Supplementary material from "Striking centennial-scale changes in the population size of a threatened seabird"
Posted on 2019-12-30 - 16:19
Many animal populations are under stress and declining. For numerous marine bird species, only recent or sparse monitoring data are available, lacking the appropriate temporal perspective needed to consider natural, long-term population dynamics when developing conservation strategies. Here we use a combination of established palaeoenvironmental approaches to examine the millennial-scale dynamics of the world's largest colony (representing approx. 50% of the global population) of the declining and vulnerable Leach's Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous). By reconstructing the last approximately 1700 years of the colony's population trends, we corroborate recent surveys indicating rapid declines since the 1980s. More surprisingly, however, was that population size was smaller and has changed strikingly in the past, even prior to the introduction of human stressors. Our results challenge notions that very large colonies are generally stable in the absence of anthropogenic pressures and speak to an increasingly pressing need to better understand inter-colony movement and recruitment when inferring range- and species-wide trends. While the recently documented decline in storm-petrels clearly warrants conservation concern, we show that colony size was consistently much lower in the past and changed markedly in the absence of major anthropogenic activity. In response, we emphasize the need for enlarged protected area networks to maintain natural population cycles, coupled with continued research to identify the driver(s) of the current global seabird decline.
CITE THIS COLLECTION
DataCite
3 Biotech
3D Printing in Medicine
3D Research
3D-Printed Materials and Systems
4OR
AAPG Bulletin
AAPS Open
AAPS PharmSciTech
Abhandlungen aus dem Mathematischen Seminar der Universität Hamburg
ABI Technik (German)
Academic Medicine
Academic Pediatrics
Academic Psychiatry
Academic Questions
Academy of Management Discoveries
Academy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Learning and Education
Academy of Management Perspectives
Academy of Management Proceedings
Academy of Management Review
Duda, Matthew P.; Robertson, Gregory J.; Lim, Joeline E.; Kissinger, Jennifer; Eickmeyer, David C.; Grooms, Christopher; et al. (2019). Supplementary material from "Striking centennial-scale changes in the population size of a threatened seabird". The Royal Society. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4800372.v1
or
Select your citation style and then place your mouse over the citation text to select it.
SHARE
Usage metrics
Read the peer-reviewed publication
AUTHORS (11)
MD
Matthew P. Duda
GR
Gregory J. Robertson
JL
Joeline E. Lim
JK
Jennifer Kissinger
DE
David C. Eickmeyer
CG
Christopher Grooms
LK
Linda E. Kimpe
WM
William A. Montevecchi
NM
Neal Michelutti
JB
Jules M. Blais
JS
John P. Smol