Julie McInnes (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia) and colleagues have an accepted paper awaiting on-line publication in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science that uses use DNA metabarcoding of Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris faeces to identify fish prey, including bycatch species.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Almost all of the world’s fisheries overlap spatially and temporally with foraging seabirds, with impacts that range from food supplementation (through scavenging behind vessels), to resource competition and incidental mortality. The nature and extent of interactions between seabirds and fisheries vary, as does the level and efficacy of management and mitigation. Seabird dietary studies provide information on prey diversity and often identify species that are also caught in fisheries, providing evidence of linkages which can be used to improve ecosystem based management of fisheries. However, species identification of fish can be difficult with conventional dietary techniques. The black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) has a circumpolar distribution and has suffered major population declines due primarily to incidental mortality in fisheries. We use DNA metabarcoding of black-browed albatross scats to investigate their fish prey during the breeding season at six sites across their range, over two seasons. We identify the spatial and temporal diversity of fish in their diets and overlaps with fisheries operating in adjacent waters. Across all sites, 51 fish species from 33 families were identified, with 23 species contributing >10% of the proportion of samples or sequences at any site. There was extensive geographic variation but little inter-annual variability in fish species consumed. Several fish species that are not easily accessible to albatross, but are commercially harvested or by-caught, were detected in the albatross diet during the breeding season. This was particularly evident at the Falkland Islands and Iles Kerguelen where higher fishery catch amounts (or discard amounts where known) corresponded to higher occurrence of these species in diet samples. This study indicates ongoing interactions with fisheries through consumption of fishery discards, increasing the risk of seabird mortality. Breeding success was higher at sites where fisheries discards were detected in the diet, highlighting the need to minimise discarding to reduce impacts on the ecosystem. DNA metabarcoding provides a valuable non-invasive tool for assessing the fish prey of seabirds across broad geographic ranges. This provides an avenue for fishery resource managers to assess compliance of fisheries with discard policies and the level of interaction with scavenging seabirds.”

Black-browed Albatross, photograph by Aleks Terauds
 

Reference:

McInnes, J.C., Jarman, S.N., Lea, M.-A., Raymond, B., Deagle, B.E., Phillips, R.A., Catry, P., Stanworth, A., Weimerskirch, H., Kusch, A., Gras, M., Cherel, Y., Maschette, D & Alderman, R. 2017. DNA metabarcoding as a marine conservation and management tool: a circumpolar examination of fishery discards in the diet of threatened albatross. Frontiers in Marine Science doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00277.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 20 September 2017

The latest issue (June 2017, No. 32) of the Australian Antarctic Magazine, published by the Australian Antarctic Division, reports on research conducted on globally Near Threatened Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris on Macquarie Island.

The shortened article follows:

“Scientists successfully deployed miniature GPS loggers on five threatened black-browed albatross on Macquarie Island this season, to find out more about the foraging habits of the birds. Field biologists Kimberley Kliska and Penny Pascoe, successfully taped miniature GPS data loggers to the feathers on the backs of five birds. The data loggers remained on the birds for between five and 30 foraging trips. The data was [sic] downloaded from the devices once they were retrieved, enabling the team to map the foraging locations of the birds.

“We found the birds forage locally, within 200 kilometres of Macquarie Island, during the egg incubation period, highlighting the importance of the marine protected area around Macquarie Island,” Ms Kliska said.

Approximately 40 pairs of black browed albatross breed on the steep slopes of the island and biologists regularly visit the colony to record the progress of the breeding season.

Chief Investigator from the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment, Dr Rachael Alderman, said the birds are threatened by fishing and climate change, on land and at sea.

“This is the first time such high resolution GPS tracking has been done on this population,” Dr Alderman said.

“We will try and collect more data over the coming seasons to understand how foraging distribution and behaviour is [sic] varying over time, what the environmental drivers are and, importantly, how these populations may be affected by climate change.”

The data from this and other long-term albatross studies is [sic] fed into the international Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, to inform conservation measures such as reducing seabird by-catch in fisheries. Australian sub-Antarctic fisheries are closed during summer, to avoid albatross when they are foraging close to shore to feed their chicks.”

Click here to read the full illustrated account.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 19 September 2017

Petra Quillfeldt (Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Giessen, Germany) and colleagues have published in the Journal of Avian Biology on influence of device accuracy and choice of algorithm on the at-sea distribution of Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Species distribution models (SDM) based on tracking data from different devices are used increasingly to explain and predict seabird distributions. However, different tracking methods provide different data resolutions, ranging from < 10 m to > 100 km. To better understand the implications of this variation, we modeled the potential distribution of black-browed albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris from South Georgia that were simultaneously equipped with a platform terminal transmitter (PTT) (high resolution) and a global location sensor (GLS) logger (coarse resolution), and measured the overlap of the respective potential distribution for a total of nine different SDM algorithms. We found slightly better model fits for the PTT than for GLS data (AUC values 0.958 ± 0.048 vs 0.95 ± 0.05) across all algorithms. The overlaps of the predicted distributions were higher between device types for the same algorithm, than among algorithms for either device type. Uncertainty arising from coarse-resolution location data is therefore lower than that associated with the modeling technique. Consequently, the choice of an appropriate algorithm appears to be more important than device type when applying SDMs to seabird tracking data. Despite their low accuracy, GLS data appear to be effective for analyzing the habitat preferences and distribution patterns of pelagic species.”

Black-browed Albatrosses at sea, photograph by Graham Parker

With thanks to Richard Phillips.

Reference:

Quillfeldt, P., Engler, J.O., Silk, J.R.D. & Phillips, R.A. 2017. Influence of device accuracy and choice of algorithm for species distribution modelling of seabirds: a case study using black-browed albatrosses. Journal of Avian Biology DOI: 10.1111/jav.01238.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 September 2017

Delegates to the Albatross and Petrel Agreement's 10th Meeting of its Advisory Committee (AC10) being held in Wellington, New Zealand had a welcome day off from meeting discussions yesterday.

In the morning we visited the Zealandia Eco-sanctuary in the hills above Wellington. The sanctuary is encircled by a predator-proof fence to keep out feral cats, rodents and Common Brushtail Possums Trichosurus vulpecula and now supports a number of species of reintroduced land birds among regenerating forest. Good views of the Kākā Nestor meridionalis, a New Zealand endemic parrot, at feeders kept the cameras going. The guided tour was followed by a pleasant buffet lunch in the sanctuary’s restaurant.

Zealandia's anti-predator fence is very similar to that erected in 2011 to protect Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis (ACAP listed) and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna pacifica at Kaena Point on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Zealandia's anti-predator fence; Richard Phillips (UK) and Joseph Fette (USA) in conversation

USA observer to ACAP, Beth Flint from Hawaii checks her bag, before entering the sanctuary

Mamaku or Black Tree Ferns Cyathea medullaris overhead

 In the afternoon we headed to the collections facility of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Our museum hosts, Colin Miskelly, Alan Tennyson and Susan Waugh had set out a table of procellariiform study skins for us to view that included ACAP-listed great albatrosses and smaller mollymawks, as well as all seven prion species, including the recently described (and globally Endangered) MacGillivray’s Prion Pachyptila macgillivrayi from Gough Island.

AC10 Delegates view a table of procellariiform skins at Te Papa, including ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels

All seven prion species in a row; McGillivray's is second from the right

Quorum?  ACAP Taxonomy Working Group members Mark Tasker and Alan Tennyson consider which is a Shy and which a White-capped Albatross with Colin Miskelly

Highlights of the tour included being shown bones of extinct New Zealand moas (Dinornithiformes), a skull and claw of a Haast’s Eagle Harpagornis moorei (once the world’s largest eagle) and, unexpectedly, elephant bird Aepyornis bones from Madagascar.

Today the Advisory Committee report will be adopted, closing two weeks of meetings. Then home from us all!  However, I first fly to Great Barrier Island tomorrow to visit the breeding site of the ACAP-listed and globally Vulnerable Black Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni.  Looking forward to it.

With thanks to Igor Debski, Department of Conservation and Colin Miskelly, Alan Tennyson and Susan Waugh, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 September 2017