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

我们的星球有三分之二被海洋覆盖，信天翁和海燕（鸟类，Procellariiformes）是公海上最优秀的海鸟。较小的海燕是海洋生产力的理想监测者，因为它们主要以浮游动物为食，而浮游动物对不断变化的环境条件反应迅速。我在这里提出了一个小海燕的觅食生态和分布的研究。本研究的第一部分是关于两种朊病毒的分布和种群连接性，Pachyptila belcheri和P.vittata。这两个物种在南大洋的两个不同部分都有不同的种群，这就提出了一个问题，即这些种群是否有联系，以及种群的全年分布范围是否重叠。为了回答这个问题，我们将研究这两个物种在整个分布范围内的全年运动和遗传结构。在本研究的第二部分中，我们将分析生态隔离和生活史的后果，在一个社区的三个风暴海燕（Procellariiformes，Hydrobatidae）物种共同繁殖在一个岛上。该项目的两个部分都采用了共同的方法，使用微型数据记录器技术和稳定同位素分析，包括最近和历史样本。总之，拟议的分析将有助于了解不同的海鸟种群如何分享海洋资源，物种在适应和进化方面的灵活性如何，以及它们如何应对海洋生产力的变化，从而应对气候变化。

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.