Influence of sea-ice-related features and anthropogenic subsidies on the foraging behaviour of a high-Arctic seabird, the ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea)

• Published in: Marine Biology
• Main Authors: Dumas, Keyvan, Gilg, Olivier, Courbin, Nicolas, Corregidor-Castro, Alejandro, Evanno, Guillaume, Strøm, Hallvard, Mosbech, Anders, Frederiksen, Morten, YANNIC, Glenn
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (LECA ), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249) (LCE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC), Groupe de recherche en écologie arctique (GREA), Aarhus University Aarhus, Dynamique et durabilité des écosystèmes : de la source à l’océan (DECOD), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Norwegian Polar Institute, MF was supported by the North-East Greenland Environmental Study Program, financed by the Greenland Government, and GY was supported by the French Polar Institute-IPEV Program “Ivory1210” .
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Seabirds; Arctic ice fauna; GPS tracking; Dual foraging; Site fidelity; Greenland; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology; Arctic; Canada; Svalbard; Arctique*; East Greenland; ivory gull; Pagophila eburnea; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03846124; https://hal.science/hal-03846124/document; https://hal.science/hal-03846124/file/Revised_Manuscript_MABI-D-21-00149R4.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-022-04137-5

International audience The Arctic region is currently experiencing major modifications in sea ice extent and phenology due to global climate and anthropogenic changes. As Arctic marine ecosystems rely greatly on the presence of sea ice and its seasonal dynamics, these changes could have major impacts on Arctic biota. The ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea) is an endemic Arctic seabird whose populations are declining in Canada and Svalbard. Its affinity for sea ice makes it a good sentinel species of current changes in the high Arctic. We explored the influence of sea-ice-related features and anthropogenic subsidies on the foraging behaviour of ivory gulls during the breeding season. To this end, we analysed the movement of adult ivory gulls in north-east Greenland. We confirmed that ivory gulls use a dual foraging strategy, with birds faithful to their foraging areas at short distances from the colony, but used individual-specific areas during long-distance foraging trips. We highlight that ivory gulls are spatially specialised individuals within a generalist species. We demonstrated that human settlements attracted foraging birds, which shows that human presence in such a remote place may influence seabird behaviour. Finally, by combining hidden Markov models and resourceselection functions, we showed that ivory gulls selected highly concentrated sea ice for foraging during the breeding season. Our study provides key information on the use of space and foraging strategies of ivory gulls during the breeding season, and more broadly, how Arctic seabirds use ice features.