Forced nest site relocations negatively affect reproductive investment in a colonial seabird species

Salas, Reyes; Müller, Wendt; Vercruijsse, H. J. P; Lens, Luc; Stienen, Eric

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108550

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…We observed two strong declines, one by 21% in 2007 and another by 25% two years later. The first decline may have been caused by breeding pairs being forced to leave the area for better breeding places due to habitat loss, and the second decline may be due to lower reproductive success of pairs due to disturbance (Salas et al 2020). Since 2010, the number of pairs have varied, but no declining trend has been observed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term impact on the breeding birds of a semi-offshore island-based wind farm in Åland, Northern Baltic Sea

Tanskanen

Yrjölä²,

Oja³

et al. 2022

Ornis Svec

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Breeding bird populations were monitored at a wind farm in the Båtskär area of the southern Åland archipelago in 2006–2017. The area is situated in the outer archipelago and comprises four islands with six wind turbines in total. The wind turbines began operating in autumn 2007. An environmental impact assessment for the area was conducted in 2002. A control area called Stenarna, located 22 km NW of Båtskär, was used for comparison. The Båtskär area annually recorded 850–1,050 pairs of breeding birds. Four species showed significantly decreasing trends in Båtskär, namely the Common Eider Somateria mollissima, Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus, Herring Gull L. argentatus , and Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle. In Stenarna, only the Common Eider significantly decreased over the same period. The Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea increased in both areas, while the Velvet Scoter Melanitta fusca, Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator, Common Gull Larus canus, Rock Pipit Anthus petrosus, and White Wagtail Motacilla alba increased in Stenarna, the control area. The Herring Gull population decline is unlikely to be related to the wind farm. However, the proximity of a wind turbine to a breeding colony of the Lesser Black-backed Gull has most likely contributed to its decline. The reason for the Black Guillemot decline in Båtskär is unknown. The decline of Common Eider in both areas may be connected to increasing predation from White-tailed Eagles Haliaeetus albicilla. Some species, such as the House Martin Delichon urbicum and auks, have benefitted from the wind farm construction. They can utilize new microhabitats created by the construction, while other species, such as the Common Eider, gain protection against predation because of human activities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term impact on the breeding birds of a semi-offshore island-based wind farm in Åland, Northern Baltic Sea

Tanskanen

Yrjölä²,

Oja³

et al. 2022

Ornis Svec

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show abstract

“…However, recently it was shown for this population that even a small-scale relocation within the colony due to local breeding area loss can lead to a decrease of clutch volume, i.e. reduced parental investment [ 89 ], indicating the complexity of capturing the costs and benefits of behavioural strategies when the environment changes. It nevertheless underlines how individual variation in behavioural traits influences the response to environmental change and hence population-level processes [ 90 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breeding habitat loss reveals limited foraging flexibility and increases foraging effort in a colonial breeding seabird

et al. 2020

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Background Habitat loss can force animals to relocate to new areas, where they would need to adjust to an unfamiliar resource landscape and find new breeding sites. Relocation may be costly and could compromise reproduction. Methods Here, we explored how the Lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus), a colonial breeding seabird species with a wide ecological niche, responds to the loss of its breeding habitat. We investigated how individuals adjusted their foraging behaviour after relocating to another colony due to breeding site destruction, and whether there were any reproductive consequences in the first years after relocation. To this end, we compared offspring growth between resident individuals and individuals that recently relocated to the same colony due to breeding habitat loss. Using GPS-tracking, we further investigated the foraging behaviour of resident individuals in both colonies, as well as that of relocated individuals, as enhanced foraging effort could represent a potential driver of reproductive costs. Results We found negative consequences of relocation for offspring development, which were apparent when brood demand was experimentally increased. Recently relocated gulls travelled further distances for foraging than residents, as they often visited more distant foraging sites used by residents breeding in their natal colony as well as new areas outside the home range of the residents in the colony where they settled. Conclusions Our results imply that relocated individuals did not yet optimally adapt to the new food landscape, which was unexpected, given the social information on foraging locations that may have been available from resident neighbours in their new breeding colony. Even though the short-term reproductive costs were comparatively low, we show that generalist species, such as the Lesser black-backed gull, may be more vulnerable to habitat loss than expected. Long term studies are needed to investigate how long individuals are affected by their relocation in order to better assess potential population effects of (breeding) habitat loss.

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“…Likewise, seabirds nesting in forests, such as the marbled murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus, can be impacted by the timber industry (Betts et al 2020). The continued urbanization of coastlines by humans also destroys breeding habitat, forcing nesting seabirds to relocate, and impacting productivity of birds that rely on spatial knowledge to find food (Kavelaars et al 2020;Salas et al 2020). Breeding habitats on tropical atolls and other low-lying coastal areas will be further impacted in coming decades by climate-induced rises in global sea level and storm surges (Hatfield et al 2012;Reynolds et al 2015;VanderWerf et al 2019;Von Holle et al 2019).…”

Section: Habitat Loss and Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation status and overview of threats to seabirds

Phillips¹,

Fort²,

Dias³

2023

Conservation of Marine Birds

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Forced nest site relocations negatively affect reproductive investment in a colonial seabird species

Cited by 10 publications

References 59 publications

Long-term impact on the breeding birds of a semi-offshore island-based wind farm in Åland, Northern Baltic Sea

Long-term impact on the breeding birds of a semi-offshore island-based wind farm in Åland, Northern Baltic Sea

Breeding habitat loss reveals limited foraging flexibility and increases foraging effort in a colonial breeding seabird

Conservation status and overview of threats to seabirds

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