Retrofitting historical data in population studies: southern giant petrels in the Australian Antarctic Territory

• Published in: Endangered Species Research
• Main Authors: Wienecke, B, Leaper, R, Hay, I, Van den Hoff, J
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Inter-Research 2009
• Subjects: Environmental Sciences; Environmental Science and Management; Conservation and Biodiversity; Antarctic; Australian Antarctic Territory; Giganteus; Antarc*; Giant Petrels
• Online Access: http://www.int-res.com; https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00201; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/60780

The determination of the conservation status for a species at risk of extinction is basedlargely upon consistent change in the population size. In long-lived species, such as seabirds, longtermmonitoring is required to establish the extent of the natural variability in a population and todetect true change. As studies spanning several generations within the same population are rare,researchers may turn to historically collected census information to expand the time frame of theirstudies. While in principle a valid approach, several limitations need to be considered to use historicalinformation appropriately. Census information, collated from the 1950s to the present, of 3 populationsof southern giant petrels Macronectus giganteus in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) isused to highlight potential limitations inherent in historical data. We demonstrate the importance ofcensus time and count units when investigating potential changes in populations. Published accountsindicate that the numbers of southern giant petrels in the AAT have decreased significantly sincetheir discovery and that more recently some recovery has taken place. However, for 2 of the 3 populationswe could not find evidence supporting a change