populations can reach the millions, making it possible to determine the extent to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.057">which contaminants are affecting the birds</a>. As these birds are heavily reliant on open-water food sources, an oil spill could quickly be detrimental to the entire colony. </p>
<p>ToxChips can be applied following an oil spill to quantify potential sub-lethal or irreversible damage. Different types of PACs can tell us where they come from. PACs from forest fires will have a different chemical make-up than PACs from an oil spill. This ToxChip data allows us to determine the cause of toxicity to seabirds. </p>
<p>Through a recent use of the ToxChip, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c00229">we were able to determine the likely effects from a natural oil seep off the coast on Nunavut</a>.</p>
<h2>A cheaper, faster and more affordable solution</h2>
<p>The future applications of this tool are vast and promising. It can help look at the effects of pesticides on bullfrog’s DNA or the impact of plastic pollution on the biological processes in pink salmon and so on. Species-specific ToxChips can help shape evidence-based policy recommendations or monitoring initiatives that would limit vessel traffic in endangered bird areas during the breeding season.</p>
<p>Monitoring contaminants in wildlife is particularly important to those who rely on local country food. Using these tools can help inform those living in the Arctic if the animals they depend on have been exposed to contaminants.</p>
<p>They can be used as an emergency response to an oil spill. Oil can linger long after the clean-up crews have removed the visible oil from the environment. ToxChips can help understand if seabirds continue to be exposed to oil pollution. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People are using high pressured hoses to wash oil from rocks on a beach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461352/original/file-20220504-17-dqrbiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461352/original/file-20220504-17-dqrbiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461352/original/file-20220504-17-dqrbiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461352/original/file-20220504-17-dqrbiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461352/original/file-20220504-17-dqrbiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461352/original/file-20220504-17-dqrbiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461352/original/file-20220504-17-dqrbiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The toxic components and chemicals released in oil spills can stay in the environment despite cleaning efforts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rob Stapleton, File)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the tool is still evolving, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b06181">it has been developed</a> for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c00229">two seabird species</a> and is being put into practice currently to assess gene expression changes after a large oil spill and at an old military site with known contamination. </p>
<p>ToxChip projects will make contaminant testing more affordable, more accurate, faster and less dependent on lab animals. It could help reduce the impacts of oil pollution on animals in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Provencher is affiliated with Environment and Climate Change. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yasmeen Zahaby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
ToxChips study the changes in the DNA of animals exposed to contaminants, like those found in oil spills.
Jennifer Provencher, Adjunct professor, Department of Biology, Carleton University
Yasmeen Zahaby, Masters Student, Department of Biology, Carleton University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/178036
2022-03-08T00:59:47Z
2022-03-08T00:59:47Z
Curious Kids: what is the largest penguin that ever lived?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450137/original/file-20220305-16533-hib4bt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8487%2C4988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A life reconstruction of one of the largest penguins that ever lived, _Kumimanu biceae_.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.markwitton.co.uk/">Illustration by Mark Witton (used with permission, all other rights reserved)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p><strong>What is the largest penguin that ever lived? – Casey, age 6, Perth</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291898/original/file-20190911-190031-enlxbk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=1" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Hi Casey, thanks for this great question! </p>
<p>Today the largest living penguin is the emperor penguin, which lives in Antarctica and is about one metre tall. The appropriately named little penguin is the smallest, standing only about as high as a ruler.</p>
<p>But penguins have swum in Earth’s oceans for more than 62 million years – and they were not always these sizes. Long before humans walked the Earth, some penguins would have stood as tall as a grown-up person. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Emperor penguins" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449415/original/file-20220302-13-16yt9na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Emperor penguins swim in the waters of Antarctica.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ianduffy/4133137522/in/album-72157622872433930/">Ian Duffy/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Diving in</h2>
<p>To understand how penguins once got so big, we need to go back to the very first ones. </p>
<p>The closest relatives of penguins today can actually fly through the air. These include petrels and the soaring albatrosses. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449421/original/file-20220302-17-kwigpd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Penguins and petrels are close relatives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ed Dunens/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While waddling penguins might seem quite different to these seabirds, they’re quite alike in a number of ways. They share similarities in their skeletons, and both share distant relatives (great, great grandparents going back millions of years) that flew in the air.</p>
<p>Penguins can’t fly in the air anymore. Instead, they “fly” through the water — and doing <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.13024">both well isn’t an option</a>.</p>
<p>For birds, water is a lot harder to fly through than air. But penguins have certain qualities that allow them to do this. </p>
<p>The wings of penguins are flippers. These are great for moving underwater, but not very helpful for flying above it. Their heavy bodies help them dive further and deeper so they can hunt for food. But being heavier makes flying in the air difficult. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-do-penguins-fly-underwater-162994">Curious Kids: do penguins fly underwater?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While penguins’ distant relatives were small seabirds, over many years they gave up flight to become professional swimmers. The bigger they were, and the stronger their bones, the better they could dive. </p>
<p>Because penguins have heavier and stronger bones than air-flying birds, this means their bones are less likely to break. It also means we are more likely to find them as fossils (what’s left behind from ancient life) long after they die. </p>
<p>In fact, the bones of one kind of giant penguin (<em>Kairuku waewaeroa</em>) were discovered by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-09-17/giant-penguin-fossil-found-by-schoolkids-new-zealand/100467506">school children</a>. </p>
<h2>Room to grow</h2>
<p>The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs (<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-birds-survived-the-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-97021">except birds!</a>) 66 million years ago gave the distant relatives of penguins the perfect chance to go swimming. </p>
<p>Many of the animals that would have eaten them in the sea were gone, which meant they could go underwater without worrying about being eaten. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/mannerings-penguin">oldest penguin bones</a> we have belonged to birds that lived only a few million years after the asteroid hit, and come from Aotearoa, or New Zealand. These are similar to the bones of today’s penguins, so we think penguins probably stopped flying in the air some time soon after the asteroid event.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/happy-6ft-ancient-penguins-were-as-tall-as-people-weve-discovered-the-species-that-started-the-downsizing-trend-128546">Happy 6ft: ancient penguins were as tall as people. We've discovered the species that started the downsizing trend</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some of these first penguins <a href="https://www.canterburymuseum.com/about-us/media-releases/monster-penguin-find-in-waipara-north-canterbury/">were enormous</a>. One was the <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-discovery-of-fossilised-monster-bird-bones-reveals-a-colossal-ancient-penguin-89028">gigantic <em>Kumimanu biceae</em></a>, which was probably 1.7 metres tall (the same size as many human adults). </p>
<p><em>Kumimanu</em> may have been one of the largest penguins ever. It probably weighed 100kg, whereas the emperor penguin weighs less than half of that. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449425/original/file-20220302-23-6c96jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Kumimanu biceae</em>, next to a human for scale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">G Mayr/Senckenberg Research Institute</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While many giant penguins lived in the millions of years after <em>Kumimanu</em>, the only penguin that may have been larger was the huge <em>Palaeeudyptes klekowskii</em>, which swam off the coast of Antarctica more than 34 million years ago. This penguin may have been <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25990-extinct-mega-penguin-was-tallest-and-heaviest-ever/">two metres tall and weighed 115kg!</a>. </p>
<p>As for what happened to giant penguins, they vanished about 15 million years ago and no one really knows why. There are still many questions, but with more fossil discoveries, we might find some answers!</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/449429/original/file-20220302-15-1tu18x4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Kairuku waewaeroa</em> was one of the last giant penguins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Simone Giovanardi (used with permission)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178036/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacob C. Blokland receives funding from The Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. </span></em></p>
Some penguins would have been as tall (or even taller) than adults today.
Jacob C. Blokland, Vertebrate Palaeontology PhD Candidate and Casual Academic, Flinders University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/177569
2022-02-23T15:19:46Z
2022-02-23T15:19:46Z
Seabirds can starve when hit by repeated severe storms – but we still don’t know why
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447785/original/file-20220222-23-11mzv0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Edge / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The large colonies of seabirds that live on the coasts of Britain and Ireland have just been battered by three storms in one week: Dudley, <a href="https://theconversation.com/storm-eunice-how-forecasters-predicted-super-strong-winds-days-before-it-even-formed-177487">Eunice</a> and now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2022/feb/21/storm-franklin-flooding-and-property-damage-in-pictures-uk-weather">Franklin</a>. So what do storms like these mean for the birds that live in such exposed places?</p>
<p>Since 1972 my colleagues, assistants and I have been monitoring the survival and breeding success of guillemots on Skomer, a small island off the western tip of Wales. This project and others means we now have lots of data to help us answer this question.</p>
<p>We already know that seabirds are among the birds <a href="https://www.bto.org/our-science/publications/research-reports/climate-change-and-uks-birds">most affected</a> by climate change, mainly because of climate-induced shifts in recent decades in the currents that carry the plankton that feed the fish that feed the birds. In affected regions, food supplies are simply too far from the colonies to make breeding feasible. It as though for us, we once had a supermarket round the corner, but it is has now moved 200 kilometres away and we have no car. </p>
<p>Under such circumstances, seabirds may fail to breed at all or they may somehow acquire sufficient food to produce eggs, but not to rear their chicks. For example virtually all guillemot chicks on the Isle of May in Scotland <a href="https://www.ceh.ac.uk/isle-may-breeding-season-summaries#2007">starved to death</a> in 2007. For several years, many <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324156197_Status_origin_and_population_level_impacts_of_Atlantic_Puffins_killed_in_a_mass_mortality_event_in_southwest_Norway_early_2016">puffin chicks in Norway</a> starved to death. </p>
<p>Deprived of the fish species on which they usually reared their chicks, some seabirds resorted to bringing hopelessly inedible, indigestible, nutritionless pipefish for their chicks – which they rejected. Puffins in some areas were forced to bring beakfulls of completely inadequate watery larval fish for their chicks. Seabird numbers in these regions have plummeted.</p>
<h2>Repeated storms lead to seabird ‘wrecks’</h2>
<p>But in addition to these long-term effects there can be short-term effects, induced by storms. Between late December 2013 and February 2014, for example, a succession of storms resulted in the death of <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5c46d4b3-8150-4bfe-9205-ffa5e5afd7a5">at least 50,000 seabirds</a> around the coasts of Europe, mainly puffins and guillemots. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1108303241933131778"}"></div></p>
<p>The incidence of winter storms is thought to be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982221008885">linked to climate change</a>. Seabirds have evolved to live with stormy winter conditions and can withstand the occasional storm, usually by riding it out on the sea surface. But storms in rapid succession often result in “wrecks”, when emaciated seabirds wash up on the shoreline (or sometimes far inland). This especially affects birds in the auk family, like puffins, guillemots and razorbills. </p>
<p>We still don’t know exactly how storms result in wrecks. Undoubtedly, high winds and heavy seas mean the birds have to expend more energy just keeping alive, but it also seems that storms make normal food supplies inaccessible, possibly because fish and plankton become dispersed. A lack of food together with increased energetic demands results in many birds starving to death.</p>
<p>Severe storms are almost unheard of during the seabird breeding season, which in the UK usually runs from May to July. However in May 2021, at a time when most seabirds were incubating their eggs, the UK and Ireland were hit by <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2021/cool-wet-may-concludes-spring-of-marked-contrasts">two storms</a>. This meant that guillemot breeding that year on Skomer was among the least successful in our five decades of monitoring. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448030/original/file-20220223-27-64y2gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white birds on a sea cliff" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448030/original/file-20220223-27-64y2gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448030/original/file-20220223-27-64y2gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448030/original/file-20220223-27-64y2gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448030/original/file-20220223-27-64y2gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448030/original/file-20220223-27-64y2gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448030/original/file-20220223-27-64y2gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448030/original/file-20220223-27-64y2gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Guillemots (and a puffin) on Skomer Island. The author has been monitoring these birds since the 1970s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ramon Harkema / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some guillemots had their eggs washed off low ledges by high seas; others were forced to abandon their eggs temporarily during or after the storms, and some of these eggs failed to hatch. For guillemots, reduced breeding success in one year has little effect on the overall population. In contrast the loss of adult birds, such as those that die during storms, has a much greater impact. Guillemots, like most other seabirds, live for a long time (up to 40 years), and are not meant to die young.</p>
<p>The combination of long-term shifts in food distribution, the increase in the frequency and severity of winter storms, and more recently the occurrence of severe weather during the breeding season, all conspire to depress our seabird populations.</p>
<p>Even though it has been <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3800577">known for decades</a> that a severe autumn or winter storm can result in seabird wrecks, their low frequency had meant that it was not possible to predict with any precision the occurrence of wrecks. However, in early 2014 as I watched the TV weather forecast warn of a third approaching storm, I felt sure there would be wrecks, as <a href="https://myriadbirds.com/2014/03/03/wrecks/amp/">indeed there was</a>. Ironically, there will probably soon be sufficient data to allow us to predict wrecks. What is needed of course to save our seabirds from further losses is the reduction in greenhouse gases that drive climate change.</p>
<p>On the basis of past experience, it will take a week or two before we can tell whether the innocently named Dudley, Eunice and Franklin will have killed yet more seabirds.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 10,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177569/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Birkhead has maintained a long-term monitoring study of guillemots on Skomer Island, Wales, since 1972, and has campaigned for more and better monitoring of seabird populations. He has in the past received funding from the Natural Environment Research Council and the Countryside Council for Wales.</span></em></p>
No animals were more exposed to storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin.
Tim Birkhead, Emeritus Professor of Zoology, University of Sheffield
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/161744
2021-08-03T21:51:01Z
2021-08-03T21:51:01Z
Giant bird-eating centipedes exist — and they’re surprisingly important for their ecosystem
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406932/original/file-20210617-13-h5v97.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C44%2C5946%2C3943&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Terrington</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Giant bird-eating centipedes may sound like something out of a science-fiction film — but they’re not. On tiny Phillip Island, part of the South Pacific’s <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@-29.060687,167.9487469,12z">Norfolk Island group</a>, the Phillip Island centipede (<em>Cormocephalus coynei</em>) population can kill and eat up to 3,700 seabird chicks each year. </p>
<p>And this is entirely natural. This unique creature endemic to Phillip Island has a diet consisting of an unusually large proportion of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zn22pv4/articles/zp6g7p3#:%7E:text=Vertebrates%20are%20animals%20that%20have,body%2C%20like%20spiders%20and%20crabs.">vertebrate animals</a> including seabird chicks. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403429/original/file-20210529-18-nf19s1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403429/original/file-20210529-18-nf19s1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403429/original/file-20210529-18-nf19s1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403429/original/file-20210529-18-nf19s1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403429/original/file-20210529-18-nf19s1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403429/original/file-20210529-18-nf19s1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403429/original/file-20210529-18-nf19s1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403429/original/file-20210529-18-nf19s1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Phillip Island in the Norfolk Island group, with a valley of iconic Norfolk Island Pine trees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luke Halpin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As large marine predators, <a href="https://www.birdlife.org/europe-and-central-asia/seabirds-and-marine-what-are-seabirds">seabirds</a> usually sit at the top of the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/food-chain/">food chain</a>. But our new study, <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/715702">published in The American Naturalist</a>, demonstrates this isn’t always the case. </p>
<p>We show how large, predatory <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/animals/what-are-arthropods/">arthropods</a> can play an important role in the food webs of island ecosystems. And the Phillip Island centipede achieves this through its highly varied diet. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-marvels-the-first-shell-crushing-predators-ground-up-their-prey-between-their-legs-153381">Ancient marvels: the first shell-crushing predators ground up their prey between their legs</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A well-armed predator stirs in the night</h2>
<p>This centipede can grow to almost one foot (or 30.5cm) in length. It is armed with a potent <a href="https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/poison-vs-venom">venom</a> encased in two pincer-like appendages called “forcipules”, which it uses to immobilise its prey. Its body is protected by shield-like armoured plates that line each of the many segments that make up its length.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403270/original/file-20210528-15-jok1ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4019%2C3024&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Phillip Island centipede (_Cormocephalus coynei_) and a black-winged Petrel (_Pterodroma nigripennis_)." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403270/original/file-20210528-15-jok1ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4019%2C3024&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403270/original/file-20210528-15-jok1ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403270/original/file-20210528-15-jok1ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403270/original/file-20210528-15-jok1ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403270/original/file-20210528-15-jok1ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403270/original/file-20210528-15-jok1ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403270/original/file-20210528-15-jok1ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Phillip Island centipede and black-winged petrel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luke Halpin</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On warm and humid nights, these strictly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnality">nocturnal</a> arthropods hunt through thick leaf litter, navigating a labyrinth of seabird burrows peppered across the forest floor. A centipede on the prowl will use its two ultra-sensitive antennae to navigate as it seeks prey. </p>
<p>The centipede hunts an unexpectedly varied range of quarry, from crickets to seabird chicks, geckos and skinks. It even hunts fish — dropped by seabirds called black noddies (<em>Anous minuta</em>) that make their nests in the trees above. </p>
<h2>A frightful discovery</h2>
<p>Soon after we began our research on the ecology of Phillip Island’s burrowing seabirds, we discovered chicks of <a href="http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/black-winged-petrel">black-winged petrels</a> (<em>Pterodroma nigripennis</em>) were falling prey to the Phillip Island centipede. </p>
<p>We knew this needed further investigation, so we set out to unravel the mystery of this large arthropod’s dietary habits.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403349/original/file-20210528-15-ur417h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403349/original/file-20210528-15-ur417h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403349/original/file-20210528-15-ur417h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403349/original/file-20210528-15-ur417h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403349/original/file-20210528-15-ur417h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403349/original/file-20210528-15-ur417h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403349/original/file-20210528-15-ur417h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403349/original/file-20210528-15-ur417h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Black-winged petrel chick just prior to being weighed on Phillip Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Trudy Chatwin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To find out what these centipedes were eating, we studied their feeding activities at night and recorded the prey species they were targeting. We also monitored petrel chicks in their burrow nests every few days, for months at a time. </p>
<p>We eventually began to see consistent injury patterns among chicks that were killed. We even witnessed one centipede attacking and eating a chick. </p>
<p>From the rates of predation we observed, we calculated that the Phillip Island centipede population can kill and eat between 2,109 and 3,724 petrel chicks each year. The black-winged petrels — of which there are up to 19,000 breeding pairs on the island — appear to be resilient to this level of <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/predation-herbivory-and-parasitism-13261134/">predation</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e1tw8yc5R1s?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Envenomation of a black-winged petrel nestling by a Phillip Island centipede. (Video by Daniel Terrington)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And the predation of black-winged petrels by Phillip Island centipedes is an entirely natural predator-prey relationship. By preying on vertebrates, the centipedes trap nutrients brought from the ocean by seabirds and distribute them around the island. </p>
<p>In some sense, they’ve taken the place (or <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/niche-ecology">ecological niche</a>) of predatory mammals, which are absent from the island.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403346/original/file-20210528-14-968jbx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403346/original/file-20210528-14-968jbx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403346/original/file-20210528-14-968jbx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403346/original/file-20210528-14-968jbx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403346/original/file-20210528-14-968jbx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403346/original/file-20210528-14-968jbx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403346/original/file-20210528-14-968jbx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403346/original/file-20210528-14-968jbx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Luke Halpin monitoring black-winged petrel chicks on Phillip Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Trudy Chatwin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Restoration and recovery</h2>
<p>Up until just a few decades ago the Phillip Island Centipede was very rare. In fact, it was only formally <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00222938400770511">described as a species</a> in 1984. </p>
<p>After an intensive search in 1980, only a few small individuals were found. The species’s rarity back then was most likely due to severely degraded habitats caused by pigs, goats and rabbits introduced by humans to the island.</p>
<p>The removal of these invasive pests enabled black-winged petrels to colonise. Their population has since exploded and they’re now the most abundant of the 13 seabird species that breed on Phillip Island. </p>
<p>They provide a high-quality food source for the Phillip Island centipede and have therefore likely helped centipede population to recover. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5rXSaph5m-I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Black-winged petrels on Phillip Island are active both during the day and at night. (Video by Luke Halpin)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ancient bone deposits in the soil suggest that prior to the black-winged petrel’s arrival, Phillip Island was home to large numbers of other small burrow-nesting seabird species. It’s likely the Phillip Island centipede preyed on these seabirds too. </p>
<p>Now, thanks to the conservation efforts of <a href="https://parksaustralia.gov.au/norfolk/">Norfolk Island National Park</a>, the island’s forest is regenerating alongside endemic species like the centipede, as well as the critically endangered Phillip Island hibiscus (<em>Hibiscus insularis</em>).</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403288/original/file-20210528-14-5xorui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403288/original/file-20210528-14-5xorui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403288/original/file-20210528-14-5xorui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403288/original/file-20210528-14-5xorui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403288/original/file-20210528-14-5xorui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403288/original/file-20210528-14-5xorui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403288/original/file-20210528-14-5xorui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403288/original/file-20210528-14-5xorui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The endemic Phillip Island hibiscus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luke Halpin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a driver of nutrient transfer, the persistence of the Phillip Island centipede (and its healthy appetite) might just be key to the island’s ecosystem recovery. But we’ll need to do more research to fully understand the intricate links in this bustling food web.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/these-underwater-photos-show-norfolk-island-reef-life-still-thrives-from-vibrant-blue-flatworms-to-soft-pink-corals-154473">These underwater photos show Norfolk Island reef life still thrives, from vibrant blue flatworms to soft pink corals</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aUZxVES-gaM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161744/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luke Halpin is a recipient of the Endeavour Postgraduate Leadership Award from the Australian Government. This research was funded by the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment – Equity Trustees Charitable Foundation & the Ecological Society of Australia, BirdLife Australia Stuart Leslie Bird Research Award and the Australasian Seabird Group. Support was also provided by the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment and Norfolk Island National Park.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rohan Clarke receives funding from Parks Australia, the Australia and the Pacific Science Foundation. Rohan Clarke is affiliated with Monash University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rowan Mott is affiliated with the University of Adelaide. </span></em></p>
At night the centipede crawls through thick leaf litter, using two sensitive antennae to navigate a labyrinth of seabird burrows across the forest floor.
Luke Halpin, Ecologist, Monash University
Rohan Clarke, Director, Monash Drone Discovery Platform, and Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Monash University
Rowan Mott, Biologist, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160279
2021-05-27T20:03:05Z
2021-05-27T20:03:05Z
Seabirds are today’s canaries in the coal mine – and they’re sending us an urgent message
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403066/original/file-20210527-15-1urwh3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C6000%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just as caged canaries once warned coal miners of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, free-flying seabirds are now warning humanity about the deteriorating health of our oceans.</p>
<p>Seabirds journey vast distances across Earth’s seascapes to find food and to breed. This exposes them to changes in ocean conditions, climate and food webs. This means their biology, particularly their breeding successes, can reveal these changes to us on a rare, planet-wide scale. </p>
<p>We collated and analysed the world’s largest database on seabird breeding. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf1772">Our findings</a> reveal a key message: urgency in the Northern Hemisphere and opportunity in the south.</p>
<p>The Northern Hemisphere ocean systems are degraded and urgently need better management and restoration. Damage to Southern Hemisphere oceans from threats such as climate change and industrial fishing is accelerating, but opportunities remain there to avoid the worst.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="northern gannet pair with offspring" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403074/original/file-20210527-13-1ebqwd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403074/original/file-20210527-13-1ebqwd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403074/original/file-20210527-13-1ebqwd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403074/original/file-20210527-13-1ebqwd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403074/original/file-20210527-13-1ebqwd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403074/original/file-20210527-13-1ebqwd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403074/original/file-20210527-13-1ebqwd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seabird breeding success is a good indicator of ocean health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Oceans at a crossroads</h2>
<p>Seabirds often travel far across the planet. For example, many sooty shearwaters breed in New Zealand, yet travel each year to the productive waters of the northeast Pacific. Arctic terns migrate even further, travelling each year between the Arctic and Antarctic. </p>
<p>Scientists often use satellite-derived data sets to determine, for example, how the oceans’ surfaces are warming or how ocean food webs are changing. Few such data sets span the globe, however, and this is where seabirds come in.</p>
<p>Over its long journey, a seabird eats fish and plankton. In doing so, it absorbs signals about ocean conditions, including the effects of pollution, marine heatwaves, ocean warming and other ecological changes. </p>
<p>Seabird breeding productivity (the number of chicks produced per female per year) depends on the food resources available. In this way, seabirds are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2125">sentinels of change in marine ecosystems</a>. They can tell us which parts of oceans are healthy enough to support their breeding and which parts may be in trouble.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-might-be-the-worlds-biggest-ocean-but-the-mighty-pacific-is-in-peril-150745">It might be the world's biggest ocean, but the mighty Pacific is in peril</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Shearwater floats on water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403077/original/file-20210527-15-1eomm7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403077/original/file-20210527-15-1eomm7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403077/original/file-20210527-15-1eomm7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403077/original/file-20210527-15-1eomm7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403077/original/file-20210527-15-1eomm7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403077/original/file-20210527-15-1eomm7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403077/original/file-20210527-15-1eomm7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many sooty shearwaters breed in New Zealand then migrate to the northeast Pacific.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Deciphering seabird messages</h2>
<p>In some cases, seabirds tell us directly about major distress in the oceans. This was the case in 2015-16, when around a million <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226087">emaciated common murres died</a>, many washing up on beaches from California to Alaska. The seabirds experienced severe food shortages caused by an acute marine heatwave.</p>
<p>In other cases, seabird health can hint at longer-term and more subtle disruption of ocean ecosystems, and we are left to decipher these messages.</p>
<p>In this task, seabird breeding provides important clues about marine food webs that are otherwise difficult or impossible to measure directly, especially at global scales. Thankfully, seabird scientists around the world have consistently measured breeding productivity over decades. </p>
<p>Our research team included 36 of these scientists. We collated a database of breeding productivity for 66 seabird species from 46 sites around the world, from 1964 to 2018. We used the data to determine whether seabirds were producing relatively more or fewer chicks over the past 50 years, and whether the risk of breeding failure was increasing or decreasing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="bird flies over water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403069/original/file-20210527-19-utb6yq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403069/original/file-20210527-19-utb6yq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403069/original/file-20210527-19-utb6yq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403069/original/file-20210527-19-utb6yq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403069/original/file-20210527-19-utb6yq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403069/original/file-20210527-19-utb6yq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403069/original/file-20210527-19-utb6yq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the Southern Hemisphere, there’s still time to reverse the oceans’ plight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Striking findings</h2>
<p>In the Northern Hemisphere, breeding productivity of plankton-eating birds such as storm petrels and auklets increased strongly over 50 years, but breeding productivity of fish-eating birds declined sharply. </p>
<p>In the Southern Hemisphere, by contrast, breeding productivity of plankton-eating seabirds declined weakly, but increased strongly for fish eaters. </p>
<p>In short, fish-eating seabirds in the north are in trouble. Decreasing breeding productivity leads to population declines, and the low breeding rate of seabirds (many species only have one chick per year) means populations recover slowly.</p>
<p>More worrying, though, were our findings on the risk of breeding failure. </p>
<p>In the Southern Hemisphere, the probability of breeding failure was low throughout the study period. The same was true for Northern Hemisphere plankton feeders. But fish eaters in the north showed dramatically increasing risk of breeding failure, most acutely in the years since 2000. </p>
<p>Importantly, increasing risk of breeding failure was also much higher for seabirds that feed at the ocean’s surface, such as black-legged kittiwakes, compared with those that feed at greater depths, such as puffins.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/birds-on-beaches-are-under-attack-from-dogs-photographers-and-four-wheel-drives-heres-how-you-can-help-them-155962">Birds on beaches are under attack from dogs, photographers and four-wheel drives. Here's how you can help them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400462/original/file-20210513-23-15f753z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400462/original/file-20210513-23-15f753z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400462/original/file-20210513-23-15f753z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400462/original/file-20210513-23-15f753z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400462/original/file-20210513-23-15f753z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400462/original/file-20210513-23-15f753z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400462/original/file-20210513-23-15f753z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Risk of breeding failure was higher for seabirds that feed at the ocean’s surface.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">©Eric J Woehler</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What this tells us</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, these results match what we know about human-caused damage to the ocean. </p>
<p>First, many pollutants such as plastics collect close to the ocean surface. They are often eaten by surface-feeding seabirds, potentially hampering their ability to produce chicks. </p>
<p>Similarly, the rate of ocean warming has been more than three times faster, and the change in number of marine heatwave days twice as large, on average, in the Northern than Southern Hemisphere over the past 50 years.</p>
<p>Likewise, northern oceans have sustained industrial fisheries for far longer than those in the south. This has likely reduced food supplies to Northern Hemisphere fish-eating seabirds over longer periods, causing chronic disruptions in their breeding success.</p>
<p>But human impacts in the Southern Hemisphere are accelerating. Ocean warming and marine heatwaves are becoming more intense, and industrial fisheries and plastic pollution are ever-more pervasive. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400435/original/file-20210513-15-4h4eqj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400435/original/file-20210513-15-4h4eqj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400435/original/file-20210513-15-4h4eqj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400435/original/file-20210513-15-4h4eqj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400435/original/file-20210513-15-4h4eqj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400435/original/file-20210513-15-4h4eqj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400435/original/file-20210513-15-4h4eqj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rate of warming of the surface ocean over the past 50 years.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We must heed the warnings from our seabird “canaries”. With careful planning and marine reserves that take account of projected climate change, the Southern Hemisphere might avoid the worst consequences of human activity. But without action, some seabird species may be lost and ocean food webs damaged. </p>
<p>In the Northern Hemisphere, there is no time to waste. Innovative management and restoration plans are urgently needed to avoid further deterioration in ocean health.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>This story is part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/oceans-21-96784">Oceans 21</a></em></strong>
<br><em>Watch for new articles ahead of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in November. Brought to you by The Conversation’s international network.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Schoeman receives funding from the Australian Research Council, although these funds did not facilitate the research reported here.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Allan Hoover and William Sydeman do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Seabirds journey vast distances across the Earth’s seascapes to find food and to breed. This means their biology, particularly their breeding success, can reveal what’s happening in our oceans.
David Schoeman, Professor of Global-Change Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Brian Allan Hoover, Postdoctoral Fellow, Chapman University
William Sydeman, Adjunct associate, University of California, San Diego
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160744
2021-05-17T12:41:39Z
2021-05-17T12:41:39Z
We used drones to track the feeding habits of seabirds – new research
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400758/original/file-20210514-23-dfzteg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=121%2C158%2C3290%2C2602&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lilian Lieber</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You may have found yourself at the shoreline, watching seabirds plunging into the sea and magically reappearing with a tiny fish in their beaks. But have you ever paused to wonder what makes them dive where they do? </p>
<p>Our coastal waters are highly dynamic and complex environments. Where there are strong tidal currents, the surface of the sea is a spectacle of turbulent patches. Especially in tidal channels, a glossy sea is the exception rather than the rule. </p>
<p>Instead, strong tidal flows making their way past natural features, such as islands or submerged rocks, or even human-made structures, can turn the sea surface into a seemingly chaotic mix of turbulent features in their wake.</p>
<p>We decided to have a closer look at the foraging habits of seabirds in these turbulent wakes. Using aerial drones as an eye in the sky, we tracked their foraging movements in unprecedented detail to get a bird’s-eye view on turbulence. The results are published <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0592">in a new study</a>.</p>
<p>Many seabirds are attracted to the complexity of tidal inlets and channels. The Narrows tidal channel in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, hosts a variety of summer-breeding seabirds, including the <a href="https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/bird-families/terns">most graceful of seabirds</a>: terns. Sometimes named sea-swallows, these slender-looking seabirds are often attracted to the most turbulent of waters. </p>
<p>We had shown previously that terns <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-019-0364-z">like foraging over features</a> that create strong turbulence in the water. In fact, their numbers were highest over the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-offshore-structures-serve-up-a-steady-supply-of-fish-for-seabirds-114891">wake of a tidal energy turbine structure</a>. We wanted to examine their movements in more detail.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-offshore-structures-serve-up-a-steady-supply-of-fish-for-seabirds-114891">How offshore structures serve up a steady supply of fish for seabirds</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An aerial view of the sea, with turbulence caused by a human-made structure." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400764/original/file-20210514-19-tj5m8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400764/original/file-20210514-19-tj5m8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400764/original/file-20210514-19-tj5m8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400764/original/file-20210514-19-tj5m8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400764/original/file-20210514-19-tj5m8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400764/original/file-20210514-19-tj5m8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400764/original/file-20210514-19-tj5m8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A wake of turbulence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alex Nimmo-Smith</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Drones have revolutionised the way we can observe, track, count and measure animals on the ground or at the sea surface. But they have rarely been used to track seabirds in flight. While we knew we could track the birds’ fast and highly tortuous movements – flight trajectories with many twists and turns – using machine learning, we also wanted to map the water movement below to understand where they would attempt to catch a meal.</p>
<p>Using a technique called particle image velocimetry, we mapped swirling patches of water called vortices and upwellings called boils. Both are prominent turbulence features across the world’s strongest tidal flow sites, including Norway’s famous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rsGi7W5K-s&ab_channel=Lifejourney4twoRoadtrippingtheworld">Saltstraumen</a> or in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6cDtXTMs9Y&ab_channel=GreenEnergyFutures">Bay of Fundy</a> in Nova Scotia, Canada. This meant we had the data on the terns’ flight tracks, and a dynamic map of the moving turbulent patches beneath them.</p>
<p>To find out which of these features the terns favoured and when, we brought in some highly advanced statistical modelling. The models we used can reveal underlying or hidden behavioural states of the tracked animal. They can also show when an animal switches from one state to the other in response to underlying environmental factors.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tern with a fish in its beak, flying above the sea." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400760/original/file-20210514-23-1ffrj0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400760/original/file-20210514-23-1ffrj0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400760/original/file-20210514-23-1ffrj0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400760/original/file-20210514-23-1ffrj0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400760/original/file-20210514-23-1ffrj0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400760/original/file-20210514-23-1ffrj0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400760/original/file-20210514-23-1ffrj0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gone fishing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lilian Lieber</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found that terns were most likely to forage directly over strong vortices, compared to other types of turbulence. Conspicuous boils also provided a strong physical cue but at several tens of meters ahead of their flight trajectories. </p>
<p>Vortices tend to accumulate buoyant material, while newly erupting boils are easily detectable from further away, producing smooth patches at the sea surface as they bring up water and small prey items from depth.</p>
<p>One reason why such turbulence may be so attractive to the terns is that it can bring potential prey items – such as small fish – near the water surface and trap them there. Terns are non-diving seabirds, which means they only snatch prey near the surface or they may perform relatively shallow plunge dives, depending on the species of tern.</p>
<p>This research may help us to predict seabird responses to coastal change, such as the installation of offshore wind, wave and tidal energy structures. After all, we live in turbulent times.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160744/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nothing to disclose.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Nimmo Smith and Lilian Lieber do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
We used drones to track the way terns forage around offshore energy structures.
Lilian Lieber, Research Fellow in the Bryden Centre, Queen's University Belfast
Alex Nimmo Smith, Associate Professor in Marine Physics, University of Plymouth
Roland Langrock, Professor of Statistics and Data Analysis, Bielefeld University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/155962
2021-03-01T19:11:20Z
2021-03-01T19:11:20Z
Birds on beaches are under attack from dogs, photographers and four-wheel drives. Here’s how you can help them
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386927/original/file-20210301-17-vtykgp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C1800%2C1007&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An adult fairy tern feeding a chick</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Environmental scientists see flora, fauna and phenomena the rest of us rarely do. In this new series, we’ve invited them to share their unique <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/photos-from-the-field-92499">photos from the field</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Each year, oystercatchers, plovers and terns flock to beaches all over Australia’s coastline to lay eggs in a shallow scrape in the sand. They typically nest through spring and summer until the chicks are ready to take flight. </p>
<p>Spring and summer, however, are also when most people visit the beach. And human disturbances have increased breeding failure, contributing to the local contraction and decline of many beach-nesting bird <a href="https://doi.org/10.1675/1524-4695(2007)030%5b0093:CSITCB%5d2.0.CO;2">populations</a>.</p>
<p>Take Australian fairy terns (<em>Sternula nereis nereis</em>) in Western Australia, the primary focus of my research and photography, as an example. Their 2020-21 breeding season is coming to an end, and has been relatively poor. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Courting pair of Fairy Terns on the beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386909/original/file-20210301-15-icw1u0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian fairy tern pair. Males feed female mates, helping to supplement nutrients and energy for egg production.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fox predation and flooding from tidal inundation wiped out several colonies. Unfathomably, a colony was also lost after a four-wheel drive performed <a href="https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/aus/word/map/search/word/bog%20lap/Perth%20Region/">bog-laps</a> in a sign-posted nesting area. Unleashed dogs chased incubating adults from their nests, and photographers entered restricted access sites and climbed fragile dunes to photograph nesting birds.</p>
<p>These human-related disturbances highlight the need for ongoing education. So let’s take a closer look at the issue, and how communities and individuals can make a big difference.</p>
<h2>Nesting on the open beach</h2>
<p>Beach-nesting birds typically breed, feed and rest in coastal habitats all year round. During the breeding season, which varies between species, they establish their nests above the high-water mark (high tide), just 20 to 30 millimetres deep in the sand. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fairy Tern sitting on eggs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386911/original/file-20210301-13-xlr8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eggs are sandy coloured and have a mottled appearance, which help them to blend in with the environment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two Fairy Tern chicks. Down feathers are lightly coloured and mottled to help increase camouflage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386914/original/file-20210301-19-1r94pxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fairy tern chicks crouch close to the ground to hide from predatory birds. Down feathers are lightly coloured and mottled to help increase camouflage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some species, such as the fairy tern, incorporate <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/PC/PC20056">beach shells, small stones and organic material</a> like seaweed in and around the nest to help camouflage their eggs and chicks so predators, such as gulls and ravens, don’t detect them easily.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An adult Fairy Tern moving shell material around the nest site to increase camouflage of the eggs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386912/original/file-20210301-12-1gfmam9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An adult fairy tern moving shell material around the nest site to increase the camouflage of its eggs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While nests are exposed and vulnerable on the open beach, it allows the birds to spot predators early and to remain close to productive foraging areas.</p>
<p>Still, beach-nesting birds live a harsh lifestyle. Breeding efforts are often characterised by low reproductive success and multiple nesting attempts may be undertaken each season. </p>
<p>Eggs and chicks remain vulnerable until chicks can fly. This takes around 43 days for <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/PC/PC20056">fairy terns</a> and about 63 days for <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/6477361?keyword=Handbook%20of%20Australian,%20New%20Zealand%20%20and%20%20Antarctic%20%20Birds.%20%20Volume%20%202.%20%20Raptors%20%20to%20%20Lapwings.">hooded plovers</a> (<em>Thinornis rubricollis rubricollis</em>).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Adult Fairy Tern feeding a chick" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386915/original/file-20210301-12-17hezem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eggs and chicks are vulnerable until chicks are capable of flight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Disturbances: one of their biggest threats</h2>
<p>Many historically important sites are now so heavily disturbed they’re unable to support a successful breeding attempt. This includes the Leschenault Inlet in Bunbury, Western Australia, where fairy tern colonies regularly fail from <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ccwa/pages/863/attachments/original/1463545867/FT_Strategy_SW_Coast_Fin.pdf?1463545867">disturbance and destruction</a> by four-wheel drives. </p>
<p>Species like the eastern <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=90381">hooded plover</a> and <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=82950">fairy tern</a> have declined so much they’re now listed as “vulnerable” under <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/about">national environment law</a>. It lists human disturbance as a key threatening process.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-cat-one-year-110-native-animals-lock-up-your-pet-its-a-killing-machine-138412">One cat, one year, 110 native animals: lock up your pet, it's a killing machine</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Birds see people and <a href="https://birdlife.org.au/documents/Dogs_and_Beach-nesting_Birds_Management_Solutions_Nov2018.pdf">dogs</a> as <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/30717960?keyword=Wildlife%20and%20Recreationists">predators</a>. When they approach, nesting adult birds distance themselves from the nest and chicks. For example, terns typically take flight, while plovers run ahead of the threat, “leading” it away from the area. </p>
<p>When eggs and chicks are left unattended, they’re vulnerable to predation by other birds, they can suffer thermal stress (overheating or cooling) or be trampled as their cryptic colouration makes them difficult to spot. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Silver Gull carrying away a Fairy Tern chick" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386918/original/file-20210301-23-1wvwnw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Natural predators such as silver gulls readily take eggs and chicks when left unattended.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unlike plovers and oystercatchers, fairy terns nest in groups, or “colonies”, which may contain up to <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/PC/PC20056">several hundred breeding pairs</a>. Breeding in colonies has its advantages. For example, collective group defence behaviour can drive off predatory birds such as silver gulls (<em>Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae</em>). </p>
<p>However, this breeding strategy can also result in mass nesting failure. For example, in 2018, a cat visiting a colony at night in <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/7/445">Mandurah</a>, about 70 km south of Perth, killed six adults, at least 40 chicks and led to 220 adult birds abandoning the site. In other instances, entire colonies have been lost during storm surges.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Adult Fairy Terns mobbing a juvenile Crested Tern" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386919/original/file-20210301-19-ycgis8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adult fairy terns engaged in group defence or ‘mobbing’ to drive away a juvenile crested tern from a colony.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Small changes can make a big difference</h2>
<p>Land and wildlife managers are becoming increasingly aware of fairy terns and the threats they face. Proactive and adaptive management combined with a good understanding of early breeding behaviour is helping to improve outcomes for these vulnerable birds.</p>
<p>Point Walter, in Bicton, WA, provides an excellent example of how recreational users and beach-nesting birds can coexist. </p>
<p>Point Walter, 18 km from Perth city, is a popular spot for picnicking, fishing, kite surfing, boating and kayaking. It’s also an important site for coastal birds, including three beach-nesting species: fairy terns, red-capped plovers and Australian pied oystercatchers (<em>Haematopus longirostris</em>).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Point Walter, Bicton with kite surfers and kayakers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386921/original/file-20210301-15-vi760q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Point Walter is a popular recreational site in Perth. Recent effective management, including seasonal closures, have enabled fairy terns, red-capped plovers and Australian pied oystercatchers to nest at the end of the sand bar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The end of the sand bar is fenced off seasonally, and as a result the past six years has seen the number of terns increase steadily. For the 2020-2021 season, the sand bar supported at least 150 pairs. </p>
<p>The closure also benefits the local population of red-capped plovers and Australian pied oystercatchers, who nest at the site each year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fairy Tern chick being brooded by its parent." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386922/original/file-20210301-14-nlst6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fairy tern brooding (sitting on) its chick.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An adult Australian Pied Oystercatcher teaching its offspring to hunt for prey." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386923/original/file-20210301-12-10sqjma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An adult Australian pied oystercatcher teaching its offspring to hunt for prey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What’s more, strong community stewardship and management interventions by the City of Mandurah to protect a fairy tern colony meant this season saw the most successful breeding event in more than a decade — around 110 pairs at its peak.</p>
<p>Interventions included temporary fencing, signs, community education and increased ranger patrols. Several pairs of red-capped plovers also managed to raise chicks, adding to the success.</p>
<p>These examples highlight the potential for positive outcomes across their breeding range. But intervention during the early colony formation stage is critical. Temporary fencing, signage and community support are some of our most important tools to protect tern colonies. </p>
<h2>So what can you do to protect beach-nesting birds?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fairy Tern chick" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386928/original/file-20210301-13-1o4alrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A fairy tern chick at a site dedicated to fairy tern breeding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Claire Greenwell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li><p>share the space and be respectful of signage and fencing. These temporary measures help protect birds and increase their chance of breeding success</p></li>
<li><p>keep dogs leashed and away from known feeding and breeding areas</p></li>
<li><p>avoid driving four-wheel drive vehicles on the beach, particularly at high tide</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-let-them-out-15-ways-to-keep-your-indoor-cat-happy-138716">keep cats indoors</a> or in a cat run (enclosure)</p></li>
<li><p>if you see a bird nesting on the beach, report it to local authorities and maintain your distance</p></li>
<li><p>avoid walking through flocks of birds or causing them to take flight. Disturbance burns energy, which could have implications for breeding and migration.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-let-them-out-15-ways-to-keep-your-indoor-cat-happy-138716">Don't let them out: 15 ways to keep your indoor cat happy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155962/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Greenwell has received funding from Birdlife Australia, Stuart Leslie Award, Fremantle Ports, and the Ecological Society of Australia, Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment. Claire gratefully acknowledges the contributions of Grainne Maguire from Birdlife Australia in preparing this article.</span></em></p>
Researcher and photographer Claire Greenwell explains why people are the biggest threat to nesting shorebirds, and the simple ways you can help keep them safe next time you’re at the beach.
Claire Greenwell, PhD Candidate, Murdoch University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/150437
2020-12-07T20:32:28Z
2020-12-07T20:32:28Z
Bird poop and lake mud ‘time machine’ reveal dramatic seabird declines
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372072/original/file-20201130-23-cg34i1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=77%2C103%2C4248%2C3243&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Storm petrels are one of the world's most abundant seabirds, but their numbers have plummeted in some places. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When European settlers began arriving to eastern North America in the 16th century, they were met by staggering numbers of seabirds. </p>
<p>One of the world’s most abundant is the <a href="https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/leachs-storm-petrel">Leach’s storm petrel</a>, which forages at sea during the day. At night, after the birds had returned to the breeding colony en masse, the settlers would likely have heard a cacophony of <a href="http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/sites/all/files/05%20-%20Track%205_20.mp3">witch-like cackling</a>. </p>
<p>In the French archipelago of St. Pierre and Miquelon, just off the southern coast of what is now known as Newfoundland, these sailors noted an enormous colony of storm petrels. They described the vast flocks as “colombiers,” the French term for the pigeon houses common in Europe at the time, and <a href="http://www.grandcolombier.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/120909/Ribault_J-Y_les_iles_spm_1962.pdf">named the island Grand Colombier</a>. </p>
<p>Seabird colonies like these are especially vulnerable to human activities, and are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270912000020">thought to be in rapid decline today</a>. But the scientists who are trying to conserve species at risk of being lost are often left asking, “How have these populations been changing?” and “What is natural?” </p>
<p>The situation is further complicated in that only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129342">about 19 per cent of seabird species have been adequately surveyed to reliably estimate recent population trends</a>. For the storm petrels, lake mud — and bird poop — may provide answers.</p>
<h2>Oily seabirds lighting the way</h2>
<p>When the French settlers arrived, some tried harvesting the birds for food, but found they were disappointing menu items, calling them “<a href="http://www.grandcolombier.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/120909/Ribault_J-Y_les_iles_spm_1962.pdf">worth nothing to eat</a>.” Instead, these <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1951.9718040">oily seabirds were sometimes used to make candles</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370610/original/file-20201121-23-1wt9sa3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370610/original/file-20201121-23-1wt9sa3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370610/original/file-20201121-23-1wt9sa3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370610/original/file-20201121-23-1wt9sa3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370610/original/file-20201121-23-1wt9sa3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370610/original/file-20201121-23-1wt9sa3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370610/original/file-20201121-23-1wt9sa3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Leach’s storm petrel chick.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source"> (Sabina Wilhelm)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Human interference with storm petrel colonies didn’t stop there. With industrialization and human expansion, storm petrels had to contend with a variety of other impacts causing their numbers to decline.</p>
<p>Anecdotal evidence notes that rats escaping from a nearby sunken ship reached Grand Colombier Island and had “<a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon.html?id=LToVAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y">a heyday among the hatching eggs and nesting birds</a>”. These days, <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-save-millions-of-migratory-birds-turn-off-your-outdoor-lights-in-spring-and-fall-114476">light pollution disrupts migratory routes</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.07.031">interactions with offshore oil platforms</a> are other factors causing seabird numbers to dwindle. </p>
<p>By current estimates, the global storm petrel population has <a href="http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/leachs-storm-petrel-hydrobates-leucorhous">declined by over 30 per cent</a> since the 1980s. </p>
<p>But because storm petrels weren’t surveyed before humans began to interfere with their environment, it’s impossible to know just how big the colonies once were. We had to find other ways to reconstruct past seabird populations. </p>
<h2>Bird poop</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.queensu.ca/pearl/">Our lab</a> looked to the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/12/01/2016811117">sediments at the bottom of lakes that have been collecting feces and other debris left by nesting seabirds, layer by layer, for thousands of years</a>.</p>
<p>Storm petrels are destructive house guests. When they breed, they build burrows for their chicks on remote islands. In their wake, they leave behind <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00494-8">feces, uprooted vegetation, eggshells and feathers</a>. </p>
<p>When it rains, this material is washed over the landscape, some of which drains into lakes and ponds. As such, the lake sediments archive a library of information tracking past seabird populations as they slowly accumulate, preserving an environmental history, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. </p>
<p>We knew the waste of storm petrels was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2234">acidic, rich in nutrients and very high in cadmium and zinc</a>. We reasoned that if the storm petrel colony increased in size, the environment — and by extension the sediments — would contain evidence of higher acidity, nutrients and metals. If the colony size were to decline, we would expect the opposite trend. Using these principles, we could use sediments as a time machine going back in time to understand past seabird population trends. </p>
<h2>The cackling island</h2>
<p>To be successful, our work had two prerequisites: lots of seabirds and a lake near the colony. We decided on Grand Colombier Island. Based on limited monitoring data, we believed this colony was stable, with about 300,000 storm petrels in 2011. Most other colonies in the world are declining. </p>
<p>So, what makes Grand Colombier different? Why is this colony stable when others are in decline? By going back in time, we hoped to find clues that would help conserve storm petrels here and elsewhere. </p>
<p>Armed with a boat and sediment corer, our team made their way to the seabird’s islands to access our time machine.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370611/original/file-20201121-13-1l88f9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370611/original/file-20201121-13-1l88f9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370611/original/file-20201121-13-1l88f9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370611/original/file-20201121-13-1l88f9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370611/original/file-20201121-13-1l88f9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370611/original/file-20201121-13-1l88f9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370611/original/file-20201121-13-1l88f9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hiking to a pond on St. Pierre Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Susie Rance)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A not-so-stable population</h2>
<p>To say that we were surprised by the results would be an understatement. </p>
<p>From the 5,800-year sediment record that we recovered, it was clear the storm petrel population was not always stable. In fact, the colony naturally fluctuated, with distinct peaks in size about 2,700 years ago and again about 740 years ago. Clearly, large seabird colonies have fluctuated in size, even before humans interfered. </p>
<p>More strikingly, the population crashed at the start of the 19th century, coinciding with European settlement — and the onset of seabird candle-making, rat infestations and increasing boating traffic. Although, on the surface, the colony appeared to have been stable since the 1980s, it is now only 16 per cent of what it may have been before European arrival.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370612/original/file-20201121-21-1cqd3a6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370612/original/file-20201121-21-1cqd3a6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370612/original/file-20201121-21-1cqd3a6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370612/original/file-20201121-21-1cqd3a6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370612/original/file-20201121-21-1cqd3a6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370612/original/file-20201121-21-1cqd3a6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370612/original/file-20201121-21-1cqd3a6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Leach’s storm petrel trends on Grand Colombier Island. The rapid population decline is evident after permanent European settlement in 1816. The years are shown in years before present (BP), where 0 BP is 1950.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Authors)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What about other species?</h2>
<p>Realizing that the current population of storm petrels is only a fraction of its past size addresses a systemic issue in conservation biology, namely something scientists call “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(00)89171-5">shifting baselines syndrome</a>.” Specifically, how do we set realistic conservation goals if we don’t know the size of natural populations before humans had a significant impact on their size?</p>
<p>When setting conservation goals, it’s important to consider any available long-term data, whether that’s with lake sediments, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/2047-217X-3-27">whole-genome sequencing</a> or <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4314060">traditional knowledge</a>. </p>
<p>There is a long road ahead to reverse species declines, but an important first step is to have a better understanding of the temporal context of past changes, as well as the magnitude and timing of any modern declines.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150437/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Duda receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John P Smol receives funding from NSERC</span></em></p>
Seabird colonies are thought to be in rapid decline. But knowing just how severe the loss is can be a challenge, so some scientists are turning to bird poop for the answer.
Matthew Duda, PhD Candidate, Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory, Queen's University, Ontario
John P. Smol, Distinguished University Professor and Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change, Queen's University, Ontario
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.