Recent responses to changes in stocks of prey species by seabirds breeding in the southern Barents Sea

Seabirds breeding in the southern Barents Sea feed mainly on pelagic fishes – capelin Mallotus villosus , herring Clupea harengus , sand eels Ammodytes sp., and polar cod Boreogadus saida . This study shows how seabirds breeding in two colonies, one in northern Norway and one off the Kola Peninsula,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ICES Journal of Marine Science
Main Authors: Barrett, Robert T., Krasnov, Yuri V.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press 1996
Subjects:
Articles
Barents Sea
Kola Peninsula
Norway
Boreogadus saida
fratercula
Fratercula arctica
kola peninsula
Northern Norway
polar cod
rissa tridactyla
Uria aalge
uria
Online Access:http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/53/4/713
https://doi.org/10.1006/jmsc.1996.0090
Description
Summary:Seabirds breeding in the southern Barents Sea feed mainly on pelagic fishes – capelin Mallotus villosus , herring Clupea harengus , sand eels Ammodytes sp., and polar cod Boreogadus saida . This study shows how seabirds breeding in two colonies, one in northern Norway and one off the Kola Peninsula, Russia have responded to the recent huge changes in the capelin and herring stocks through changes in chick diet and breeding success. It seems that after recent collapses in the capelin stocks, the surface-feeding kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla are now having difficulty in finding enough food to maintain high breeding success and a positive population trend. While the pursuit diving common guillemots Uria aalge and puffins Fratercula arctica are faring better, there are signs that they too are having more difficulty in finding sufficient food despite the return of I-group herring to their foraging areas.

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