Impacts of fisheries and climate on albatross demography

渔业和气候对信天翁种群的影响

• 批准号: NE/J021083/1
• 负责人: Richard Phillips
• 金额: $ 55.8万
• 依托单位: British Antarctic Survey
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FJ021083%2F1
• 关键词: Impacts; fisheries; climate; albatross; demography

Climate change and fisheries are major threats to marine biodiversity. Climate influences conditions in the ocean, including levels of primary productivity and acidification, and may eventually affect the routes and strength of ocean currents. This has impacts on the distribution and abundance of organisms at the bottom of food chains, with consequent effects on their predators. Recent research has revealed changes in the extent and duration of winter sea-ice formation in the Antarctic, resulting in a dramatic reduction in Antarctic krill. As this is a key prey for many whales, seals and seabirds, the decline has had adverse effects on their breeding frequency, success and survival.Marine fisheries compete with natural predators and unintentionally catch many non-target (bycatch) species. High bycatch levels have been linked to worldwide declines of seabirds, marine mammals, turtles and sharks. However, fisheries can also bring benefits, as scavengers exploit the fish offal and bycatch discarded by vessels. It is therefore difficult to judge their full impacts without detailed knowledge of the type and extent of interaction. We also need to understand the influence of global climate change, which is predicted to greatly increase the variability and unpredictability of environmental conditions and hence availability of marine resources.Seabirds are major consumers, and as top predators, their populations reflect changes occurring further down food chains, which are in turn influenced by those in the wider environment. Many are threatened, particularly albatrosses which are vulnerable to any unnatural mortality because they fledge one chick only every 1 or 2 years. Given their vast foraging ranges, they overlap with and are killed in multiple fisheries. Recognition of this international problem led to the establishment of a dedicated albatross and petrel conservation agreement (ACAP), ratified by the UK. Seven of the eight albatross populations breeding in the UK Overseas Territories in the South Atlantic are declining (a higher proportion than in any other sector of the Southern Ocean). High bycatch rates are a major contributing factor. Only for black-browed albatross at South Georgia is there evidence of impacts of environmental change; however, there have been no comparable studies of the other species.The wandering, grey-headed and black-browed albatrosses at South Georgia are of global importance, and include two of the five priority populations for conservation identified recently by ACAP. Observed changes in productivity and other population parameters suggest that environmental factors and fisheries affect each species in differing ways, reflecting differences in distribution and life-styles. Studies of seabirds elsewhere have found links between environmental changes and annual variation in breeding success and, in a minority of cases, adult survival, but these depended on the species. Recent modeling carried out on behalf of the Atlantic tuna commission concluded that fisheries are having detrimental impacts on two species from South Georgia, but did not consider grey-headed albatross, nor the implications of changing environmental conditions. There are also two major unresolved issues for these populations, (i) a dramatic drop in survival of chicks from fledging to first return, and (ii) the demographic implications of differing at-sea distributions of males and females, including a sex ratio imbalance if it affects survival.A comprehensive analysis of the contributions of climate and fisheries impacts to differences in survival, breeding frequency and success of these species is not only a high conservation priority, but an outstanding opportunity to improve our understanding of the implications of climatic variation in a region changing at an unprecedented rate. The analysis will provide robust scientific grounds to improve environmental management, particularly at fisheries regulatory bodies

气候变化和渔业是对海洋生物多样性的主要威胁。气候影响海洋的条件，包括一级生产力和酸化水平，最终可能影响洋流​​的路线和强度。这影响了食物链底部的生物的分布和丰度，从而对其捕食者产生影响。最近的研究揭示了南极冬季海冰形成的程度和持续时间的变化，导致南极磷虾的急剧减少。由于这是许多鲸鱼，海豹和海鸟的关键猎物，因此下降对它们的繁殖频率，成功和生存产生了不利影响。海军陆渔业与天然捕食者竞争，无意中捕获了许多非目标（Bycatch）物种。旁观水平的较高与全球海鸟，海洋哺乳动物，海龟和鲨鱼的下降有关。但是，随着清道夫利用船只丢弃鱼类的鱼类，渔业也可以带来好处。因此，如果没有详细了解相互作用的类型和程度，就很难判断他们的全部影响。我们还需要了解全球气候变化的影响，预计这将大大提高环境条件的可变性和不可预测性以及海洋资源的可用性。杂货是主要的消费者，作为最高掠食者，其人群反映了进一步的变化，进一步降低了食物链的变化，这反过来又影响了这些粮食的影响。许多人受到威胁，尤其是信天翁，容易受到任何不自然死亡率的攻击，因为它们每1或2年每1或2年一次扬起一只小鸡。鉴于它们的觅食范围，它们与多个渔业重叠并杀死。认识到这一国际问题导致建立了一项由英国批准的专用信天翁和加油保护协议（ACAP）。在英国，南大西洋的八个信天翁种群中的七个人口中有七个正在下降（比南大洋其他地区的比例更高）。高伴亚率是主要的促成因素。仅在佐治亚州南部的黑色眉毛信天翁，有证据表明环境变化的影响。但是，没有对其他物种进行的可比研究。南乔治亚南部的徘徊，灰发和黑色的信天翁具有全球重要性，包括ACAP最近确定的五个优先人口中的两个人口中的两个。观察到的生产力和其他人口参数的变化表明，环境因素和渔业以不同的方式影响每个物种，反映了分布和生活方式的差异。对其他地方的海鸟的研究发现了环境变化与繁殖成功的年变化之间的联系，并且在少数情况下，成人生存率，但这些依赖于物种。最近代表大西洋金枪鱼委员会进行的模型得出的结论是，渔业对南乔治亚的两个物种产生有害的影响，但并未考虑灰色头脑的信天翁，也没有对改变环境条件的影响。这些人群也存在两个主要的未解决问题，（i）雏鸡的存活率显着下降到初期，以及（ii）不同男性和女性的人口统计学含义，包括性别比不平衡，如果它影响生存的全面分析，则只有一定的生存范围，以及繁殖率的全面分析。优先事项，但这是我们以前所未有的速度改变气候变化在变化中的含义的理解的绝佳机会。该分析将为改善环境管理提供强大的科学理由，尤其是在渔业监管机构

项目成果

Proximate drivers of spatial segregation in non-breeding albatrosses.

• DOI: 10.1038/srep29932
• 发表时间: 2016-07-21
• 期刊: Scientific reports
• 影响因子: 4.6
• 作者: Clay TA;Manica A;Ryan PG;Silk JR;Croxall JP;Ireland L;Phillips RA
• 通讯作者: Phillips RA

Proximate drivers of spatial segregation in non-breeding albatrosses

非繁殖信天翁空间隔离的直接驱动因素

• DOI: 10.17863/cam.9372
• 发表时间: 2016
• 作者: Clay T

Escaping the oligotrophic gyre? The year-round movements, foraging behaviour and habitat preferences of Murphy's petrels

• DOI: 10.3354/meps12244
• 发表时间: 2017-09-14
• 期刊: MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES
• 影响因子: 2.5
• 作者: Clay, Thomas A.;Phillips, Richard A.;Brooke, M. de L.
• 通讯作者: Brooke, M. de L.

Divergent foraging strategies during incubation of an unusually wide-ranging seabird, the Murphy's petrel

• DOI: 10.1007/s00227-018-3451-7
• 发表时间: 2019-01-01
• 期刊: MARINE BIOLOGY
• 影响因子: 2.4
• 作者: Clay, Thomas A.;Oppel, Steffen;Brooke, M. de L.
• 通讯作者: Brooke, M. de L.

A comprehensive large-scale assessment of fisheries bycatch risk to threatened seabird populations

• DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13407
• 发表时间: 2019-08-01
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
• 影响因子: 5.7
• 作者: Clay, Thomas A.;Small, Cleo;Phillips, Richard A.
• 通讯作者: Phillips, Richard A.