Irynej Skira (1950-2005): A scientific life

Ryan, Lyndall

doi:10.26749/rstpp.142.1.9

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…Viewed in the context of increasing challenges to mount long-term seabird studies and publish the results, the value of the Fisher Island Short-tailed Shearwater study and Dr Skira's 25-year commitment to it (Ryan 2008) is outstanding. Why then was the Fisher Island study initiated and what were the key factors that allowed its persistence?…”

Section: The Fisher Island Study: Patience People and Research Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Austral seabirds: challenges and opportunities for research and conservation

Knight¹,

Møller²,

Bradley³

et al. 2008

PPRST

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Ihis paper draws together the themes of papers on procellariiform biology contained within chis special issue of the Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania which is a tribute to Irynej Skira. The role of these birds as generalised biomonitors of marine ecosystem health as well as their important interactions with commercial fisheries and human societies are major considerations. Seabird conserva tion faces challenges from introduced pest species, loss of habitat to urban development, marine pollution and climate and oceanographic changes. Studies are hampered by the difficulties of dealing with birds in remote areas (that are therefore expensive to study), a paucity of funds and problems of overlapping national and international jurisdictions in their individual home ranges or on their migration routes. There is a real need for long-term studies of seabirds because they have delayed breeding systems, a slow rate of reproduction, long life-spans and high adult survival. Such knowledge is important in understanding their population dynamics, the effects of changing climate, the impacts of commercial fishing, pollution, breeding habitat loss and the harvesting of chicks. The value of the long-term studies of Shon tailed Shearwaters, Puf/inus tenuirostris, on Fisher Island, Tasmania, is considered in the light of the importance of research investment in basic curiosity-driven research. Neglect of long-term studies and the diminishing role of local scientific journals in the dissemination of baseline data on which to build generalities arc the result of changing priorities of government and ocher funding agencies towards short term output-based assessment models. Our present inability to answer the basic question of what determines seabird population abundance and distribution highlights a lack of fundamental population data in Austral seabird research. This must be addressed so chat a mixture of comparative, experimental and modelling studies can be mobilised to complement descriptive scudies.

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Section: The Fisher Island Study: Patience People and Research Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The research team was able to gain fundamental knowledge of the species' demography and breeding ecology, including breeding success, site and mate fi delity, and longevity (Ryan 2008). The team's annual population estimates helped determine sustainable harvest of the species and guide indigenous use.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%