Reproductive Performance of Seabirds: The Importance of Population and Colony Size

Abstract We compared reproductive performance of five species of seabirds at two colonies, St. George Island (2.5 million birds) and St. Paul Island (250,000 birds), in the southeastern Bering Sea. All species had lower chick growth rates at the larger colony, and the differences were statistically...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Auk
Main Authors: Hunt, George L., Eppley, Zoe A., Schneider, David C.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 1986
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/103.2.306
http://academic.oup.com/auk/article-pdf/103/2/306/30081053/auk0306.pdf
_version_ 1821871757916635136
author Hunt, George L.
Eppley, Zoe A.
Schneider, David C.
author_facet Hunt, George L.
Eppley, Zoe A.
Schneider, David C.
author_sort Hunt, George L.
collection Oxford University Press
container_issue 2
container_start_page 306
container_title The Auk
container_volume 103
description Abstract We compared reproductive performance of five species of seabirds at two colonies, St. George Island (2.5 million birds) and St. Paul Island (250,000 birds), in the southeastern Bering Sea. All species had lower chick growth rates at the larger colony, and the differences were statistically significant in four species. Fledge weights of Common Murres (Uria aalge) on St. George Island were 84-88% of those on St. Paul. Average fledge weights of Thick-billed Murres (Uria lomvia) on St. George were only 74% of those for chicks from St. Paul. We found no significant differences in clutch size or breeding success between populations breeding at the two colonies. For three species, Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), Common Murres, and Thick-billed Murres, we extended our analysis to include published data from other colonies. We examined breeding performance as a function of colony size, population size (suggestive of intraspecific competition), and "effective colony size," the sum of the populations of species with considerable dietary overlap (suggestive of interspecific competition for food). We found consistently negative relationships between population size and several measures of breeding performance (clutch size, growth rate, fledge weight, and breeding success). In addition to the lower breeding success at colonies that support large populations, chicks from these colonies may be subject to higher postfledging mortality because of fledging at lower weights.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
genre Bering Sea
rissa tridactyla
Uria aalge
Uria lomvia
uria
genre_facet Bering Sea
rissa tridactyla
Uria aalge
Uria lomvia
uria
geographic Bering Sea
geographic_facet Bering Sea
id croxfordunivpr:10.1093/auk/103.2.306
institution Open Polar
language English
op_collection_id croxfordunivpr
op_container_end_page 317
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/103.2.306
op_source The Auk
volume 103, issue 2, page 306-317
ISSN 0004-8038 1938-4254
publishDate 1986
publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
record_format openpolar
spelling croxfordunivpr:10.1093/auk/103.2.306 2025-01-16T21:17:53+00:00 Reproductive Performance of Seabirds: The Importance of Population and Colony Size Hunt, George L. Eppley, Zoe A. Schneider, David C. 1986 https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/103.2.306 http://academic.oup.com/auk/article-pdf/103/2/306/30081053/auk0306.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) The Auk volume 103, issue 2, page 306-317 ISSN 0004-8038 1938-4254 journal-article 1986 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/103.2.306 2024-12-27T13:19:39Z Abstract We compared reproductive performance of five species of seabirds at two colonies, St. George Island (2.5 million birds) and St. Paul Island (250,000 birds), in the southeastern Bering Sea. All species had lower chick growth rates at the larger colony, and the differences were statistically significant in four species. Fledge weights of Common Murres (Uria aalge) on St. George Island were 84-88% of those on St. Paul. Average fledge weights of Thick-billed Murres (Uria lomvia) on St. George were only 74% of those for chicks from St. Paul. We found no significant differences in clutch size or breeding success between populations breeding at the two colonies. For three species, Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), Common Murres, and Thick-billed Murres, we extended our analysis to include published data from other colonies. We examined breeding performance as a function of colony size, population size (suggestive of intraspecific competition), and "effective colony size," the sum of the populations of species with considerable dietary overlap (suggestive of interspecific competition for food). We found consistently negative relationships between population size and several measures of breeding performance (clutch size, growth rate, fledge weight, and breeding success). In addition to the lower breeding success at colonies that support large populations, chicks from these colonies may be subject to higher postfledging mortality because of fledging at lower weights. Article in Journal/Newspaper Bering Sea rissa tridactyla Uria aalge Uria lomvia uria Oxford University Press Bering Sea The Auk 103 2 306 317
spellingShingle Hunt, George L.
Eppley, Zoe A.
Schneider, David C.
Reproductive Performance of Seabirds: The Importance of Population and Colony Size
title Reproductive Performance of Seabirds: The Importance of Population and Colony Size
title_full Reproductive Performance of Seabirds: The Importance of Population and Colony Size
title_fullStr Reproductive Performance of Seabirds: The Importance of Population and Colony Size
title_full_unstemmed Reproductive Performance of Seabirds: The Importance of Population and Colony Size
title_short Reproductive Performance of Seabirds: The Importance of Population and Colony Size
title_sort reproductive performance of seabirds: the importance of population and colony size
url https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/103.2.306
http://academic.oup.com/auk/article-pdf/103/2/306/30081053/auk0306.pdf