Targeting efforts in rescue programmes mitigating light-induced seabird mortality: First the fat, then the skinny

Cuesta-García, Miriam; Rodríguez, Airam; Martins, Ana; Neves, Verónica C.; Magalhães, M. Clara F.; Atchoi, Elizabeth; Fraga, H; Medeiros, Valter; Laranjo, M.; Rodríguez, Yasmina; Jones, Kirstin; Bried, Joël

doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2021.126080

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Therefore, the flight performance of younger or less developed fledglings may diminish. In this sense, the probability of releasing a rescued fledgling back to the wild decreases with the abundance of down, but not with body condition (Rodríguez et al, 2012a;Cuesta-García et al, 2022). Dedicated rehabilitation centres that are equipped with facilities to provide food, liquid and shelter in a safe place, could additionally consider allowing birds to stay up until they grow the plumage completely to increase their chances of survival.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracking Flights to Investigate Seabird Mortality Induced by Artificial Lights

Rodríguez

Rodríguez²,

Acosta

et al. 2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Light pollution causes attraction and/or disorientation of seabirds, leading to mortality events due to multiple threats. This is a poorly understood phenomenon, largely because of the challenge to track seabirds at night from their nests to the grounding light-polluted locations. New tracking technologies can inform about this phenomenon. Here, we used GPS transmitters with remote download to track the flights of Cory’s shearwater Calonectris borealis fledglings from an inland experimental releasing site to the ocean. We released birds assigned to three experimental groups: GPS tagged, tape-labelled, and control birds. We assessed how both intrinsic (such as body mass, body condition, body size, and down abundance) and extrinsic (i.e., flight descriptors, such as distance, straightness, and flight duration, wind speed, or moon luminance) factors influenced light-induced groundings by using two datasets: one including the three groups and another including just the GPS tagged birds (as GPS devices provide unique information). We tested whether the probability of being grounded by artificial lights was related to intrinsic factors. With the use of the whole dataset, we found that birds with a higher down abundance had a higher probability of being grounded. GPS data revealed that the probability of being grounded was positively related to the tortuosity of flights and the overflown light pollution levels. Also, birds with slower flights were more likely to be grounded than birds with fast flights. Tortuosity increased with light pollution levels but decreased with the ambient light of the moon. GPSs with remote data download provided information on birds reaching the ocean, this being a substantial improvement to previous studies requiring recapture of the individuals to retrieve the data. GPS tracks of birds reaching the ocean allowed us to know that some birds overflew coastal urban areas so light-polluted as the landing sites of grounded birds. We provide novel scientific-based information to manage seabird mortality induced by artificial lights.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Straightness is the ratio between straight distance and flight distance. soon as possible increases survival during the first weeks, and consequently, increases the probability of recruitment into the breeding population (Cuesta-García et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking Flights to Investigate Seabird Mortality Induced by Artificial Lights

Rodríguez

Rodríguez²,

Acosta

et al. 2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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“…Fledglings are still growing their outermost primary feathers during the first days of the fledging season, but growth stops around mean peak fledging date. Body mass decreases throughout the fledging season, a well‐known trend in fallout rescue birds (Cuesta‐García et al, 2022 and references therein), and no interaction with the moon cycle is apparent (Figures 2 and S2). So, biometric data do not support the hypothesis of reduced fledging activity around full moon.…”

Section: Evidence and Support On Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 77%

Moonlight diminishes seabird attraction to artificial light

Rodríguez,

Atchoi,

Rodríguez

et al. 2023

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Rescue programs aiming to mitigate light‐induced mortality of seabird fledglings have reported that fewer birds are grounded (and rescued) during full moon nights. Two non‐mutually exclusive hypotheses have been proposed as explanations: (1) reduction of strandings because birds are less attracted to and disorientated by light pollution during full moon nights; and (2) reduction of fledging activity, that is, chicks avoid departing the colony during nights with increased moonlight. We argue that evidence from rescue programs and other studies supports the first but not the second hypothesis. The evidence supports the conclusion that a higher proportion of fledglings make it safely to sea during full moon nights than during moonless nights. Thus, there is a decrease in the severity of light pollution on seabirds around the full moon.

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“…The results of this study show interannual changes in fledgling masses, which were expected, as feedings and the availability of food have been previously shown to influence the growth of wedge‐tailed shearwaters year‐to‐year (Pettit et al, 1984). Significant inter‐annual variations in fledging body condition have also been observed in Cory's shearwater, Calonectris borealis , fledglings (Cuesta‐García et al, 2022). However, our results show a pattern of an increasing number of ‘poor years’ from 2000 onwards (Figures 2 and 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Post‐fledging survival of wedge‐tailed shearwaters is linked to pre‐fledge mass, which has decreased over 40 years

Swanson,

Vaughan,

Belling

et al. 2023

Marine Ecology

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Seabird populations are declining across their global range due to a variety of threats, including shifting food webs from climate change. The impact of these threats is exacerbated in long‐lived species with low reproductive output and high investment in a few offspring, where juvenile survival is of substantial importance to populations. Changes to post‐fledging survival and recruitment of adults are difficult to detect, necessitating better information to forecast juvenile survival before fledglings take to sea. To achieve this goal, we test the hypothesis that there is an ideal mass range for fledglings, outside of which survival is limited, providing an early warning signal for future recruitment failures. Here we present a long‐term study of chick banding, weighing and resighting of wedge‐tailed shearwaters, Ardenna pacifica, a globally widespread but declining tropical/subtropical seabird in a sea‐surface warming hotspot across a span of 43 years. We provide data on 1615 fledgling birds banded most years between 1977 and 2020, with 111 resighted as adults. We found that fledglings weighing 380–470 g have the best chance to survive to adulthood and those weighing 330–540 g have a possible chance of survival. We detected a gradual decline in masses since data collection began, with chicks fledging, on average, 1.6 g lighter each year. This decline has been sharpest since 1996, with fledging masses decreasing at an average rate of 3.8 g annually. Should this 1.6 g decline continue, the average fledgling will cross out of the ‘survivable’ mass range by 2047/2048. We contextualise these findings with observed declines reported in some populations across the species South Pacific range, adding to the conversation about challenges to seabirds in regions experiencing rapid change.

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Targeting efforts in rescue programmes mitigating light-induced seabird mortality: First the fat, then the skinny

Cited by 9 publications

References 60 publications

Tracking Flights to Investigate Seabird Mortality Induced by Artificial Lights

Tracking Flights to Investigate Seabird Mortality Induced by Artificial Lights

Moonlight diminishes seabird attraction to artificial light

Post‐fledging survival of wedge‐tailed shearwaters is linked to pre‐fledge mass, which has decreased over 40 years

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