Habitat connectivity: terrestrial and marine hotspots for seabirds, chemical biotransport, and the role of seabirds in coastal ecosystems

在加拿大的北极和大西洋地区，沿海地区发挥着重要的生态功能，并提供了重要的野生动物栖息地，但它们受到越来越多的新人为压力的影响，如开发、污染、海洋交通和气候变化。科学家、管理人员和政治家面临的一个关键问题是：“在有关沿海野生动物生态和栖息地需求的数据如此之少的情况下，我们如何预测人为压力源对这些地区沿海野生动物种群及其栖息地的影响？”我的研究计划将以我的实验室在远程野外工作中的经验和成功为基础，检验候鸟的主要沿海和海洋栖息地是可预测的，并通过鸟类行为和生态联系在一起，最终导致不同空间尺度上的化学连通性。具体而言，在未来5年，我的实验室将：(1)通过使用基于群落的生态研究、遥测设备和古环境方法，确定加拿大北极和大西洋地区重要沿海和海洋野生动物栖息地的时空变化；(2)通过生态系统范围的化学分析，研究候鸟作为海洋觅食区污染物对陆地环境的生物载体。

In Arctic and Atlantic Canada, coastal regions perform important ecological functions and provide critical wildlife habitat, but they are subject to increasing and novel anthropogenic stressors such as development, contamination, marine traffic, and climate change. A key question for scientists, managers and politicians is “how can we predict the effects of anthropogenic stressors on coastal wildlife populations and their habitats in these areas when so few data are available on their ecology and habitat needs?” My research program will build on my lab’s experience and success in remote field work to test the overall hypothesis that key coastal and marine habitats for migratory birds are predictable, and are connected through bird behaviour and ecology, which ultimately leads to chemical connectivity across different spatial scales. Specifically, during the next 5 years, my lab will: (1) identify spatio-temporal variability of important coastal and marine wildlife habitats in Arctic and Atlantic Canada through the use of colony-based ecological research, telemetry devices and paleoenvironmental approaches; and (2) examine migratory birds as biovectors of contaminants to terrestrial environments from marine foraging areas through ecosystem-wide chemical analyses.