Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment

Croxall, John P.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Lascelles, Ben; Stattersfield, Alison J.; Sullivan, Ben; Symes, Andy; Taylor, Phil

doi:10.1017/s0959270912000020

Cited by 930 publications

(848 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…When countries are ranked according to the number of species of conservation concern, 16 of the 21 highest ranked countries are in the southern hemisphere (top 10 ranked: New Zealand, Chile, USA, Australia, South Africa, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Namibia, French Southern Territories; Croxall et al 2012), emphasising the need to better understand the drivers of population change in these regions for current and future conservation and management efforts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within the seabird group, penguins (Spheniscidae), albatrosses (Diomedeidae) and petrels (Procellariidae) are the most threatened, the significance of this highlighted by the fact that penguins and petrels represent nearly half of all seabird species in the world (Croxall et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seabirds are recognised as potential indicators of marine environments (Woehler 2012 and references therein) and are relatively well-studied compared to other marine organisms (Croxall et al 2012). Large-and local-scale climate processes, including El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and sea surface temperature (SST), have been shown to influence seabird reproduction, distribution, phenology and survival in many regions of the globe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate as a driver of phenological change in southern seabirds

et al. 2013

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Seabirds are one of the most threatened groups of birds globally and, overall, their conservation status is deteriorating rapidly. Southern hemisphere countries are overrepresented in the number of species of conservation concern yet long-term phenological data on seabirds in the southern hemisphere is limited. A better understanding of the implications of changes in the marine and terrestrial environments to seabird species is required in order to improve their management and conservation status. Here we conducted a meta-analysis of the phenological drivers and trends among southern hemisphere seabirds. Overall there was a general trend towards later phenological events over time (34 % of all data series, N = 47; 67 % of all significant trends), though this varied by taxa and location. The strongest trends towards later events were for seabirds breeding in Australia, the Laridae (gulls, noddies, terns) and migratory southern polar seabirds. In contrast, earlier phenologies were more often observed for the Spheniscidae (penguins) and for other seabirds breeding in the Antarctic and subantarctic. Phenological changes were most often associated with changes in oceanographic conditions, with sea-ice playing an important role for more southerly species.For some species in some locations, such as the Little Penguin Eudyptula minor in southeastern Australia, warmer oceans projected under various climate change scenarios are expected to correspond to increased seabird productivity, manifested through earlier breeding, heavier chicks, an increased chance of double brooding, at least in the short-term.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate as a driver of phenological change in southern seabirds

et al. 2013

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“…Seabirds are considered the most threatened of all bird groups (Croxall et al 2012) and fishing-related seabird mortalities are considered the most pervasive threat to seabird conservation status (Gales 1998, Phillips et al 2010, Alderman et al 2011, Croxall et al 2012, Favero & Seco Pon 2014. Attention originally focused on seabird interactions with longline fisheries (Brothers 1991, Weimerskirch et al 1997, Nel et al 2002, Tuck et al 2003; however, trawl fisheries are also known to cause substantial seabird mortalities (Sullivan et al 2006b, Moore & Zydelis 2008, Watkins et al 2008, Favero et al 2011, González-Zevallos et al 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Industry-based development of effective new seabird mitigation devices in the southern Australian trawl fisheries

Koopman¹,

Boag²,

Tuck³

et al. 2018

Endang. Species. Res.

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Incidental mortality of seabirds caused by interactions with the warp wires of trawl vessels in Australia's Commonwealth-managed Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery has been reported by on-board observers. Seabird mortality as a result of fishery interactions is an issue of global conservation concern. This paper describes an industry-led study that developed and tested the effectiveness of 2 experimental mitigation devices for trawl vessels: a baffler and a water sprayer. These were tested against a control which was previously the only prescribed device (a warp deflector called a pinkie). Seabird interactions were observed during 69 shots comparing the sprayer against the control, and 55 shots comparing the baffler against the control. The seabird mitigation device employed alternated between the trial device (either the water sprayer or baffler) and the control device. Both experimental mitigation devices showed significant reductions in heavy interaction rates (interactions per shot) compared with the pinkie (83.7 and 58.9%). On stern trawlers, both new devices are deployed at the start of fishing and retrieved at the end of fishing operations, whereas pinkies need to be deployed and retrieved for each shot. This results in time savings and reduced risks to crew. Based on the findings from this study, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority now allows vessels to meet seabird bycatch mitigation requirements through use of either new device. The outcomes of this research and subsequent uptake of the new mitigation devices will greatly contribute to the reduction of incidental fishing mortality in Australian, and potentially other trawl fisheries.

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“…Seabirds are among the most vulnerable groups of marine vertebrates, with 97 of the 346 living species globally threatened, and the populations of 162 species showing declines [1, 2]. These organisms are sensitive to habitat alterations and anthropogenic disturbances, and, for this reason, are used as indicators of environmental quality and health [3–5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Predictors of Seabird Wrecks in a Tropical Coastal Area

2016

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Beached bird surveys have been widely used to monitor the impact of oil pollution in the oceans. However, separating the combined effects of oil pollution, environmental variables and methodological aspects of beach monitoring on seabird stranding patterns is a challenging task. The effects of a comprehensive set of oceanographic and climatic variables and oil pollution on seabird strandings in a tropical area of Brazil were investigated herein, using two robust and innovative methods: Generalized Linear Mixed Models and Structural Equation Modeling. We assessed strandings of four resident seabird species along 480 km of beaches divided into 11 sampling areas, between November 2010 and September 2013. We found that increasing the distance from the nearest breeding island reduce the seabird stranding events. Storm activity and biological productivity were the most important factors affecting the stranding events of brown boobies Sula leucogaster, Cabot’s terns Thalasseus acuflavidus and kelp gulls Larus dominicanus. These species are also indirectly affected by warm tropical waters, which reduce chlorophyll-a concentrations. Beach surveys are, thus, useful to investigate the mortality rates of resident species near breeding sites, where individuals are more abundant and exposed to local factors associated with at-sea mortality. In contrast, conservation actions and monitoring programs for far-ranging seabird species are needed in more distant foraging areas. Furthermore, beach monitoring programs investigating the impact of oil pollution on seabirds need to account for the effects of environmental factors on stranding patterns. The present study also demonstrated that seabirds inhabiting tropical coastal waters are sensitive to climate conditions such as adverse weather, which are expected to increase in frequency and intensity in next decades.

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Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment

Cited by 930 publications

References 23 publications

Climate as a driver of phenological change in southern seabirds

Climate as a driver of phenological change in southern seabirds

Industry-based development of effective new seabird mitigation devices in the southern Australian trawl fisheries

Environmental Predictors of Seabird Wrecks in a Tropical Coastal Area

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