An international conference to assess the status and trends of habitats, key species and ecosystems in the Southern Ocean will be held in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia over 9-13 April 2018.

Abstracts are due by 15 December on any of the four main conference themes:

1. Assessments of status and trends in habitats, species and ecosystems, and the causes of change

2. Responses of species to changing habitats, including ocean acidification, sea ice and temperature

3. Modelling and analytical methods to assess status and trends

4. Implementation of observing systems to estimate dynamics and change

Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses: a Southern Ocean species; photograph by Aleks Terauds

The conference will be co-hosted by the Australian Antarctic Division and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre.

Read more on the conference website.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 December 2017

The 27th International Ornithological Congress (IOC) under the direction of the International Ornithologists' Union will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia on Canada’s Pacific Coast from 19 to 26 August 2018. IOCs have been held at generally four-year intervals since the first was held in Vienna, Austria in 1884.

Events planned to accompany the scientific programme include field tours and the Vancouver International Birding Festival. The Congress will be held in the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Registration and abstract submissions are now open; the abstract deadline is 31 Jan 2018. Click here to access the planned symposia and their co-convenors.

Read more at the IOC27’s website.

Short-tailed Albatrosses occur in Canadian Pacific waters, photograph by Aleks Terauds

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 08 December 2017

Lucas Krüger (Marine and Environmental Science Centre, University of Coimbra, Portugal) and colleagues have published in the journal Ecography on the likely effects of climate change scenarios on the latitudinal distributions of seven species of ACAP-listed seabirds in the Southern Ocean.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Given the major ongoing influence of environmental change on the oceans, there is a need to understand and predict the future distributions of marine species in order to plan appropriate mitigation to conserve vulnerable species and ecosystems. In this study we use tracking data from seven large seabird species of the Southern Ocean (black-browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris, grey-headed albatross T. chrysostoma, northern giant petrel Macronectes halli, southern giant petrel M. giganteus, Tristan albatross Diomedea dabbenena, wandering albatross D. exulans and white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis, and on fishing eff ort in two types of fisheries (characterised by low or high-bycatch rates), to model the associations with environmental variables (bathymetry, chlorophyll-a concentration, sea surface temperature and wind speed) through ensemble species distribution models. We then projected these distributions according to four climate change scenarios built by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change for 2050 and 2100. The resulting projections were consistent across scenarios, indicating that there is a strong likelihood of poleward shifts in distribution of seabirds, and several range contractions (resulting from a shift in the northern, but no change in the southern limit of the range in four species). Current trends for southerly shifts in fisheries distributions are also set to continue under these climate change scenarios at least until 2100; some of these may reflect habitat loss for target species that are already over-fished. It is of particular concern that a shift in the distribution of several highly threatened seabird species would increase their overlap with fisheries where there is a high-bycatch risk. Under such scenarios, the associated shifts in distribution of seabirds and increases in bycatch risk will require much-improved fisheries management in these sensitive areas to minimise impacts on populations in decline.”

Incubating Tristan Albatross, photograph by John Cooper
 

With thanks to Barry Baker.

Reference:

Krüger, L., Ramos, J.A., Xavier, J.C., Grémillet, D., González-Solís, J., Petry, M.V., Phillips ,R.A., Wanless, R.M. & Paiva, V.H. 2017. Projected distributions of Southern Ocean albatrosses, petrels and fisheries as a consequence of climatic change. Ecography 40: 1-14.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 December 2017

Lorna Deppe (School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand) and colleagues have published in the journal Notornis on levels of fallout under artificial lighting of the globally Endangered (and nationally Vulnerable) Hutton’s Shearwater Puffinus huttoni, a species endemic to New Zealand

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The risk of disorientation by artificial lights and subsequent ‘fallout’ has become a widely recognised issue for nocturnal procellariiform species. Using data from community-based rescue campaigns and systematic research, we as­sessed the characteristics of fallout events observed in fledglings of the threatened New Zealand endemic Hutton’s shearwater (Puffinus huttoni) or Kaikōura tītī. Despite strong annual variation in observed fallout numbers, the proportion of annually produced fledglings collected as ‘fallout birds’ remained below 1% each year. Among those, more than 80% survived due to community rescue efforts. Fallout was found to increase significantly during new moon, while weather effects remained inconclusive. Most fallout occurred within brightly lit areas of Kaikōura township, particularly along its coastal roads. High light source densities and high wattage lights appeared to be influential in some areas but could only partly explain the spatial distribution of fallout at this small scale.”

Hutton's Shearwater fledgling: at risk to fallout

Fallout of Hutton's Shearwaters can lead to mortality on Kaikoura's roads

Photographs courtesy of the Hutton's Shearwater Charitable Trust

With thanks to Lorna Deppe.

Reference:

Deppe, L., Rowley, O., Rowe, L.K., Shi, N., McArthur, N., Gooday, O. & Goldstien, S.J. 2017. Investigation of fallout events in Hutton’s shearwaters (Puffinus huttoni) associated with artificial lighting. Notornis 64: 181-191.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 06 December 2017