Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross artwork for ACAP by Lynne Waters, Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN)

Florian Orgeret (Marine Apex Predator Research Unit, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa) and colleagues have published open view in the journal Ecology Letters on aspects of climate change impacting seabirds.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Understanding climate change impacts on top predators is fundamental to marine biodiversity conservation, due to their increasingly threatened populations and their importance in marine ecosystems. We conducted a systematic review of the effects of climate change (prolonged, directional change) and climate variability on seabirds and marine mammals. We extracted data from 484 studies (4808 published studies were reviewed), comprising 2215 observations on demography, phenology, distribution, diet, behaviour, body condition and physiology. The likelihood of concluding that climate change had an impact increased with study duration. However, the temporal thresholds for the effects of climate change to be discernibly varied from 10 to 29 years depending on the species, the biological response and the oceanic study region. Species with narrow thermal ranges and relatively long generation times were more often reported to be affected by climate change. This provides an important framework for future assessments, with guidance on response- and region-specific temporal dimensions that need to be considered when reporting effects of climate change. Finally, we found that tropical regions and non-breeding life stages were poorly covered in the literature, a concern that should be addressed to enable a better understanding of the vulnerability of marine predators to climate change.”

Reference:

Orgeret, F., Thiebault, A.,  Kovacs, K.M., Lydersen, C., Hindell, M.A., Thompson, S.A., Sydeman, W.J. & Pistorius, P.A. 2021.  Climate change impacts on seabirds and marine mammals: the importance of study duration, thermal tolerance and generation time.  Ecology Letters doi.org10.1111/ele.13920.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 November 2021

In support of last year’s World Albatross Day on 19 June ACAP released three infographics for the Critically Endangered Tristan Diomedea dabbenena and Waved Phoebastria irrorata Albatrosses and for the Vulnerable Wandering Albatross D. exulans (click here).  All three infographics were designed and illustrated by Namasri ‘Namo’ Niumim. 

The vision of ACAP is, in time, to produce infographics for all 31 ACAP-listed species; efforts are currently being directed at producing infographics for the 22 species of albatrosses, primarily in support of future World Albatross Days.  The fourth in the series, again illustrated by Namo Niumim, is of the globally Endangered and Nationally Critical Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis.  This species, endemic to New Zealand, is co-published by that country’s Department of Conservation, which has covered the costs of its production.

French and Spanish versions of the new ‘namographic’ have now been produced to complement the English version.  French and Spanish versions can be found in their respective language menus for the website under, Infographies sur les espèces and Infographía sobres las especies. High-quality versions suitable for downloading and printing as either A3 or A2 posters in all three ACAP languages will soon be freely available on this website.

It is intended to produce four more albatross infographics next year in conjunction with World Albatross Day on 19 June.  Those for the Endangered Grey-headed Thalassarche chrysostoma and Near Threatened Shy T. cauta Albatrosses will be sponsored by the Australian Antarctic Division.  Infographics for the Near Threatened Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Near Threatened Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses will be co-published with the Hawaiian environmental NGO, Pacific Rim Conservation.

With thanks to Namasri Niumim for her artistic work, to Ian Angus, Igor Debski and Johannes Fischer of the New Zealand Department of Conservation, and to ‘Pep’ Arcos, Karine Delord and Federico Alfonso Méndez Sánchez for their valued help checking texts.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 November 2021

 
Black-browed Albatross at sea, artwork for ACAP by Inge Eisenhauer of Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature, from a photograph by Dimas Gianuca

Anne-Sophie Bonnet-Lebrun (MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA - Instituto Universitário, Lisbon, Portugal) and 33 colleagues have published open access in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science on the migratory behaviour of 21 seabird species, including albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, tracked at sea with geolocation loggers.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Every year, billions of birds undertake extensive migrations between breeding and non-breeding areas, facing challenges that require behavioural adjustments, particularly to flight timing and duration. Such adjustments in daily activity patterns and the influence of extrinsic factors (e.g., environmental conditions, moonlight) have received much more research attention in terrestrial than marine migrants. Taking advantage of the widespread deployment in recent decades of combined light-level geolocator-immersion loggers, we investigated diel organisation and influence of the moon on flight activities during the non-breeding season of 21 migrant seabird species from a wide taxonomic range (6 families, 3 orders). Migrant seabirds regularly stopped (to either feed or rest) during migration, unlike some terrestrial and wetland birds which fly non-stop. We found an overall increase for most seabird species in time in flight and, for several species, also in flight bout duration, during migration compared to when resident at the non-breeding grounds. Additionally, several nocturnal species spent more of the day in flight during migration than at non-breeding areas, and vice versa for diurnal species. Nocturnal time in flight tended to increase during full moon, both during migration and at the non-breeding grounds, depending on species. Our study provides an extensive overview of activity patterns of migrant seabirds, paving the way for further research on the underlying mechanisms and drivers.”

Reference:

Bonnet-Lebrun,^, A.-S. et al. 2021.  Seabird migration strategies: flight budgets, diel activity patterns, and lunar influence.  Frontiers in Marine Science https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.683071/full

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 November 2021

Southern Giant Petrel and chick, Pointe Geologie, Dumont d’Urville Station, Antarctica, photograph by Christophe Sauser

The corpse of a banded Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus was recovered from the shore at Flat Point, Wairarapa, North Island, New Zealand around 10 June 2020.  Brent Plaisted writes: “I observed the petrel about 48 hours earlier on the beach alive but not very active, it walked to the sea and swam away, the next day was much the same but slightly more distressed.  I did consider capturing it and taking it for medical help but again it headed to the sea.  When I found it washed up dead it was fresh and in poor condition. It felt quite skeletal with not much meat on its bones.”  In correspondence he informs ACAP Latest News that there was no particularly bad weather at the time.  No autopsy was carried out so the cause of death remains uncertain.

Museum Paris  CF-30157

The bird was banded by Luc Jacquet while overwintering at France’s Dumont d’Urville Station in Adélie Land, Antarctica as a chick on 01 February 1992 with metal band CF-30157 and an engraved plastic band white 332 in the long-term monitoring colony at Pointe Géologie.  Banding activity at the colony forms part of the project “Seabirds and Marine Mammals as Sentinels of Global Change in the Southern Ocean” (Project: 109 ORNITHOECO), supported by the French Polar Institute Paul Emile Victor (IPEV).  Only the metal band was found on the corpse, but Southern Giant Petrels (especially the males) are known to be able to wear out both their metal and colour bands in a few years due to their habit of shuffling around on rocky ground.  However, the recovered band (see above) shows little sign of wear, so perhaps the recovered bird was a female.  No sightings of the petrel had been made in the 28 years between banding and recovery. 

With thanks to Karine Delord, Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, France; Nikki Gasson, Department of Conservation, New Zealand; and Brent Plaisted.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 November 2021, updated 15 November 2021