Recruitment and survival of immature seabirds in relation to oil spills and climate variability

Stephen C. Votier*, T. R. Birkhead, Daniel Oro, Mark N. Trinder, M. J. Grantham, J. A. Clark, R. H. McCleery, B. J. Hatchwell

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

111 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

1. In long-lived animals with delayed maturity, the non-breeding component of the population may play an important role in buffering the effects of stochastic mortality. Populations of colonial seabirds often consist of more than 50% non-breeders, yet because they spend much of their early life at sea, we understand little about their impact on the demographic process.

2. Using multistate capture-mark-recapture techniques, we analyse a long-term data set of individually identifiable common guillemots, Uria aalge Pont., to assess factors influencing their immature survival and two-stage recruitment process.

3. Analysis of the distribution of ringed common guillemots during the non-breeding season, separated by age classes, revealed that all age classes were potentially at risk from four major oil spills. However, the youngest age class (0-3 years) were far more widely spread than birds 4-6 years old, which were more widely spread than birds aged 6 and over. Therefore the chance of encountering an oil spill was age-dependent.

4. A 2-year compound survival estimate for juvenile guillemots was weakly negatively correlated with winter sea-surface temperature, but was not influenced by oil spills. Non-breeder survival did not vary significantly over time.

5. In years following four oil spills, juvenile recruitment was almost double the value in non-oil-spill years. Recent work from Skomer Island showed a doubling of adult mortality associated with major oil spills, which probably reduced competition at the breeding colony, allowing increased immature recruitment to compensate for these losses. We discuss the implications of compensatory recruitment for assessing the impact of oil pollution incidents.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)974-983
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Animal Ecology
Volume77
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2008

Keywords

  • Capture-mark-recapture
  • Oil pollution
  • Population dynamics
  • Recruitment
  • Sea surface temperature
  • Seabirds

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Animal Science and Zoology

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