Marco Cianchetti-Benedetti (Ornis Italica, Rome, Italy) and colleagues have published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research on effects of light and sound pollution on breeding Scopoli’s Shearwaters Calonectris diomedea.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Human disturbances are increasingly becoming a conservation concern for many populations of colonial seabirds. Colonially reproducing species are particularly vulnerable to localised disturbances because detrimental elements can simultaneously affect the entire population. Studies of petrels and shearwaters have shown that light pollution, in particular, can be harmful for both fledglings and adults, but little is known of the way such anthropogenic elements affect the quality of parental care at the nest. Chick provisioning in petrels and shearwaters occurs exclusively at night and is also negatively correlated with the amount of moonlight. We tested the hypothesis that high-intensity light and sound disturbances will disrupt nest attendance and thus affect weight gain in chicks but that the magnitude of such effects would be modulated by moonlight conditions. We measured the effect of two outdoor disco events on overnight weight gain in 26 chicks of Scopoli’s shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) from a breeding colony on Linosa Island. The two disco events occurred under contrasting moonlight conditions (moonless vs moonlight). Chicks situated closer to the disturbance gained significantly less weight compared to conspecifics from nests further away but the effect was only evident on the moonless night. Our results suggest that light and sound disturbances can have a negative effect on parental care in C. diomedea but moonlight might moderate the bird’s perception and thus the magnitude of the disturbance. However, while occasional disturbances may impact short-term weight gain in C. diomedea chicks, such effects are not perceivable at fledging when measured as differences in the weight or the date at which they left the nest.”

Scopoli's Shearwater fledgling

See a previous news item on the reported research here.

Reference:

Cianchetti-Benedetti, M., Becciu, P., Massa, B. & Giacomo Dell’Omo, G. 2018. Conflicts between touristic recreational activities and breeding shearwaters: short-term effect of artificial light and sound on chick weight.  European Journal of Wildlife Research 64:19. doi.org/10.1007/s10344-018-1178-x.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 14 March 2018

The Sixth Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MoP6) to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels will be held in the Nombolo Mdhluli Conference Centre, Skukuza Rest Camp, Kruger National Park, South Africa from Monday, 7 May to Friday, 11 May 2018. A Heads of Delegation meeting will be convened on Sunday, 6 May 2018 in the late afternoon at the same venue.

Documentation on the meeting has now been posted in ACAP’s three official language of English, French and Spanish to this website, including a schedule, a preliminary agenda and a list of 29 papers to be considered.

As well as a number of others matters listed in the agenda, MoP6 will hear a report from its Advisory Committee, covering its 10th Meeting held in Wellington, New Zealand last year in September.  A financial report will also be considered.  A social event is planned for the Thursday, with adoption of the meeting’s report down for the last day.

South Africa’s representative to the meeting will be Johan de Goede of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (DAFF). The ACAP Secretariat will consist of Marco Favero, Executive Secretary, Wiesława Misiak, Science Officer and John Cooper, Information Officer, supported by Anton Wolfaardt. Cecila Alal and Sandra Hale of ONCALL Interpreters & Translators will once again support the meeting with Spanish language interpretation.

Entrance to the Nombolo Mdhluli Conference Centre in the Skukuza Rest Camp

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 March 2018

Tyler Gagne (Monterey Bay Aquarium, California, USA) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Science Advances on utilizing seabird diet information to track changes in the marine environment. The Laysan Albatross Thalassarche immutabilis is one of the eight species studied.

The paper’s abstract follows

“Pelagic ecosystems are dynamic ocean regions whose immense natural capital is affected by climate change, pollution, and commercial fisheries. Trophic level–based indicators derived from fishery catch data may reveal the food web status of these systems, but the utility of these metrics has been debated because of targeting bias in fisheries catch. We analyze a unique, fishery-independent data set of North Pacific seabird tissues to inform ecosystem trends over 13 decades (1890s to 2010s). Trophic position declined broadly in five of eight species sampled, indicating a long-term shift from higher–trophic level to lower–trophic level prey. No species increased their trophic position. Given species prey preferences, Bayesian diet reconstructions suggest a shift from fishes to squids, a result consistent with both catch reports and ecosystem models. Machine learning models further reveal that trophic position trends have a complex set of drivers including climate, commercial fisheries, and ecomorphology. Our results show that multiple species of fish-consuming seabirds may track the complex changes occurring in marine ecosystems.”

A Laysan Albatross and its downy chick, photograph by Pete Leary

Reference:

Gagne, T.O., Hyrenbach, K.D., Hagemann, M.E. & Van Houtan, K.S. 2018. Trophic signatures of seabirds suggest shifts in oceanic ecosystems. Science Advances 4(2). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao3946.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 March 2017

Philip Richardson and colleagues have published open access in the journal Movement Ecology on modelling at-sea flight of globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans using GPS tracking data and concurrent information on wind speed.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Background

Albatrosses and other large seabirds use dynamic soaring to gain sufficient energy from the wind to travel large distances rapidly and with little apparent effort. The recent development of miniature bird-borne tracking devices now makes it possible to explore the physical and biological implications of this means of locomotion in detail. Here we use GPS tracking and concurrent reanalyzed wind speed data to model the flight performance of wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans soaring over the Southern Ocean. We investigate the extent to which flight speed and performance of albatrosses is facilitated or constrained by wind conditions encountered during foraging trips.

Results

We derived simple equations to model observed albatross ground speed as a function of wind speed and relative wind direction. Ground speeds of the tracked birds in the along-wind direction varied primarily by wind-induced leeway, which averaged 0.51 (± 0.02) times the wind speed at a reference height of 5 m. By subtracting leeway velocity from ground velocity, we were able to estimate airspeed (the magnitude of the bird’s velocity through the air). As wind speeds increased from 3 to 18 m/s, the airspeed of wandering albatrosses flying in an across-wind direction increased by 0.42 (± 0.04) times the wind speed (i.e. ~ 6 m/s). At low wind speeds, tracked birds increased their airspeed in upwind flight relative to that in downwind flight. At higher wind speeds they apparently limited their airspeeds to a maximum of around 20 m/s, probably to keep the forces on their wings in dynamic soaring well within tolerable limits. Upwind airspeeds were nearly constant and downwind leeway increased with wind speed. Birds therefore achieved their fastest upwind ground speeds (~ 9 m/s) at low wind speeds (~ 3 m/s).

Conclusions

This study provides insights into which flight strategies are optimal for dynamic soaring. Our results are consistent with the prediction that the optimal range speed of albatrosses is higher in headwind than tailwind flight but only in wind speeds of up to ~ 7 m/s. Our models predict that wandering albatrosses have oval-shaped airspeed polars, with the fastest airspeeds ~ 20 m/s centered in the across-wind direction. This suggests that in upwind flight in high winds, albatrosses can increase their ground speed by tacking like sailboats.”

Wandering Albatross at sea, photograph by John Chardine

With thanks to Richard Philips.

Reference:

Richardson, P.L., Wakefield, E.D. & Phillips, R.A. 2018. Flight speed and performance of the Wandering Albatross with respect to wind. Movement Ecology doi.org/10.1186/s40462-018-0121-9.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 March 2018