A breeding Black-browed Albatross on Kerguelen Island, photograph by Deborah Pardo

Bertille Mohring (School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Ecology Letters on differing life-history strategies of Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris on Bird Island in the South Atlantic and Kerguelen Island in the southern Indian Ocean.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Individuals face a trade-off between allocating resources to reproduction or self-maintenance, yet the drivers of the existence and strength of such trade-off have been hard to determine.  Environmental conditions are thought to play a crucial role, as long-lived species are predicted to favour more precautionary life-history strategies in variable environments.  However, empirical evidence remains limited.  Using long-term monitoring of two black-browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris populations, we investigated variation in life-history strategies under contrasting environmental conditions, through reproductive senescence.  In more variable environments, individuals displayed generally slower life histories (i.e., slow, late-onset senescence) and greater among-individual variation in life-history strategies.  Interestingly, earlier and faster reproductive senescence correlated with higher lifetime reproductive success regardless of environmental variability, suggesting that either faster life histories incur higher fitness or successful reproduction accelerates reproductive senescence.  These findings reveal how environmental variability shapes life-history strategies, highlighting potential responses to increasing environmental variability in a changing world.”

With thanks to Karine Delord and Richard Phillips.

Reference:

Mohring, B., Potts, J.R., Wilson, A.J., Réale, D., Phillips, R.A., Weimerskirch, H., Barbraud, C., Bennison, D., Delord, K., Wood, A.G., Peroteau, S., Rouby, E., Ventura, F. & Patrick, S.C. 2026.  Environmental variability shapes life-history trade-offs within and between populations of a long-lived seabird.  Ecology Letters 29(4).  doi.org/10.1111/ele.70384.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 24 April 2026

Graphical abstract from the publication

Jumpei Okado (Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Japan) with many coauthors have analysed blood mercury concentrations in more than 11 215 seabirds across 108 species, six of them albatrosses and 32 of other species within the Procellariiformes, publishing open access in the journal Science of The Total Environment.

“It provides the first biologically based estimate of mercury distribution in the ocean.  The study shows that mercury levels in seabirds vary with prey trophic level, body weight, and foraging depth.”

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Mercury (Hg) is a global contaminant that biomagnifies in marine food webs. Seabirds can serve as valuable bioindicators of marine Hg pollution due to their high trophic positions and broad distributions. However, the biological and spatial drivers of variation in seabird Hg levels remain unclear, and few studies have validated whether seabird-derived estimates of the spatial distribution of Hg are consistent with predictions from biogeochemical-ocean models. We conducted a global meta-analysis of total Hg (THg) concentrations in adult seabird blood. Based on our own fieldwork and a literature review, we compiled 478 mean THg values from 108 species representing >11,000 individuals. Blood THg increased in species feeding at higher trophic levels, with larger body mass, and those more likely to consume mesopelagic prey in oceanic waters. Additionally, blood THg might further increase in regions with low chlorophyll-a level, likely due to greater methylmercury uptake in areas with low-productivity. We subsequently developed models to predict global spatial variation in seabird blood THg, either from all species or only epipelagic prey feeders. Only our epipelagic prey feeder-based model showed a weak significant positive correlation with THg in particulate organic matter from biogeochemical-ocean models. However, the low correlation coefficient (r = 0.23) indicates potential discrepancies between the two models. We suggest that future studies adopt our integrative approach, combining biological data and large-scale modeling, to improve our understanding of global marine Hg pollution. Together, these findings clarify the biological and environmental drivers of Hg exposure in seabirds and highlight the value of seabirds for global monitoring of marine Hg pollution.”

With thanks to the World Seabird Union.

Reference:

Okado, J. et al. 2026.  Global drivers of variation in blood mercury of seabirds revealed by a meta-analysis.  Science of the Total Environment 1014. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.181317.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 23 April 2026

 From Chile to Canada. Transequatorial migration of the Pink-footed Shearwater, artwork by Ilana Nimz of Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN)

Sonya Pastron (Environment and Climate Change Canada, Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada) and colleagues have published in the open access online journal Marine Ornithology on the ACAP-listed and Vulnerable Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus in Canadian waters, showing the species’ at-sea distribution correlates with latitude and the continental shelf break.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Anthropogenic activities are threatening global marine ecosystems, with seabirds representing a vulnerable group that has experienced pronounced population declines in recent decades.  The ability to identify important marine areas for vulnerable seabirds is fundamental to conservation initiatives.  The Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus (listed as Endangered in Canada) breeds only in Chile, but during the non-breeding season, it ranges northward to waters off Canada's Pacific coast and the northern Gulf of Alaska.  Using at-sea survey data spanning from 1992 to 2019, we examined the relationship between the species' distribution and environmental variables using a two-step generalized additive model approach.  Cross-validation with out-of-sample testing showed high predictive accuracy for shearwater occurrence (area under receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.94) and moderate performance for relative abundance predictions (Spearman's rank correlation = 0.32, root mean square error = 3.92, mean absolute error = 0.45) at a 4-km² resolution. The results give us confidence in the model's ability to identify areas suitable for Pink-footed Shearwaters.  Distribution was strongly associated with several oceanographic and geographic factors, particularly latitude and distance to the continental shelfbreak.  The findings of this study may help inform marine conservation efforts within Canada's Pacific exclusive economic zone and beyond.”

Reference:

Pastran, S.A., O’Hara, P.D., Morgan, K.H., Fox, C.H., & Gross, W.E. 2026.  Predicting suitable marine habitat for Pink-footed Shearwaters Ardenna creatopus in the waters along the Pacific coast of Canada.  Marine Ornithology 54: 109-123.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 22 April 2026

The valley peatland study site on Bird Island in the South Atlantic

Chuxian Li (Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden) and many colleagues have published in the open access journal PNAS on a study which indicates that contemporary intensified westerly winds may cause steep declines in Southern Ocean seabird populations.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The Southern Ocean is home to vast seabird populations and threatened species.  To understand the wider impact of the catastrophic decline in many seabird populations over recent decades, we need knowledge of their long-term population dynamics under natural climate variability.  We do this by studying mercury flux and stable isotope fingerprints in seabird excrement (guano) that has accumulated in peatland archives around the nest sites.  We find that oscillations in peat mercury accumulation reflect guano inputs and therefore seabird abundance.  The peat records suggest that seabirds thrived when the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds were less intense.  From a past to future perspective, our study indicates that contemporary intensified westerly winds may cause further steep declines in Southern Ocean seabird populations.”

With thanks to Richard Phillips.

Reference:

Li, C. et al. 2026.  Southern Ocean seabird population shifts over the Holocene revealed by peat sequestration of mercury from guano.  PNAS 123 (16) e253368112.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 21 April 2026