Tracking in seabirds Prof. Dr. Petra Quillfeldt, AG Verhaltensökologie und Ökophysiologie

Transcription

1 Tracking in seabirds Prof. Dr. Petra Quillfeldt, AG Verhaltensökologie und Ökophysiologie 1

2 Tracking in seabirds 1. Introduction: seabird ecology 2. Seabirds at sea: Methods and examples of seabird tracking 3. Seabirds as indicators

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4 Seevögel Tracking Indikatoren Two thirds of the planet are oceans, but home to only 3% of bird species.

5 Two thirds of the planet are oceans, but home to only 3% of bird species. Challenges of marine habitats Patchy, unpredictable food No protection from rain and wind Breeding impossible Adaptations, e.g. Subcutaneous fat Large stomach, e.g. can carry Fulmar 20 % of body mass in food Near waterproof plumage Salt water excretion for drinking water Long pelagic flights or deep benthic dives

6 Two thirds of the planet are oceans, but home to only 3% of bird species. sparseness, patchiness, and unpredictability of marine resources Marine Habitats limited number of suitable nesting places Density-dependent depletion of prey stocks around colonies OR Pelagic seabirds: transport food to the breeding colony from distant foraging areas

7 Sphenisciformes Procellariiformes Charadriiformes Pelecaniformes penguins albatrosses storm petrels petrels, prions shearwaters fulmars skuas gulls, terns auks gannets, boobies pelicans cormorants frigatebirds Hang on, they say we have a slow pace of life Life History Characteristic Passerines Seabirds Age at first breeding 1-2 years 2-9 years Clutch size Incubation period days days Nestling period days days Maximum life span 5-15 years years Although seabirds belong to several families that are not all closely related, they have comparable breeding and life history parameters, being colonial, long-lived, and exhibiting little or no sex dimorphism.

8 Exploit the marine food web Breed on land Nahrungsnetz Nesthabitat Partner Climate, nutrients Konkurrenten competitors Prädatoren, Predators, Parasiten parasited competitors Climate change, ocean acidification, Changes in the food web (Regime changes) pollution, disturbance, bycatch invasive species, Light pollution Habitat loss

9 Upwelling areas Marine Fronts, e.g. Polar front Tracking Ocean Wanderers DATABASE: > 7 Mio data points, seabirds of 104 species, 105 research groups

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12 Radiotracking (1960s) Light (<1g for seabirds) short recording (days-weeks) Ca. 1-2 km Colony attendance

13 Chick body condition Mealsize (g / day) Sea surface temperature anomaly ( C) Jan 2003 Jan 2004 Jan 2005 Jan 2006 Jan 2007 warm cold Jan 2008 % observations Kruskal Wallis ANOVA: H = 18.3, df = 2, P< (N=81) 2007 (N=339) 2008 (N=61) Provisioning rate: 1-8 days Trip length (days) Quillfeldt et al. 2010, Marine Biology

14 Geolocation: Light (1g for seabirds) Long recording (1-5 years) Often combined with immersion Or dive depth (Lotek) ~ 150 km, equinox excluded Need to recover

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16 2 species of prions in SW Atlantic Antarctic Prion (Pachyptila desolata) Antarktis-Walvogel = Taubensturmvogel Thin-billed Prion (Pachyptila belcheri) Dünnschnabel- Walvogel

17 2 species of prions in SW Atlantic MK10 Geolocators (1g, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK) 25 P. belcheri (Thin-billed prions, 130g) New Island, Falkland/Malvinas 20 recaptured 14 P. desolata (Antarctic prions, 160g) Bird Island, South Georgia (Joan Navarro, U Barcelona Richard Phillips, BAS) 10 recaptured

18 Thin-billed Prion

19 Antarctic Prion

20 Kerguelen

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22 Most important parameter: Quillfeldt et al PLOS One, 2015 Biology Letters

23 Actave webtool e.g. Thin-billed prions

24 GPS (2000s): Limited number of data points ca. 5 m Heavier (from 6g for seabirds) Needs satellite reception Recapture or download to base station Rockhopper penguin Felsenpinguin

25 Rockhopper penguin Felsenpinguin

26 Rockhopper P. Settlement 20% 40% 60% 80% 62 0'W South End 20% 40% 60% 80% North End 20% 40% 60% 80% 61 40'W 61 20'W Gentoo P. 61 0'W North End 20% 40% 60% 80% 60 40'W 51 20'S 51 30'S 51 40'S 51 50'S 52 0'S 51 20'S 51 30'S 51 40'S 51 50'S 52 0'S Time (%) Morning (4-11 h) 30 North End colony Settlement Rookery Afternoon (12-19 h) Night (20-03 h) Rockhopper Penguins Time (%) Depth (m) Morning (4-11 h) North End colony South End colony Afternoon (12-19 h) 14 Night (20-03 h) Gentoo Penguins Depth (m) 62 0'W 61 40'W 61 20'W 61 0'W 60 40'W GPS-TD: Temporal and spatial segregation Masello et al Ecosphere

27 Satellite tracking (1990s) No recapture necessary 200 m under best conditions Heavier (from 5g solar, 20g battery) Needs satellite reception (and solar) Most costly method

28 June 2017: ICARUS Prototype: 5g (aim: 1g) EUR Incl. acceleration 56 N- 56 S

29 Climate change, ocean acidification, Changes in the food web (Regime changes) pollution, disturbance, bycatch Grecian et al Biol Letters Marine Important Bird Areas Marine Protected areas

30 Little auk (Krabbentaucher) Tracking key areas (blue+red) e.g. off Newfoundland) overlap extensively with areas of intensive human activities, including oil and gas extraction (grey) and shipping (blue lines)

31 Advantages of Biomonitoring: Reflects availability in the food web Higher concentration (bioaccumulation) enables exact measurements Several time scales and sites accessible Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) Legacy POPs Emerging POPs Heavy metals Mercury, Aluminium Blood, eggs, fat microplastics Feathers

32 Mattern et al Methods Ecol Evol:

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34 Hg 2.5 µg/g feather Hg 1 µg/g feather Carravieri et al Environmental Pollution

35 Streaked shearwaters (Weißgesicht-Sturmtaucher) Ito et al Cities 1-4 Hakodate, Muroran, Tomakomai, Kushiro

36 Concentration of POPs in Preen Gland Oil Ito et al Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) PCB group (26 substances) Hexachlorocyclohexanes (α-, β-, γ-, δ-hchs) DDT group (DDT, DDE, DDD)

37 Vielen Dank Finanzielle Unterstützung DFG, MPG, NERC (UK), OTEP (UK), Falkland Islands Government...