Researchers used geolocation loggers to track the movements and
dietary habits of Atlantic puffins and razorbills living on the Isle of
May National Nature Reserve, off the southeast coast of Scotland.
During the winter of 2014 and 2015, conditions were ideal. Both
seabirds mostly ate sandeels of lipid-rich fish. But when conditions
worsened in 2007 an 2008, the razorbills ventured farther from their
breeding sites to find sandeels, while puffins settled for less
nutritious snacks -- crustacea, polychaete worms and snake pipefish.
Fewer adults returned to the breeding grounds in the year following the
harsh winter.
In addition to geotagging the birds, scientists also collected
feather samples and tested for chemicals found in jellyfish, which
accumulate as it moves up the food chain. Scientists compared the
chemical findings with a jellyfish distribution map.
"We still know very little about where some of our commonest seabirds
feed and what they eat outside the breeding season. To protect seabird
populations within U.K. waters and across the globe, marine spatial
plans need to consider not only where seabirds spend the summer but also
where they are in the winter months," Katie
St. John
Glew, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southampton in
Britain, said in a news release. "This information is critical for
assessing vulnerabilities of seabird species to climatic and
environmental change and for designing effective management strategies
for these species."
Authors of the new study, published recently in the journal Movement
Ecology, suggest their analysis methods could be used to track where and
what other marine species are eating. Researchers hope the study will
inform conservation efforts for the puffin and other vulnerable
seabirds.
"Numbers of many seabird species are already declining," said Sarah
Wanless, an ecology professor at Southampton. "Given the increasing
threats from climate change and human activities such as fishing,
microplastics and offshore windfarms, identifying ways to protect and
conserve seabirds when they are at sea are urgently needed."
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