Historical SST warming events in the Northeastern Pacific: How unique is the Warm Blob?

During 2013-2015 a patch of warm water called Warm Blob appeared in the northeastern Pacific, producing several effects at biological and physical level. This event appears to be unique, however, evidence was encountered for another three events similar to the recent Warm Blob event during the period from 1854 to 2017 through analyzing the historical anomalies of the SST anomalies in the Pacific Ocean. Each event showed the same distinctive Warm Blob spatial pattern —firstly, a patch of warm water develops in the northern Pacific south of Alaska, and gradually spreads southward along the coast reaching up to Baja California Peninsula”. During the 2013-2015 event, this warm water patch raised the seawater temperature anomalies above 0.5 °C, with a maximum of 4 °C. The other past events obtained in the time series analysis occurred in 1874, 1936 and 1962 and lasted around 18-24 months each. Each warming event is described, showing that the most intense was the 2013-15, followed by the 1935-36. The results suggest a periodicity of occurrence of 25 to 60 years that can also be traced on the biology of the region. These findings propose that such warmings are part of the climatic variability in the northeastern Pacific and should be studied with more detail to determine its cause.

Old and novel methods for estimating Feral Pigeons (Columba livia f. domestica) population size: a reply to Amoruso et al. (2013)

In a recent paper Amoruso et al. (2013) proposed a novel method for estimating population size of Feral Pigeons, the Superimposed Urban Strata (SUS) method. In our reply we firstly comment on the lack of a complete review of the available literature. Secondly we point out that the SUS method does not account for birds detection probability and thus it is just a simple index of abundance as many others proposed in recent years. Thirdly, we question the approach used by the authors to evaluate the reliability of their method. To conclude, we believe that the SUS method is not truly innovative and that further investigations are needed before considering it as a reliable way for estimating Feral Pigeons populations size

use of captive bred passerines to monitor human disturbance using corticosterone metabolites

Given that human-wildlife conflicts are an everyday issue, we propose the use of captive bred birds to determine the effects that environmental acoustic disturbance may have on small passerines. We used greenfinches and located them at three rural and one urban site and collected faeces to measure corticosterone metabolites using enzyme immunoassays. We found that birds at the urban site excreted higher amounts of corticosterone metabolites than those at the natural sites, but that some natural sites also had high levels of corticosterone when noise levels were high. We conclude that captive bred individuals can be used to monitor sites where there may be possible effects of disturbance on wild individuals

A novel combination of methods identifies priority conservation areas for an endemic California Current seabird

There are growing pressures on marine biodiversity. Seabirds in particular are one the most-threatened groups. The black-vented shearwater (Puffinus opisthomelas) is endemic to Mexican islands and the only shearwater living its entire life cycle in the California Current System, one of the most productive large marine ecosystems in the world. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in this region, however, were designed without consideration of accurate data on seabird distributions. Here, 57 black-vented shearwaters were GPS-tracked from their main breeding colony (95% of the global population) over four seasons (2016–2019) to estimate their at-sea distribution. Two methods were applied to identify priority conservation areas: the approach developed by BirdLife International to identify marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and a method using expectation-maximization binary clustering to identify core foraging areas. One potential marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Area close to the breeding colony and five core foraging areas were identified. These priority conservation areas were largely beyond the bounds of the current MPA network in the region. Our results detail opportunities for improving the implementation of conservation and management measures in the California Current System region with respect to seabirds. The approach of combining site identification methods can be applied to other seabird species for which high-resolution tracking data are available and can help guide conservation action plans and MPA design.info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio

Climate driven life histories: the case of the Mediterranean Storm petrel

Seabirds are affected by changes in the marine ecosystem. The influence of climatic factors on marine food webs can be reflected in long-term seabird population changes. We modelled the survival and recruitment of the Mediterranean storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis) using a 21-year mark-recapture dataset involving almost 5000 birds. We demonstrated a strong influence of prebreeding climatic conditions on recruitment age and of rainfall and breeding period conditions on juvenile survival. The results suggest that the juvenile survival rate of the Mediterranean subspecies may not be negatively affected by the predicted features of climate change, i.e., warmer summers and lower rainfall. Based on considerations of winter conditions in different parts of the Mediterranean, we were able to draw inferences about the wintering areas of the species for the first time

Global assessment of marine plastic exposure risk for oceanic birds

Plastic pollution is distributed patchily around the world’s oceans. Likewise, marine organisms that are vulnerable to plastic ingestion or entanglement have uneven distributions. Understanding where wildlife encounters plastic is crucial for targeting research and mitigation. Oceanic seabirds, particularly petrels, frequently ingest plastic, are highly threatened, and cover vast distances during foraging and migration. However, the spatial overlap between petrels and plastics is poorly understood. Here we combine marine plastic density estimates with individual movement data for 7137 birds of 77 petrel species to estimate relative exposure risk. We identify high exposure risk areas in the Mediterranean and Black seas, and the northeast Pacific, northwest Pacific, South Atlantic and southwest Indian oceans. Plastic exposure risk varies greatly among species and populations, and between breeding and non-breeding seasons. Exposure risk is disproportionately high for Threatened species. Outside the Mediterranean and Black seas, exposure risk is highest in the high seas and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of the USA, Japan, and the UK. Birds generally had higher plastic exposure risk outside the EEZ of the country where they breed. We identify conservation and research priorities, and highlight that international collaboration is key to addressing the impacts of marine plastic on wide-ranging species

Global assessment of marine plastic exposure risk for oceanic birds

Plastic pollution is distributed patchily around the world’s oceans. Likewise, marine organisms that are vulnerable to plastic ingestion or entanglement have uneven distributions. Understanding where wildlife encounters plastic is crucial for targeting research and mitigation. Oceanic seabirds, particularly petrels, frequently ingest plastic, are highly threatened, and cover vast distances during foraging and migration. However, the spatial overlap between petrels and plastics is poorly understood. Here we combine marine plastic density estimates with individual movement data for 7137 birds of 77 petrel species to estimate relative exposure risk. We identify high exposure risk areas in the Mediterranean and Black seas, and the northeast Pacific, northwest Pacific, South Atlantic and southwest Indian oceans. Plastic exposure risk varies greatly among species and populations, and between breeding and non-breeding seasons. Exposure risk is disproportionately high for Threatened species. Outside the Mediterranean and Black seas, exposure risk is highest in the high seas and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of the USA, Japan, and the UK. Birds generally had higher plastic exposure risk outside the EEZ of the country where they breed. We identify conservation and research priorities, and highlight that international collaboration is key to addressing the impacts of marine plastic on wide-ranging species

Effects of human disturbance on a burrow nesting seabird Efectos de la presencia de humanos en aves marinas que anidan en madrigueras

During 2004, we followed 72 natural burrows to determine the effects of disturbance on breeding success of Cassin's auklets (Ptychoramphus aleuticus). We used distance from a human settlement or path in the analysis of disturbance. Birds whose burrows were closer to the path or the village had a higher rate of nest abandonment and lower breeding success compared to birds nesting further away from the path or the village. Also, older and more experienced individuals represented a larger proportion of the breeding population on less disturbed areas than on highly disturbed ones, probably as older individuals tend to arrive earlier at the breeding grounds, and failed breeders may change burrow sites to move away from disturbance. P. aleuticus are adversely affected by human activity at colonies even if birds are not handled and burrows are not opened, and this has implications for conservation, and planning of ecotourism. On the long term, this can have negative consequences for this species and others with similar characteristics.<br>Durante el 2004 seguimos 72 nidos de la alcuela (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) para determinar los efectos de disturbio en el éxito reproductivo. Utilizamos la distancia del nido a áreas asentamientos humanos o al camino como medidas de disturbio. Los nidos que estaban más cerca de los asentamientos o del camino tuvieron una tasa de abandono mayor y un éxito reproductivo menor en comparación con los nidos que estaban más alejados de las fuentes de disturbio. También observamos que en las zonas menos expuestas la proporción de adultos, con mayor experiencia, era más alta, posiblemente porque los individuos con mayor experiencia llegan antes a la zona de anidación. Las alcuelas son afectadas negativamente por la presencia de los humanos y sus actividades, aunque las aves no entren en contacto directo con los humanos. A largo plazo, esto puede acarrear consecuencias graves para esta especie y otras con características similares