Table Of Content

Conservation of Marine Birds This page intentionally left blank Conservation of Marine Birds Edited by Lindsay Young Executive Director, Pacific Rim Conservation, Honolulu, Hawai, USA Eric VanderWerf Director of Science, Pacific Rim Conservation, Honolulu, Hawai, USA Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier 125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, United Kingdom 525 B Street, Suite 1650, San Diego, CA 92101, United States 50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions. This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein). Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. ISBN 978-0-323-88539-3 For information on all Academic Press publications visit our website at https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals Cover images, clockwise from the top: Tufted Puffin, photo credit Eric VanderWerf Phoenix Petrel, photo credit Eric VanderWerf Yellow-Eyed Penguin, photo credit Eric VanderWerf Red-Tailed Tropic Bird, photo credit Eric VanderWerf Laysan Albatross, photo credit Lindsay Young Publisher: Nikki P. Levy Acquisitions Editor: Anna Valutkevich Editorial Project Manager: Kathrine Esten Production Project Manager: Maria Bernard Cover Designer: Matthew Limbert Typeset by STRAIVE, India Contents Contributors ..........................................................................................................xvii SECTION I Threats CHAPTER 1 Ecology of marine birds ....................................................3 Lindsay C. Young and Lisa T. Ballance Life history and adaptations ............................................................3 What is a marine bird? ................................................................3 Morphological and physiological adaptations ............................4 Ecological importance ................................................................6 Population biology ..........................................................................7 Lifespan and age at first breeding ...............................................7 Population variation ....................................................................9 Survival .....................................................................................10 Reproductive success ................................................................11 Breeding ecology ..........................................................................12 Coloniality ................................................................................12 Nesting habitats ........................................................................13 Phenology .................................................................................15 Pair formation and incubation...................................................16 Chick rearing ............................................................................17 Foraging ecology ..........................................................................18 Foraging strategies—Searching for and locating prey..............19 Feeding methods—Capturing prey ...........................................24 Differences between temperate and tropical seabirds ...................25 Conclusions ...................................................................................26 References .....................................................................................27 CHAPTER 2 Conservation status and overview of threats to seabirds ........................................................................33 Richard A. Phillips, Jérôme Fort, and Maria P. Dias Seabird status and trends ..............................................................33 Threats to seabirds ........................................................................34 Bycatch .....................................................................................34 Overfishing................................................................................38 Invasive alien species ................................................................39 Changing climate ......................................................................39 Disease ......................................................................................40 Pollution ....................................................................................41 v vi Contents Habitat loss and development ...................................................42 Hunting and harvesting .............................................................43 Disturbance ...............................................................................43 Loss of subsurface predators in tropics.....................................44 Guano harvesting ......................................................................44 Hybridization ............................................................................44 Offshore wind farms .................................................................45 Fishing discards ........................................................................45 Conclusions ...................................................................................45 References .....................................................................................46 CHAPTER 3 Interactions between fisheries and seabirds: Prey modification, discards, and bycatch ...................57 William A. Montevecchi Introduction ...................................................................................57 Associations, models, experiments, inference ..........................58 Costs and benefits .....................................................................60 Direct mortality .........................................................................60 Objectives .................................................................................61 Forage fisheries .............................................................................62 Fisheries for large pelagic and demersal fishes ............................65 Discards, offal, and food quality ...................................................66 Discard removal ........................................................................69 Bycatch .........................................................................................70 Longline fisheries ......................................................................70 Gillnet fisheries .........................................................................72 Trawl fisheries ...........................................................................76 Purse-seine fisheries ..................................................................76 Disturbance ...................................................................................76 Aquaculture ...................................................................................77 Projected trends, emerging threats, and environmental synergisms ................................................................................78 Knowledge gaps, future research ..................................................79 Conclusions ...................................................................................80 Acknowledgments ........................................................................81 References .....................................................................................81 CHAPTER 4 Invasive species threats to seabirds ............................97 Dena R. Spatz, Holly P. Jones, Elsa Bonnaud, Peter Kappes, Nick D. Holmes, and Yuliana Bedolla Guzmán Introduction ...................................................................................97 Contents vii A short history of invasive species, islands, and why seabirds are threatened ..............................................................99 Why seabirds are at risk from invasive species: The timing, scope, and severity of threats ..............................................103 Invasive mammals threaten seabird survival globally ................105 Invasive mammalian predators ...............................................107 Invasive mammalian herbivores ..............................................111 The impacts of non-mammalian invasive species on seabirds ..............................................................................112 Invasive animals: Reptiles, birds, fish, and invertebrates ........112 Terrestrial invasive plants .......................................................114 Parasites, diseases, and viruses ...............................................114 Native problematic species .....................................................115 Projected trends in invasive species introductions and emergent threats ...............................................................116 Climate change and invasive species ......................................116 Conclusions and future directions in addressing invasive species threats to seabirds .........................................117 References ...................................................................................119 CHAPTER 5 Health and diseases ......................................................131 Ralph E.T. Vanstreels, Marcela M. Uhart, and Thierry M. Work Introduction .................................................................................131 Which infectious agents and biotoxins are most important? ...............................................................................133 Case studies ................................................................................139 Highly pathogenic avian influenza in seabirds in southern Africa ...............................................................139 Avian pox in albatrosses in Hawaii .........................................143 Pasteurellosis in Arctic and Subantarctic seabirds ..................146 Paralytic shellfish poisoning in seabirds at the Falkland/Malvinas Islands ..................................................149 Projected trends and emerging threats ........................................152 Knowledge gaps ..........................................................................154 Best practices for biosecurity at seabird colonies .......................157 Special precautionary measures during disease outbreaks or unusual mortality events ................................159 Conclusions .................................................................................160 Glossary ......................................................................................160 Acknowledgments ......................................................................161 References ...................................................................................161 viii Contents CHAPTER 6 Pollution—Lights, plastics, oil, and contaminants ...........................................................177 Morgan Gilmour, Stephanie Borrelle, Linda Elliott, Rae Okawa, and Airam Rodríguez Introduction: Scope and severity of threats ................................177 Overview .................................................................................177 Plastics and contaminants .......................................................178 Oil pollution ............................................................................182 Light pollution ........................................................................183 Pollution connections ..............................................................186 Species and regions most impacted ............................................187 Plastics ....................................................................................187 Contaminants ..........................................................................188 Oil pollution ............................................................................190 Light pollution ........................................................................191 Interactions with climate change ................................................191 Plastics ....................................................................................191 Contaminants ..........................................................................195 Oil pollution ............................................................................195 Light pollution ........................................................................196 Projected trends ..........................................................................196 Plastics ....................................................................................196 Contaminants ..........................................................................197 Oil pollution ............................................................................197 Light pollution ........................................................................198 Emerging threats, knowledge gaps, and future research .............198 Plastics ....................................................................................198 Contaminants ..........................................................................199 Oil pollution ............................................................................200 Light pollution ........................................................................201 Conclusions .................................................................................202 Acknowledgments ......................................................................202 References ...................................................................................203 CHAPTER 7 Exploitation and disturbance .......................................217 D.C. Duffy and V. Peschko Human history, seabird ecology, and exploitation ......................217 Temporal aspects of exploitation ................................................218 Catastrophic events .................................................................218 Chronic effects ........................................................................218 Types of exploitation...................................................................219 Seabird excrement or guano ...................................................219 Contents ix Harvesting ...................................................................................220 The technology of subsistence harvesting ..............................220 Egging .....................................................................................221 Nestlings .................................................................................221 Feathers ...................................................................................224 Other uses for seabirds ............................................................224 Taking of seabirds for sport and cultural reasons ...................224 Seabird populations that conflict with economic interests ...............................................................................225 Disturbance and nonlethal exploitation ......................................226 Tourism and disturbance .........................................................226 Seabirds as inspiration ................................................................227 The impacts of windfarms on seabirds .......................................228 Discussion ...................................................................................231 Acknowledgments ......................................................................232 References ...................................................................................233 Further reading ............................................................................244 CHAPTER 8 Climate change: The ecological backdrop of seabird conservation ................................................245 Pierre A. Pistorius, William J. Sydeman, Yutaka Watanuki, Sarah Ann Thompson, and Florian Orgeret Introduction .................................................................................245 Seabird responses to climate change ..........................................248 Distribution .............................................................................248 Phenology ...............................................................................250 Demographic ...........................................................................251 Diet .........................................................................................253 Climate change impacts seabirds through timing, distribution, and biomass of prey ............................................254 Effects of climate on seabird life history stages .........................259 Species’ vulnerabilities to climate change ..................................260 Geographic variability in climate and ocean change ..............260 Geographic variability in studies of seabird responses to climate change ................................................................261 Geographic variability in effect of climate change on seabirds ..........................................................................261 Life history traits .....................................................................261 Life history trade-offs .............................................................262 Prey selection ..........................................................................262 Migration ................................................................................263 Population-scale vulnerability ................................................263