Colony Structure in Seabirds as an Indicator of Population Health
Colonial breeding is one of the most striking examples of group living in nature, with 98% of marine birds exhibiting this behaviour. The benefits of breeding in colonies are manifold, including access to limited nesting sites and food sources, as well as predator avoidance and access to multiple ma...
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Format: | Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
Language: | English |
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Oxford Brookes University
2023
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Online Access: | https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931/1/ https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931/1/MASTER_FINAL.pdf |
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ftoxfordbrookes:tle:a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931:66860e9a-4a2d-41d1-8336-db3caa7a0b7d:1 2024-02-04T09:55:12+01:00 Colony Structure in Seabirds as an Indicator of Population Health Cole, Leanne Cole, Leanne Hart, Tom Lynch, Heather Manthorpe, Sarah MSc Conservation Ecology 2023 application/pdf https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931/1/ https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931/1/MASTER_FINAL.pdf en eng Oxford Brookes University https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931/1/ https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931/1/MASTER_FINAL.pdf All rights reserved dissertation 2023 ftoxfordbrookes 2024-01-11T23:06:55Z Colonial breeding is one of the most striking examples of group living in nature, with 98% of marine birds exhibiting this behaviour. The benefits of breeding in colonies are manifold, including access to limited nesting sites and food sources, as well as predator avoidance and access to multiple mates. However, individuals may pay personal fitness costs for the privilege of breeding in a colony, such as increased exposure to disease and increased competition for resources. The relationship between the population size of a colony and its density is thus far unknown but is expected to show a positive connection. Here we show that there is no statistically significant relationship found between population size and density, however this is speculated to be the result of the effect size not being visible on such a small study group. We found that the high number of environmental and anthropogenic variables impacting Pygoscelis colonies across the Antarctic Peninsula makes it increasingly difficult to extrapolate individual influences on colony structure. This is also compounded by a lack of historical data and the significant species-specific responses to unique regional threats. Our results demonstrate the need for continued large-scale monitoring alongside individual colony assessments in order to understand future trends in real time. Additionally, our results demonstrate the capability of UAVs and other remote technologies to be effective tools for monitoring animals in challenging environments, highlighting the additional capacity they provide to conservation projects gather the large quantities of data needed. Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Oxford Brookes University: RADAR (Research Archive) Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Oxford Brookes University: RADAR (Research Archive) |
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ftoxfordbrookes |
language |
English |
description |
Colonial breeding is one of the most striking examples of group living in nature, with 98% of marine birds exhibiting this behaviour. The benefits of breeding in colonies are manifold, including access to limited nesting sites and food sources, as well as predator avoidance and access to multiple mates. However, individuals may pay personal fitness costs for the privilege of breeding in a colony, such as increased exposure to disease and increased competition for resources. The relationship between the population size of a colony and its density is thus far unknown but is expected to show a positive connection. Here we show that there is no statistically significant relationship found between population size and density, however this is speculated to be the result of the effect size not being visible on such a small study group. We found that the high number of environmental and anthropogenic variables impacting Pygoscelis colonies across the Antarctic Peninsula makes it increasingly difficult to extrapolate individual influences on colony structure. This is also compounded by a lack of historical data and the significant species-specific responses to unique regional threats. Our results demonstrate the need for continued large-scale monitoring alongside individual colony assessments in order to understand future trends in real time. Additionally, our results demonstrate the capability of UAVs and other remote technologies to be effective tools for monitoring animals in challenging environments, highlighting the additional capacity they provide to conservation projects gather the large quantities of data needed. |
author2 |
Cole, Leanne Hart, Tom Lynch, Heather Manthorpe, Sarah |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Cole, Leanne |
spellingShingle |
Cole, Leanne Colony Structure in Seabirds as an Indicator of Population Health |
author_facet |
Cole, Leanne |
author_sort |
Cole, Leanne |
title |
Colony Structure in Seabirds as an Indicator of Population Health |
title_short |
Colony Structure in Seabirds as an Indicator of Population Health |
title_full |
Colony Structure in Seabirds as an Indicator of Population Health |
title_fullStr |
Colony Structure in Seabirds as an Indicator of Population Health |
title_full_unstemmed |
Colony Structure in Seabirds as an Indicator of Population Health |
title_sort |
colony structure in seabirds as an indicator of population health |
publisher |
Oxford Brookes University |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931/1/ https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931/1/MASTER_FINAL.pdf |
op_coverage |
MSc Conservation Ecology |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
op_relation |
https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931/1/ https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/a6419540-471b-4212-a574-629dbcb14931/1/MASTER_FINAL.pdf |
op_rights |
All rights reserved |
_version_ |
1789959111634321408 |