1
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Navarro-Herrero L, Saldanha S, Militão T, Vicente-Sastre D, March D, González-Solís J. Use of bird-borne radar to examine shearwater interactions with legal and illegal fisheries. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2024; 38:e14224. [PMID: 38111961 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Revised: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
Seabirds interact with fishing vessels to consume fishing discards and baits, sometimes resulting in incidental capture (bycatch) and the death of the bird, which has clear conservation implications. To understand seabird-fishery interactions at large spatiotemporal scales, researchers are increasing their use of simultaneous seabird and fishing vessel tracking. However, vessel tracking data can contain gaps due to technical problems, illicit manipulation, or lack of adoption of tracking monitoring systems. These gaps might lead to underestimating the fishing effort and bycatch rates and jeopardize the effectiveness of marine conservation. We deployed bird-borne radar detector tags capable of recording radar signals from vessels. We placed tags on 88 shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea, Calonectris borealis, and Calonectris edwardsii) that forage in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem. We modeled vessel radar detections registered by the tags in relation to gridded automatic identification system (AIS) vessel tracking data to examine the spatiotemporal dynamics of seabird-vessel interactions and identify unreported fishing activity areas. Our models showed a moderate fit (area under the curve >0.7) to vessel tracking data, indicating a strong association of shearwaters to fishing vessels in major fishing grounds. Although in high-marine-traffic regions, radar detections were also driven by nonfishing vessels. The tags registered the presence of potential unregulated and unreported fishing vessels in West African waters, where merchant shipping is unusual but fishing activity is intense. Overall, bird-borne radar detectors showed areas and periods when the association of seabirds with legal and illegal fishing vessels was high. Bird-borne radar detectors could improve the focus of conservation efforts.
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Grants
- 794938 European Union's Horizon 2020, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- PID2020-117155GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Gobierno de España
- CGL2016-78530-R Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Gobierno de España
- BES-2017-079874 Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Gobierno de España
- 2021/058 CIDEGENT program of the Generalitat Valenciana (Spain)
- 4880 MAVA Foundation
- 20210/20113/20033 MAVA Foundation
- 2017/2349 PLEAMAR Fundación Biodiversidad, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund
- 2019/1423 PLEAMAR Fundación Biodiversidad, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund
- 2020FI_B100171(2019FI_B00829) Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, Generalitat de Catalunya (Spain)
- BDNS481561(2020FISDU463) Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, Generalitat de Catalunya (Spain)
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Affiliation(s)
- Leia Navarro-Herrero
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Unitat de Zoologia Marina, Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Paterna, Spain
| | - Sarah Saldanha
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Teresa Militão
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Diego Vicente-Sastre
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - David March
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Unitat de Zoologia Marina, Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Paterna, Spain
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Jacob González-Solís
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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2
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Gillies N, Weimerskirch H, Thorley J, Clay TA, Martín López LM, Joo R, Basille M, Patrick SC. Boldness predicts plasticity in flight responses to winds. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:1730-1742. [PMID: 37365766 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
Behavioural plasticity can allow populations to adjust to environmental change when genetic evolution is too slow to keep pace. However, its constraints are not well understood. Personality is known to shape individual behaviour, but its relationship to behavioural plasticity is unclear. We studied the relationship between boldness and behavioural plasticity in response to wind conditions in wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans). We fitted multivariate hidden Markov models to an 11-year GPS dataset collected from 294 birds to examine whether the probability of transitioning between behavioural states (rest, prey search and travel) varied in response to wind, boldness and their interaction. We found that movement decisions varied with boldness, with bolder birds showing preferences for travel, and shyer birds showing preferences for search. For females, these effects depended on wind speed. In strong winds, which are optimal for movement, females increased time spent in travel, while in weaker winds, shyer individuals showed a slight preference for search, while bolder individuals maintained preference for travel. Our findings suggest that individual variation in behavioural plasticity may limit the capacity of bolder females to adjust to variable conditions and highlight the important role of behavioural plasticity in population responses to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natasha Gillies
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d'Étude Biologique de Chizé, CNRS UMR 7273, Villiers-en-Bois, France
| | - Jack Thorley
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Thomas A Clay
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA
| | - Lucía Martina Martín López
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
- Ipar Perspective Asociación, Sopela, Spain
| | - Rocío Joo
- Global Fishing Watch, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, Florida, USA
| | - Mathieu Basille
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, Florida, USA
| | - Samantha C Patrick
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
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3
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Weimerskirch H, Corbeau A, Pajot A, Patrick SC, Collet J. Albatrosses develop attraction to fishing vessels during immaturity but avoid them at old age. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20222252. [PMID: 36598019 PMCID: PMC9811633 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals have to develop novel behaviours to adapt to anthropogenic activities or environmental changes. Fishing vessels constitute a recent feature that attracts albatrosses in large numbers. While they provide a valuable food source through offal and bait, they cause mortalities through bycatch, such that selection on vessel attraction will depend on the cost-benefit balance. We examine whether attraction to fishing and other vessels changes through the lifetime of great albatrosses, and show that attraction differed between age classes, sexes and personality. Juveniles encountered fewer vessels than adults, but also showed a lower attraction to vessels when encountered. Attraction rates, especially for fishing vessels, increased through immaturity to peak during adulthood, decreasing with old age. Shy females had lower attraction to vessels and shy males remained at vessels longer, suggesting that bolder individuals may outcompete shyer ones, with positive consequences for mass gain. These results suggest that attraction to vessels is a learned process, leading to an increase with age, and is not the result of preferential attraction to new objects by juveniles. Overall, our findings have important conservation implications as a result of potential strong differential selection on the risk of bycatch for age classes, personality types, populations and species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-La Rochelle Université, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
| | - Alexandre Corbeau
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-La Rochelle Université, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- CNRS, ECOBIO [(Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)] - UMR 6553, University of Rennes, Rennes, France
| | - Adrien Pajot
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-La Rochelle Université, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
| | - Samantha C. Patrick
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK
| | - Julien Collet
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-La Rochelle Université, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1, UK
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4
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Carneiro APB, Dias MP, Oppel S, Pearmain EJ, Clark BL, Wood AG, Clavelle T, Phillips RA. Integrating immersion with
GPS
data improves behavioural classification for wandering albatrosses and shows scavenging behind fishing vessels mirrors natural foraging. Anim Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - M P Dias
- BirdLife International Cambridge UK
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, cE3c & Department of Animal Biology, Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa Lisbon Portugal
| | - S Oppel
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The David Attenborough Building Cambridge UK
| | | | | | - A G Wood
- British Antarctic Survey Natural Environment Research Council Cambridge UK
| | - T Clavelle
- Global Fishing Watch Washington District of Columbia USA
| | - R A Phillips
- British Antarctic Survey Natural Environment Research Council Cambridge UK
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5
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Orgeret F, Reisinger RR, Carpenter-Kling T, Keys DZ, Corbeau A, Bost CA, Weimerskirch H, Pistorius PA. Spatial segregation in a sexually dimorphic central place forager: Competitive exclusion or niche divergence? J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:2404-2420. [PMID: 34091891 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 05/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Sexual competition is increasingly recognized as an important selective pressure driving species distributions. However, few studies have investigated the relative importance of interpopulation versus intrapopulation competition in relation to habitat availability and selection. To explain spatial segregation between sexes that often occurs in non-territorial and central place foragers, such as seabirds, two hypotheses are commonly used. The 'competitive exclusion' hypothesis states that dominant individuals should exclude subordinate individuals through direct competition, whereas the 'niche divergence' hypothesis states that segregation occurs due to past competition and habitat specialization. We tested these hypotheses in two populations of an extreme wide-ranging and sexually dimorphic seabird, investigating the relative role of intrapopulation and interpopulation competition in influencing sex-specific distribution and habitat preferences. Using GPS loggers, we tracked 192 wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans during four consecutive years (2016-2019), from two neighbouring populations in the Southern Ocean (Prince Edward and Crozet archipelagos). We simulated pseudo-tracks to create a null spatial distribution and used Kernel Density Estimates (KDE) and Resource Selection Functions (RSF) to distinguish the relative importance of within- versus between-population competition. Kernel Density Estimates showed that only intrapopulation sexual segregation was significant for each monitoring year, and that tracks between the two colonies resulted in greater overlap than expected from the null distribution, especially for the females. RSF confirmed these results and highlighted key at-sea foraging areas, even if the estimated of at-sea densities were extremely low. These differences in selected areas between sites and sexes were, however, associated with high interannual variability in habitat preferences, with no clear specific preferences per site and sex. Our results suggest that even with low at-sea population densities, historic intrapopulation competition in wide-ranging seabirds may have led to sexual dimorphism and niche specialization, favouring the 'niche divergence' hypothesis. In this study, we provide a protocol to study competition within as well as between populations of central place foragers. This is relevant for understanding their distribution patterns and population regulation, which could potentially improve management of threatened populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Orgeret
- Marine Apex Predator Research Unit (MAPRU), Department of Zoology, Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Ryan R Reisinger
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Tegan Carpenter-Kling
- Marine Apex Predator Research Unit (MAPRU), Department of Zoology, Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.,DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick, Institute of African Ornithology, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Danielle Z Keys
- Marine Apex Predator Research Unit (MAPRU), Department of Zoology, Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Alexandre Corbeau
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 du CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, Villiers-en-Bois, France
| | - Charles-André Bost
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 du CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, Villiers-en-Bois, France
| | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 du CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, Villiers-en-Bois, France
| | - Pierre A Pistorius
- Marine Apex Predator Research Unit (MAPRU), Department of Zoology, Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.,DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick, Institute of African Ornithology, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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6
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Corbeau A, Collet J, Orgeret F, Pistorius P, Weimerskirch H. Fine‐scale interactions between boats and large albatrosses indicate variable susceptibility to bycatch risk according to species and populations. Anim Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A. Corbeau
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé UMR7372 CNRS‐La Rochelle Université Villiers en Bois France
| | - J. Collet
- Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford United Kingdom
| | - F. Orgeret
- DST/NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute for African Ornithology Department of Zoology Nelson Mandela University Port Elizabeth South Africa
- Marine Apex Predator Research Unit Institute for Coastal and Marine Research Nelson Mandela University Port Elizabeth South Africa
| | - P. Pistorius
- DST/NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute for African Ornithology Department of Zoology Nelson Mandela University Port Elizabeth South Africa
- Marine Apex Predator Research Unit Institute for Coastal and Marine Research Nelson Mandela University Port Elizabeth South Africa
| | - H. Weimerskirch
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé UMR7372 CNRS‐La Rochelle Université Villiers en Bois France
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7
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Collet J, Weimerskirch H. Albatrosses can memorize locations of predictable fishing boats but favour natural foraging. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200958. [PMID: 32752984 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Human activities generate food attracting many animals worldwide, causing major conservation issues. The spatio-temporal predictability of anthropogenic resources could reduce search costs for animals and mediate their attractiveness. We investigated this through GPS tracking in breeding black-browed albatrosses attracted to fishing boats. We tested for answers to the following questions. (i) Can future boat locations be anticipated from cues available to birds? (ii) Are birds able to appropriately use these cues to increase encounters? (iii) How frequently do birds use these cues? Boats were spatially persistent: birds searching in the direction where they previously attended boats would encounter twice as many boats compared with following a random direction strategy. A large proportion of birds did not use this cue: across pairs of consecutive trips (n = 85), 51% of birds switched their foraging direction irrespective of previous boat encounters. Still, 15 birds (27%) were observed to closely approach (approx. 0.1-1 km) where they previously attended a boat while boats were no longer there. This is less than the distance expected by chance (approx. 10-100 km), based on permutation control procedures accounting for individual-specific spatial consistency, suggesting individuals could memorize where they encountered boats across consecutive trips. We conclude albatrosses were able to exploit predictive cues from recent boat encounters but most favoured alternative resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Collet
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de la Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.,Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 10a Mansfield Road, OX1 3QT, Oxford, UK
| | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de la Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France
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8
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Frankish CK, Phillips RA, Clay TA, Somveille M, Manica A. Environmental drivers of movement in a threatened seabird: insights from a mechanistic model and implications for conservation. DIVERS DISTRIB 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin K. Frankish
- British Antarctic Survey Cambridge UK
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
| | | | - Thomas A. Clay
- School of Environmental Sciences University of Liverpool Liverpool UK
| | | | - Andrea Manica
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
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9
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Clay TA, Joo R, Weimerskirch H, Phillips RA, den Ouden O, Basille M, Clusella-Trullas S, Assink JD, Patrick SC. Sex-specific effects of wind on the flight decisions of a sexually dimorphic soaring bird. J Anim Ecol 2020; 89:1811-1823. [PMID: 32557603 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2019] [Accepted: 04/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
In a highly dynamic airspace, flying animals are predicted to adjust foraging behaviour to variable wind conditions to minimize movement costs. Sexual size dimorphism is widespread in wild animal populations, and for large soaring birds which rely on favourable winds for energy-efficient flight, differences in morphology, wing loading and associated flight capabilities may lead males and females to respond differently to wind. However, the interaction between wind and sex has not been comprehensively tested. We investigated, in a large sexually dimorphic seabird which predominantly uses dynamic soaring flight, whether flight decisions are modulated to variation in winds over extended foraging trips, and whether males and females differ. Using GPS loggers we tracked 385 incubation foraging trips of wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans, for which males are c. 20% larger than females, from two major populations (Crozet and South Georgia). Hidden Markov models were used to characterize behavioural states-directed flight, area-restricted search (ARS) and resting-and model the probability of transitioning between states in response to wind speed and relative direction, and sex. Wind speed and relative direction were important predictors of state transitioning. Birds were much more likely to take off (i.e. switch from rest to flight) in stronger headwinds, and as wind speeds increased, to be in directed flight rather than ARS. Males from Crozet but not South Georgia experienced stronger winds than females, and males from both populations were more likely to take-off in windier conditions. Albatrosses appear to deploy an energy-saving strategy by modulating taking-off, their most energetically expensive behaviour, to favourable wind conditions. The behaviour of males, which have higher wing loading requiring faster speeds for gliding flight, was influenced to a greater degree by wind than females. As such, our results indicate that variation in flight performance drives sex differences in time-activity budgets and may lead the sexes to exploit regions with different wind regimes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas A Clay
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Rocío Joo
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, FL, USA
| | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d'Étude Biologique de Chizé, CNRS UMR 7273, Villiers-en-Bois, France
| | - Richard A Phillips
- British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, UK
| | - Olivier den Ouden
- R&D Seismology and Acoustics, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, De Bilt, The Netherlands.,Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Department of Geoscience and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Mathieu Basille
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, FL, USA
| | - Susana Clusella-Trullas
- Department of Botany and Zoology and Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Jelle D Assink
- R&D Seismology and Acoustics, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, De Bilt, The Netherlands
| | - Samantha C Patrick
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
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10
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Ocean sentinel albatrosses locate illegal vessels and provide the first estimate of the extent of nondeclared fishing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:3006-3014. [PMID: 31988130 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1915499117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
With threats to nature becoming increasingly prominent, in order for biodiversity levels to persist, there is a critical need to improve implementation of conservation measures. In the oceans, the surveillance of fisheries is complex and inadequate, such that quantifying and locating nondeclared and illegal fisheries is persistently problematic. Given that these activities dramatically impact oceanic ecosystems, through overexploitation of fish stocks and bycatch of threatened species, innovative ways to monitor the oceans are urgently required. Here, we describe a concept of "Ocean Sentinel" using animals equipped with state-of-the-art loggers which monitor fisheries in remote areas. Albatrosses fitted with loggers detecting and locating the presence of vessels and transmitting the information immediately to authorities allowed an estimation of the proportion of nondeclared fishing vessels operating in national and international waters of the Southern Ocean. We found that in international waters, more than one-third of vessels had no Automatic Identification System operating; in national Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), this proportion was lower on average, but variable according to EEZ. Ocean Sentinel was also able to provide unpreceded information on the attraction of seabirds to vessels, giving access to crucial information for risk-assessment plans of threatened species. Attraction differed between species, age, and vessel activity. Fishing vessels attracted more birds than other vessels, and juveniles both encountered fewer vessels and showed a lower attraction to vessels than adults. This study shows that the development of technologies offers the potential of implementing conservation policies by using wide-ranging seabirds to patrol oceans.
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11
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Williams HJ, Taylor LA, Benhamou S, Bijleveld AI, Clay TA, de Grissac S, Demšar U, English HM, Franconi N, Gómez-Laich A, Griffiths RC, Kay WP, Morales JM, Potts JR, Rogerson KF, Rutz C, Spelt A, Trevail AM, Wilson RP, Börger L. Optimizing the use of biologgers for movement ecology research. J Anim Ecol 2019; 89:186-206. [PMID: 31424571 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2018] [Accepted: 08/08/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The paradigm-changing opportunities of biologging sensors for ecological research, especially movement ecology, are vast, but the crucial questions of how best to match the most appropriate sensors and sensor combinations to specific biological questions and how to analyse complex biologging data, are mostly ignored. Here, we fill this gap by reviewing how to optimize the use of biologging techniques to answer questions in movement ecology and synthesize this into an Integrated Biologging Framework (IBF). We highlight that multisensor approaches are a new frontier in biologging, while identifying current limitations and avenues for future development in sensor technology. We focus on the importance of efficient data exploration, and more advanced multidimensional visualization methods, combined with appropriate archiving and sharing approaches, to tackle the big data issues presented by biologging. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities in matching the peculiarities of specific sensor data to the statistical models used, highlighting at the same time the large advances which will be required in the latter to properly analyse biologging data. Taking advantage of the biologging revolution will require a large improvement in the theoretical and mathematical foundations of movement ecology, to include the rich set of high-frequency multivariate data, which greatly expand the fundamentally limited and coarse data that could be collected using location-only technology such as GPS. Equally important will be the establishment of multidisciplinary collaborations to catalyse the opportunities offered by current and future biologging technology. If this is achieved, clear potential exists for developing a vastly improved mechanistic understanding of animal movements and their roles in ecological processes and for building realistic predictive models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah J Williams
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Lucy A Taylor
- Save the Elephants, Nairobi, Kenya.,Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Simon Benhamou
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Allert I Bijleveld
- NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Coastal Systems, Utrecht University, Den Burg, The Netherlands
| | - Thomas A Clay
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Sophie de Grissac
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Urška Demšar
- School of Geography & Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Holly M English
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Novella Franconi
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Agustina Gómez-Laich
- Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos (IBIOMAR), CONICET, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
| | - Rachael C Griffiths
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - William P Kay
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Juan Manuel Morales
- Grupo de Ecología Cuantitativa, INIBIOMA-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, CONICET, Bariloche, Argentina
| | - Jonathan R Potts
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | | | - Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Anouk Spelt
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol, University Walk, UK
| | - Alice M Trevail
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Rory P Wilson
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Luca Börger
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
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Corbeau A, Collet J, Fontenille M, Weimerskirch H. How do seabirds modify their search behaviour when encountering fishing boats? PLoS One 2019; 14:e0222615. [PMID: 31550257 PMCID: PMC6759163 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 09/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Seabirds are well known to be attracted by fishing boats to forage on offal and baits. We used recently developed loggers that record accurate GPS position and detect the presence of boats through their radar emissions to examine how albatrosses use Area Restricted Search (ARS) and if so, have specific ARS behaviours, when attending boats. As much as 78.5% of locations with a radar detection (contact with boat) during a trip occurred within ARS: 36.8% of all large-scale ARS (n = 212) and 14.7% of all small-scale ARS (n = 1476) were associated with the presence of a boat. During small-scale ARS, birds spent more time and had greater sinuosity during boat-associated ARS compared with other ARS that we considered natural. For, small-scale ARS associated with boats, those performed over shelves were longer in duration, had greater sinuosity, and birds spent more time sitting on water compared with oceanic ARS associated with boats. We also found that the proportion of small-scale ARS tend to be more frequently nested in larger-scale ARS was higher for birds associated with boats and that ARS behaviour differed between oceanic (tuna fisheries) and shelf-edge (mainly Patagonian toothfish fisheries) habitats. We suggest that, in seabird species attracted by boats, a significant amount of ARS behaviours are associated with boats, and that it is important to be able to separate ARS behaviours associated to boats from natural searching behaviours. Our study suggest that studying ARS characteristics should help attribute specific behaviours associated to the presence of boats and understand associated risks between fisheries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Corbeau
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, UMR7372 CNRS-La Rochelle Université, Villiers en Bois, France
- * E-mail:
| | - Julien Collet
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, UMR7372 CNRS-La Rochelle Université, Villiers en Bois, France
| | - Melissa Fontenille
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, UMR7372 CNRS-La Rochelle Université, Villiers en Bois, France
| | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, UMR7372 CNRS-La Rochelle Université, Villiers en Bois, France
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Radar detectors carried by Cape gannets reveal surprisingly few fishing vessel encounters. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0210328. [PMID: 30726223 PMCID: PMC6364876 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2018] [Accepted: 12/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Fisheries compete with seabirds for vanishing marine resources, but also produce fishery waste consumed by seabirds. Marine birds may therefore avoid or seek fishing vessels, and have evolved complex, plastic behavioural responses to vessel presence. Understanding these responses is essential to the conservation of a globally declining seabird community. We studied Cape gannets (Morus capensis), which compete with fisheries for reduced sardine (Sardinops sagax) resources in the Benguela upwelling region off South Africa. Using bird-borne GPS trackers coupled with newly-developed ship-radar detectors we show that foraging gannets seldom attended fishing vessels. Rather, they switched from eating scarce sardines or energetically-poor fishery waste to targeting locally abundant saury (Scomberesox saurus). This pelagic fish is brought into the seascape by warm water influx, and is not commercially exploited by fisheries. Cape gannets thereby show dietary plasticity, allowing them to maintain adult body condition and chick growth rates. This diet switch is a strong indicator that Cape gannets forage in an ecologically perturbed marine environment.
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Persisting Worldwide Seabird-Fishery Competition Despite Seabird Community Decline. Curr Biol 2018; 28:4009-4013.e2. [PMID: 30528577 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2018] [Revised: 08/17/2018] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Fisheries transform marine ecosystems and compete with predators [1], but temporal trends in seabird-fishery competition had never been assessed on a worldwide scale. Using catch reconstructions [2] for all fisheries targeting taxa that are also seabird prey, we demonstrated that average annual fishery catch increased from 59 to 65 million metric tons between 1970-1989 and 1990-2010. For the same periods, we estimated that global annual seabird food consumption decreased from 70 to 57 million metric tons. Despite this decrease, we found sustained global seabird-fishery food competition between 1970-1989 and 1990-2010. Enhanced competition was identified in 48% of all areas, notably the Southern Ocean, Asian shelves, Mediterranean Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Californian coast. Fisheries generate severe constraints for seabird populations on a worldwide scale, and those need to be addressed urgently. Indeed, seabirds are the most threatened bird group, with a 70% community-level population decline across 1950-2010 [3].
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Yoda K. Advances in bio-logging techniques and their application to study navigation in wild seabirds. Adv Robot 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/01691864.2018.1553686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ken Yoda
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
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Weimerskirch H. Linking demographic processes and foraging ecology in wandering albatross-Conservation implications. J Anim Ecol 2018; 87:945-955. [PMID: 29476544 PMCID: PMC6032837 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 12/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Population dynamics and foraging ecology are two fields of the population ecology that are generally studied separately. Yet, foraging determines allocation processes and therefore demography. Studies on wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans over the past 50 years have contributed to better understand the links between population dynamics and foraging ecology. This article reviews how these two facets of population ecology have been combined to better understand ecological processes, but also have contributed fundamentally for the conservation of this long‐lived threatened species. Wandering albatross research has combined a 50‐year long‐term study of marked individuals with two decades of tracking studies that have been initiated on this species, favoured by its large size and tameness. At all stages of their life history, the body mass of individuals plays a central role in allocation processes, in particular in influencing adult and juvenile survival, decisions to recruit into the population or to invest into provisioning the offspring or into maintenance. Strong age‐related variations in demographic parameters are observed and are linked to age‐related differences in foraging distribution and efficiency. Marked sex‐specific differences in foraging distribution, foraging efficiency and changes in mass over lifetime are directly related to the strong sex‐specific investment in breeding and survival trajectories of the two sexes, with body mass playing a pivotal role especially in males. Long‐term study has allowed determining the sex‐specific and age‐specific demographic causes of population decline, and the tracking studies have been able to derive where and how these impacts occur, in particular the role of long‐line fisheries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372, CNRS/Université de La Rochelle, Villiers-en-Bois, France
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Gagne TO, Hyrenbach KD, Hagemann ME, Van Houtan KS. Trophic signatures of seabirds suggest shifts in oceanic ecosystems. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaao3946. [PMID: 29457134 PMCID: PMC5812733 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao3946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2017] [Accepted: 01/12/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Pelagic ecosystems are dynamic ocean regions whose immense natural capital is affected by climate change, pollution, and commercial fisheries. Trophic level-based indicators derived from fishery catch data may reveal the food web status of these systems, but the utility of these metrics has been debated because of targeting bias in fisheries catch. We analyze a unique, fishery-independent data set of North Pacific seabird tissues to inform ecosystem trends over 13 decades (1890s to 2010s). Trophic position declined broadly in five of eight species sampled, indicating a long-term shift from higher-trophic level to lower-trophic level prey. No species increased their trophic position. Given species prey preferences, Bayesian diet reconstructions suggest a shift from fishes to squids, a result consistent with both catch reports and ecosystem models. Machine learning models further reveal that trophic position trends have a complex set of drivers including climate, commercial fisheries, and ecomorphology. Our results show that multiple species of fish-consuming seabirds may track the complex changes occurring in marine ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler O. Gagne
- Monterey Bay Aquarium, 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940, USA
| | - K. David Hyrenbach
- Hawaii Pacific University, 45-045 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe, HI 96744, USA
| | - Molly E. Hagemann
- Vertebrate Zoology Collections, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817, USA
| | - Kyle S. Van Houtan
- Monterey Bay Aquarium, 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940, USA
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Box 90328, Durham, NC 27708, USA
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