Sensors of the seas - Ecology and biogeography of pelagic seabirds in changing oceans

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Two thirds of our planet are covered by sea, and albatrosses and petrels (Aves, Procellariiformes) are, par excellence, the seabirds of the open ocean. The smaller petrels are ideal monitors of ocean productivity as they feed mainly on zooplankton, which responds rapidly to changing environmental conditions. I here propose a study of the foraging ecology and distribution of small petrels. The first part of this study is concerned with the distribution and population connectivity of two species of prions, Pachyptila belcheri and P. vittata. Both species have distinct populations in two separate parts of the Southern Ocean, posing the question whether these populations are connected, and if the year-round ranges of the populations overlap. To answer this, we will study year-round movements and the genetic structure of these two species throughout their distribution range. In the second part of this study, we will analyse ecological segregation and consequences on life-history in a community of three storm-petrel (Procellariiformes, Hydrobatidae) species breeding jointly on one island. Both parts of this project share common methodology, using miniature datalogger technology and stable isotope analyses, both of recent and historic samples. Together, the proposed analyses will contribute to understanding how different seabird populations share marine resources, how flexible the species are both in an adaptive and evolutionary context, and how they can consequently respond to changes in ocean productivity, and thus, climate change.