Effects of wind on seabird foraging in the North East Atlantic

• Main Authors: 3rd World Seabird Conference 2021, Meinertzhagen, Hannah
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Underline Science Inc. 2021
• Subjects: Climate Change; Ecosystem; Furness; Hannah; Diomedea exulans; North East Atlantic; Wandering Albatross
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48448/vmw8-sb11; https://underline.io/lecture/34553-effects-of-wind-on-seabird-foraging-in-the-north-east-atlantic

Abstract: Seabirds must navigate through wind in search of food, but climate change alters wind regimes. Climate-induced changes in wind have positively impacted wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans), which have evolved to exploit some of the windiest places on earth. However, the effects of changing wind will likely vary according to wing morphology and behaviour, with some species benefitting while others might be at a disadvantage. Northern gannets (Morus bassanus) provide an interesting species in which to study wind effects for a number of reasons. First, in contrast to albatrosses, they have relatively high flight costs and may be adversely affected by strong winds. Second, they plunge-dive from height to catch food, such that strong winds may reduce foraging success. Here we conduct a long-term study (n = 12 years) of the effects of wind on gannet foraging behaviour in the North East Atlantic. We use GPS loggers (n = 335 individuals) to reconstruct foraging trip metrics and ethoinformatics to quantify the amount of time spent performing different behaviours and test how these vary with remotely sensed wind. Overall, we test for the potentially divergent effects of wind on seabird foraging and suggest implications for demographic processes. Authors: Hannah Meinertzhagen¹, Steve Votier², Matthew Witt¹, Robert Thomas³, Bob Furness⁴, Jason Chapman¹, Beth Clark⁵, Greg Morgan⁶, Lisa Morgan⁶ ¹University of Exeter, ²Heriot-Watt University, ³Cardiff University, ⁴MacArthur Green, ⁵BirdLife International, ⁶RSPB