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Raising islands: what will sea level rise do to the albatrosses of the North Pacific?

Researchers categorizing the most significant threats to the USA's Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in the North Pacific consider sea level rise to be the most serious.  This is because most of the islands of the north-western end of the Hawaiian Archipelago are low-lying sand and coral atolls.  The atolls are home to large populations of breeding seabirds, including ACAP-listed Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses.

The research team associated with the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology talked to 25 experts about the various threats, and ranked them using an index of ‘ecological vulnerability' that accounted for five ways a human activity can adversely impact a coral reef: the area and frequency of impact, the number of species impacted, the biomass lost and the recovery time following the impact.  The top four threats were sea level rise, sea temperature rise, marine debris and alien species.  Also listed as threats were pelagic long-lining and net fishing.  All these threats have the potential to deleteriously affect seabirds, including albatrosses.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are managed as the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Monument and were this year made a World Heritage Site (search for earlier stories on this web site).

Click here to read more about the research.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 20 September 2011

The Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

ACAP is a multilateral agreement which seeks to conserve listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters by coordinating international activity to mitigate known threats to their populations.

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Email: secretariat@acap.aq
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