Ecology of the Black-faced Sheathbill on Marion Island ...

• Main Author: McClelland, Gregory
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Zenodo 2019
• Subjects: Black-faced Sheathbill; Marion Island; PhD; Prince Edward Islands; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4751608; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.4751608

As the pace of climate change has begun to accelerate so too has it become clear that the direct impacts thereof are likely to have profound consequences for many island systems. Moreover, it has also been suggested that climate change will exacerbate the effects of many invasive species, so further impacting both diversity and ecosystem functioning. Forecasts for such interactions have been most pronounced for the Southern Ocean islands, which are home to a wide variety of endemic species. This thesis is about such interactions and their specific impacts on a key endemic, the black-faced sheathbill (Chionis minor) on the Prince Edward Islands. Of increasing concern is how invasive rodent populations in the Southern Ocean may be responding to global climate change, as ameliorating conditions on these islands are forecast to decrease thermal and resource restrictions on rodents. However, firm evidence for changing rodent populations in response to climate change, and demonstrations of associated impacts on ... : Submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology ...