Demographic responses of Arctic seabirds to spring sea-ice variations

• Published in: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
• Main Authors: Sauser, C, Angelier, F, Blévin, P, Chastel, O, Gabrielsen, G.W, Jouanneau, W, Kato, A, Moe, B, Tartu, S, Descamps, S
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2023
• Subjects: Alle alle; rissa tridactyla; Sea ice; Svalbard; Uria lomvia; uria
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1107992

In this study we investigated the influence of spring sea-ice concentration on the survival and breeding success of three seabird species with contrasted foraging strategies in two Svalbard fjords in the high Arctic. We examined these relationships using long-term demographic data (2005–2021) from black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), Brünnich guillemots (Uria lomvia), and little auks (Alle alle). Spring sea-ice concentration was positively related to both the survival and breeding success of little auks, suggesting a higher sensitivity of this species to spring sea-ice. By contrast, the two other species were not particularly sensitive to changes in spring sea-ice, even though a potentially spurious negative effect on the breeding success of black-legged kittiwakes was observed. Overall, the study suggests that spring sea-ice may be involved in the demography of Arctic seabirds, but probably does not play a major role.