Responses of Three Seabird Species to El Nino Events and Other Warm Episodes on the Washington Coast, 1979-1990

Climate fluctuation effects on breeding of blue penguins (Eudyptula minor)

“…When South America experiences an El Niño event, then sea temperatures around the South Island, New Zealand, are lower than average, while during a La Niña event, sea temperatures are higher (Allan et al 1996;Basher 1998). El Niño and La Niña climate perturbations have been shown to affect breeding and mortality of several seabird species (Schreiber & Schreiber 1984;Valle & Coulter 1987;Wilson 1991), and Galapagos and Humboldt penguins (Boersma 1978(Boersma ,1998Hays 1986), through their influence on food availability. Climatic perturbations may therefore explain part of the variation in onset of breeding, number of clutches and fledging success in blue penguins (Renner 1998).…”

Research priorities for seabirds: improving conservation and management in the 21st century

“…storms, can have dramatic effects on population dynamics. Harris & Wanless (1996) estimated that a shag population, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, affected by a winter storm would take 10 yr to recover from a population crash which took it to its lowest level in 35 yr. ENSO, a recurring multi-year regime shift, has been linked to more marked population responses, although many of the observed declines reverse when ocean conditions revert (Murphy 1923, Wilson 1991, Barbraud & Weimerskirch 2003. Long-term, decadal ocean trends have been linked to crashes in prey availability (Devney et al 2009), which have resulted in reduced adult survival, a sudden drop in breeding frequency, or complete breeding failures (Montevecchi & Myers 1995).…”

“…Durant et al 2004), El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO; Schreiber & Schreiber 1984, Veit & Montevecchi 2006, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) (Mantua et al 1997) or the Indian Ocean Dipole (Cai et al 2009) changes in the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone, and also long periods of onshore atypical winds, tsunamis and storms (Wilson 1991, Harris & Wanless 1996, Olsson & van der Jeugd 2002, Barbraud & Weimerskirch 2003, Frederiksen et al 2008, Devney et al 2009). These events can affect multiple demographic parameters at different time scales.…”

Relating Microclimate to Epiphyte Availability: Edge Effects on Nesting Habitat Availability for the Marbled Murrelet

“…Periodic warm (El Niño) and cold (La Niña) ocean conditions in the northeast Pacific occur at intervals of 3-7 years and are linked with the El Niño -Southern Oscillation (ENSO) processes generated in the tropical Pacific. El Niño events tend to have negative effects on seabirds in the northeast Pacific (Hodder and Greybill 1985, Wilson 1991, Bertram et al 2001). …”