A review of constraints and solutions for collecting raptor samples and contextual data for a European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility

The COST Action ‘European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility’ (ERBFacility) aims to develop pan-European raptor biomonitoring in support of better chemicals management in Europe, using raptors as sentinel species. This presents a significant challenge involving a range of constraints that must be identified and addressed. The aims of this study were to: (1) carry out a comprehensive review of the constraints that may limit the gathering in the field of raptor samples and contextual data, and assess their relative importance across Europe; and (2) identify and discuss possible solutions to the key constraints that were identified. We applied a participatory approach to identify constraints and to discuss feasible solutions. Thirty-one constraints were identified, which were divided into four categories: legal, methodological, spatial coverage, and skills constraints. To assess the importance of the constraints and their possible solutions, we collected information through scientific workshops and by distributing a questionnaire to stakeholders in all the countries involved in ERBFacility. We obtained 74 answers to the questionnaire, from 24 of the 39 COST participating countries. The most important constraints identified were related to the collection of complex contextual data about sources of contamination, and the low number of existing raptor population national/regional monitoring schemes and ecological studies that could provide raptor samples. Legal constraints, such as permits to allow the collection of invasive samples, and skills constraints, such as the lack of expertise to practice necropsies, were also highlighted. Here, we present solutions for all the constraints identified, thus suggesting the feasibility of establishing a long-term European Raptor Sampling Programme as a key element of the planned European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility.This paper is based on work from COST Action European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility (COST Action CA16224) supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), including a grant for a short-term scientific mission awarded to the lead author. COST is funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union. Silvia Espín was financially supported by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación postdoctoral contract, IJCI-2017-34653).Peer reviewe

A review of constraints and solutions for collecting raptor samples and contextual data for a European raptor biomonitoring facility

The COST Action ‘European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility’ (ERBFacility) aims to develop pan-European raptor biomonitoring in support of better chemicals management in Europe, using raptors as sentinel species. This presents a significant challenge involving a range of constraints that must be identified and addressed. The aims of this study were to: (1) carry out a comprehensive review of the constraints that may limit the gathering in the field of raptor samples and contextual data, and assess their relative importance across Europe; and (2) identify and discuss possible solutions to the key constraints that were identified. We applied a participatory approach to identify constraints and to discuss feasible solutions. Thirty-one constraints were identified, which were divided into four categories: legal, methodological, spatial coverage, and skills constraints. To assess the importance of the constraints and their possible solutions, we collected information through scientific workshops and by distributing a questionnaire to stakeholders in all the countries involved in ERBFacility. We obtained 74 answers to the questionnaire, from 24 of the 39 COST participating countries. The most important constraints identified were related to the collection of complex contextual data about sources of contamination, and the low number of existing raptor population national/regional monitoring schemes and ecological studies that could provide raptor samples. Legal constraints, such as permits to allow the collection of invasive samples, and skills constraints, such as the lack of expertise to practice necropsies, were also highlighted. Here, we present solutions for all the constraints identified, thus suggesting the feasibility of establishing a long-term European Raptor Sampling Programme as a key element of the planned European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility

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

East or west? Migration routes and wintering sites of Northern Gannets Morus bassanus from south-eastern Iceland

Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) are distributed in eastern and western North Atlantic breeding populations. The species’ colonies in Iceland lie between the European and North American colonies. To better understand their migratory patterns and to explore potential connections between the western and eastern populations, geo-location devices were used to track the migrations of Northern Gannets from Iceland. Findings support ringing records in demonstrating a primarily south-eastward movement following the breeding season, with no tracked birds wintering in western Atlantic waters. Fifteen successfully tracked adult birds wintered over a range of about 5000 km on continental shelf seas from NW Scotland to NW Africa with areas of concentration off Africa and in the Celtic Sea. Direct distance from the colony to the most distant point reached ranged from 1200 to 6100 km. Trips amounted to 16,100–33,500 km over the entire migration/winter period. While birds heading for NW Africa mostly showed a relatively straight migration direction, several round trips were recorded in (N)W Europe. Migration trips and over-winter colony absence lasted between 126 and 189 days. Birds departed from the colony from 9 to 24 September and returned from 19 January to 27 March. Timing and duration of migration and wintering periods varied substantially among individuals. Gannets staying in the waters of NW Africa experienced much higher sea surface temperatures than birds wintering further north, suggesting higher thermostatic costs for the latter

Morphological differentiation of Icelandic Redpolls, <i>Acanthis flammea islandica</i>

<p><b>Capsule</b> The analyses support the grouping of the three <i>Acanthis</i> species, although a large split is observed between the <i>A. hornemanni</i> subspecies.</p> <p><b>Aims</b> To investigate the morphological variation in <i>A. f. islandica</i> among different periods of the year and its morphological differentiation from the other subspecies <i>A. f. flammea</i> and <i>A. f. rostrata</i>, and also from the redpoll species, <i>A. cabaret</i> and the two subspecies of <i>A. hornemanni</i>, <i>exilipes</i> and <i>hornemanni</i>.</p> <p><b>Methods</b> The subspecies status of the Icelandic population was evaluated with Amadon's rule, by comparing its variation of traits to the distribution of the traits in different species/subspecies of the group.</p> <p><b>Results</b><i>A. f. islandica</i> is characterized by intermediate wing, bill and tail lengths. Based on the 75% rule, wing length and bill depth can be used to discriminate <i>A. f. islandica</i> from both extreme morphs of redpolls (currently classified as different species); <i>A. hornemanni</i> and <i>A. cabaret</i>, and tail and wing length can distinguish <i>A. f. islandica</i> from its conspecifics <i>A. f. flammea</i>. The overall morphological divergence within the redpoll complex is not supported by association to the studied nuclear markers.</p> <p><b>Conclusion</b> The taxonomic status of the three redpoll species is supported by Amadon's rule, however the subspecies status of the Icelandic Redpoll remains unclear.</p

Adult Gannet migrations frequently loop clockwise around Britain and Ireland

The Gannet Morus bassanus is one of the seabirds considered most at risk from collision mortality at offshore wind farms in UK waters, so a better understanding of migration routes informs assessments of risk for different populations. Deployment of geolocators on breeding adults at the Bass Rock, Scotland, and Skrúður, Iceland, showed that the timing of migrations differed between populations, birds from Bass Rock passing south through UK waters mostly in October and back in February while birds from Skrúður passed south through UK waters mostly later, in November, but returned north earlier, in January. Many birds from both colonies made a clockwise loop migration around Britain and Ireland. Only a minority of birds from the Bass Rock returned northwards to the colony through the southern North Sea. A counter-intuitive consequence is that many Gannets moving northwards through waters to the west of Britain and Ireland in spring may be birds from North Sea colonies. Although Gannets normally remain over the sea, one tracked bird appears to have made a short overland passage in spring from the west of Scotland through central Scotland to the Bass Rock, whereas most returned around the north of Scotland

Predicting Source Populations of Vagrants Using Breeding Population Data: A Case Study of the Lesser Black-Backed Gull (Larus fuscus)

Vagrancy is critical in facilitating range expansion and colonization through exploration and occupation of potentially suitable habitat. Uncovering origins of vagrants will help us better understand not only species-specific vagrant movements, but how the dynamics of a naturally growing population influence vagrancy, and potentially lead to range expansion. Under the premise that occurrence of vagrants is linked to increasing population growth in the core of the breeding range, we assessed the utility of breeding population survey data to predict source populations of vagrants. Lesser Black-backed Gulls (LBBG) (Larus fuscus) served as our focal species due to their dramatic and well-documented history of vagrancy to North America in the last 30 years. We related annual occurrence of vagrants to indices of breeding population size and growth rate of breeding populations. We propose that the fastest growing population is the most likely source of recent vagrants to North America. Our study shows that it is possible to predict potential source populations of vagrants with breeding population data, but breeding surveys require increased standardization across years to improve models. For the Lesser Black-backed Gull, Iceland’s breeding population likely influenced vagrancy during the early years of colonization, but the major increase in vagrants occurred during a period of growth of Greenland’s population, suggesting that Greenland is the source population of the most recent pulse of vagrant LBBG to North America

North Atlantic Migratory Bird Flyways Provide Routes for Intercontinental Movement of Avian Influenza Viruses

<div><p>Avian influenza virus (AIV) in wild birds has been of increasing interest over the last decade due to the emergence of AIVs that cause significant disease and mortality in both poultry and humans. While research clearly demonstrates that AIVs can move across the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, there has been no data to support the mechanism of how this occurs. In spring and autumn of 2010 and autumn of 2011 we obtained cloacal swab samples from 1078 waterfowl, gulls, and shorebirds of various species in southwest and west Iceland and tested them for AIV. From these, we isolated and fully sequenced the genomes of 29 AIVs from wild caught gulls (Charadriiformes) and waterfowl (Anseriformes) in Iceland. We detected viruses that were entirely (8 of 8 genomic segments) of American lineage, viruses that were entirely of Eurasian lineage, and viruses with mixed American-Eurasian lineage. Prior to this work only 2 AIVs had been reported from wild birds in Iceland and only the sequence from one segment was available in GenBank. This is the first report of finding AIVs of entirely American lineage and Eurasian lineage, as well as reassortant viruses, together in the same geographic location. Our study demonstrates the importance of the North Atlantic as a corridor for the movement of AIVs between Europe and North America.</p></div