Seabirds are important indicators of marine ecosystem health, and yet, we often lack long-term population data to inform conservation decisions. With ~70% of the world’s seabird populations in decline since the 1950s, long-term population data become vital to understand the extent of loss.
The Leach's Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) is the most common seabird nesting on islands in the Western Atlantic Ocean. Globally, available surveying data indicate that the storm-petrel populations are vulnerable and have declined by over 30% since the 1980s. Unfortunately, due to a lack of long-term data, it is difficult to establish the true scope of declines. Interestingly, one storm-petrel colony on Grand Colombier Island (~17 km southwest of Newfoundland), was believed to be relatively stable based on the limited available monitoring.
In a recent study, members of the Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL, Queen’s University Biology; PhD Candidate Mathew Duda, Professor Dr. John Smol) and collaborators used paleoecological evidence (lake sediments and seabird guano) to reconstruct the last ~5,800 years of storm-petrel population dynamics from Grand Colombier Island, and aimed to investigate if the colony appeared to be stable over longer time periods.
Duda et al. found that this globally important seabird colony is now only ~16% of its potential carrying capacity, and that the beginning of the decline coincided with nearby European settlement. The researchers’ work provides a unique historical context for present day populations of conservation concern, and contributes to mounting evidence for the historical impacts of humans on marine ecosystems. To learn more, read their article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States of America.
This research is co-authored by Sylvie Allen-Mahé, Christophe Barbraud, Jules Blais, Amaël Boudreau, Rachel Bryant, Karine Delord, Christopher Grooms, Linda Kimpe, Bruno Letournel, Joeline Lim, Hervé Lormée, Neal Michelutti, Gregory Robertson, Frank Urtizbéréa, and Sabina Wilhelm.
