The world’s largest breeding colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous has declined
Summary Despite the global significance of the Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous colony on Baccalieu Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, the estimate of 3.36 million breeding pairs reported for 1984 by Sklepkovych and Montevecchi stands as the single published population estimate for...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0959270919000248 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0959270919000248 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0959270919000248 2024-10-06T13:50:49+00:00 The world’s largest breeding colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous has declined WILHELM, SABINA I. HEDD, APRIL ROBERTSON, GREGORY J. MAILHIOT, JOSHUA REGULAR, PAUL M. RYAN, PIERRE C. ELLIOT, RICHARD D. 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0959270919000248 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0959270919000248 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Bird Conservation International volume 30, issue 1, page 40-57 ISSN 0959-2709 1474-0001 journal-article 2019 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959270919000248 2024-09-11T04:04:55Z Summary Despite the global significance of the Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous colony on Baccalieu Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, the estimate of 3.36 million breeding pairs reported for 1984 by Sklepkovych and Montevecchi stands as the single published population estimate for the world’s largest colony. This study increases knowledge of this population by analysing data from additional independent surveys conducted in 1984 and 1985, and by updating the population status with a survey conducted in 2013. Population estimates were derived by extrapolating occupied burrow densities to the estimated occupied area of four main habitat types (heath, forest, grass and fern), which in turn were based on proportions of habitats observed in plots (1984 and 1985) or by using a Geographic Information System approach (2013). Based on these surveys, the Leach’s Storm-petrel breeding population size on Baccalieu Island was estimated at 5.12 ± 0.73 (SE) and 4.60 ± 0.42 (SE) million pairs in 1984 and 1985 respectively, representing estimates 37–51% greater than the original 1984 survey. While discrepancies among these estimates were largely driven by the way occupied areas were estimated, our study confirms that Baccalieu Island hosts the largest Leach’s Storm-petrel colony in the world. Results from the 2013 survey estimate the current breeding Leach’s Storm-petrel population at 1.95 ± 0.14 (SE) million pairs, representing a 42% decline over 29 years (-1.4% per year), relative to the original published estimate of 3.36 ± 0.12 (SE) million pairs. The most prominent change has occurred in the density of storm-petrel burrows found in forest habitat which dropped by 70% despite forest remaining the second most abundant habitat available to nesting storm-petrels on Baccalieu Island. The cause of this decline remains unknown and is likely multi-faceted. Future research focusing on demographic studies is required to understand what is driving the population decline of this internationally important colony. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Cambridge University Press Burrows ENVELOPE(163.650,163.650,-74.300,-74.300) Canada Newfoundland Bird Conservation International 30 1 40 57 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Summary Despite the global significance of the Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous colony on Baccalieu Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, the estimate of 3.36 million breeding pairs reported for 1984 by Sklepkovych and Montevecchi stands as the single published population estimate for the world’s largest colony. This study increases knowledge of this population by analysing data from additional independent surveys conducted in 1984 and 1985, and by updating the population status with a survey conducted in 2013. Population estimates were derived by extrapolating occupied burrow densities to the estimated occupied area of four main habitat types (heath, forest, grass and fern), which in turn were based on proportions of habitats observed in plots (1984 and 1985) or by using a Geographic Information System approach (2013). Based on these surveys, the Leach’s Storm-petrel breeding population size on Baccalieu Island was estimated at 5.12 ± 0.73 (SE) and 4.60 ± 0.42 (SE) million pairs in 1984 and 1985 respectively, representing estimates 37–51% greater than the original 1984 survey. While discrepancies among these estimates were largely driven by the way occupied areas were estimated, our study confirms that Baccalieu Island hosts the largest Leach’s Storm-petrel colony in the world. Results from the 2013 survey estimate the current breeding Leach’s Storm-petrel population at 1.95 ± 0.14 (SE) million pairs, representing a 42% decline over 29 years (-1.4% per year), relative to the original published estimate of 3.36 ± 0.12 (SE) million pairs. The most prominent change has occurred in the density of storm-petrel burrows found in forest habitat which dropped by 70% despite forest remaining the second most abundant habitat available to nesting storm-petrels on Baccalieu Island. The cause of this decline remains unknown and is likely multi-faceted. Future research focusing on demographic studies is required to understand what is driving the population decline of this internationally important colony. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
WILHELM, SABINA I. HEDD, APRIL ROBERTSON, GREGORY J. MAILHIOT, JOSHUA REGULAR, PAUL M. RYAN, PIERRE C. ELLIOT, RICHARD D. |
spellingShingle |
WILHELM, SABINA I. HEDD, APRIL ROBERTSON, GREGORY J. MAILHIOT, JOSHUA REGULAR, PAUL M. RYAN, PIERRE C. ELLIOT, RICHARD D. The world’s largest breeding colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous has declined |
author_facet |
WILHELM, SABINA I. HEDD, APRIL ROBERTSON, GREGORY J. MAILHIOT, JOSHUA REGULAR, PAUL M. RYAN, PIERRE C. ELLIOT, RICHARD D. |
author_sort |
WILHELM, SABINA I. |
title |
The world’s largest breeding colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous has declined |
title_short |
The world’s largest breeding colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous has declined |
title_full |
The world’s largest breeding colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous has declined |
title_fullStr |
The world’s largest breeding colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous has declined |
title_full_unstemmed |
The world’s largest breeding colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous has declined |
title_sort |
world’s largest breeding colony of leach’s storm-petrel hydrobates leucorhous has declined |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0959270919000248 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0959270919000248 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.650,163.650,-74.300,-74.300) |
geographic |
Burrows Canada Newfoundland |
geographic_facet |
Burrows Canada Newfoundland |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_source |
Bird Conservation International volume 30, issue 1, page 40-57 ISSN 0959-2709 1474-0001 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959270919000248 |
container_title |
Bird Conservation International |
container_volume |
30 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
40 |
op_container_end_page |
57 |
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1812178963006488576 |