Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T03:04:20.888Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The world’s largest breeding colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous has declined

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2019

SABINA I. WILHELM ,
APRIL HEDD ,
GREGORY J. ROBERTSON ,
JOSHUA MAILHIOT ,
PAUL M. REGULAR ,
PIERRE C. RYAN  and
RICHARD D. ELLIOT
SABINA I. WILHELM*
Affiliation:
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service Branch, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
APRIL HEDD
Affiliation:
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology Branch, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
GREGORY J. ROBERTSON
Affiliation:
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology Branch, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
JOSHUA MAILHIOT
Affiliation:
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service Branch, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
PAUL M. REGULAR
Affiliation:
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology Branch, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
PIERRE C. RYAN
Affiliation:
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service Branch, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
RICHARD D. ELLIOT
Affiliation:
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology Branch, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.
*
*Author for correspondence; e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Despite the global significance of the Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous colony on Baccalieu Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, the estimate of 3.36 million breeding pairs reported for 1984 by Sklepkovych and Montevecchi stands as the single published population estimate for the world’s largest colony. This study increases knowledge of this population by analysing data from additional independent surveys conducted in 1984 and 1985, and by updating the population status with a survey conducted in 2013. Population estimates were derived by extrapolating occupied burrow densities to the estimated occupied area of four main habitat types (heath, forest, grass and fern), which in turn were based on proportions of habitats observed in plots (1984 and 1985) or by using a Geographic Information System approach (2013). Based on these surveys, the Leach’s Storm-petrel breeding population size on Baccalieu Island was estimated at 5.12 ± 0.73 (SE) and 4.60 ± 0.42 (SE) million pairs in 1984 and 1985 respectively, representing estimates 37–51% greater than the original 1984 survey. While discrepancies among these estimates were largely driven by the way occupied areas were estimated, our study confirms that Baccalieu Island hosts the largest Leach’s Storm-petrel colony in the world. Results from the 2013 survey estimate the current breeding Leach’s Storm-petrel population at 1.95 ± 0.14 (SE) million pairs, representing a 42% decline over 29 years (-1.4% per year), relative to the original published estimate of 3.36 ± 0.12 (SE) million pairs. The most prominent change has occurred in the density of storm-petrel burrows found in forest habitat which dropped by 70% despite forest remaining the second most abundant habitat available to nesting storm-petrels on Baccalieu Island. The cause of this decline remains unknown and is likely multi-faceted. Future research focusing on demographic studies is required to understand what is driving the population decline of this internationally important colony.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 40 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © BirdLife International 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bicknell, A. W. J., Knight, M. E., Bilton, D, Reid, J. B., Burke, T. and Votier, S. C. (2012) Population genetic structure and long-distance dispersal among seabird populations: Implications for colony persistence. Mol. Ecol. 21: 2863–2876.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bicknell, A. W. J., Knight, M. E., Bilton, D. T., Campbell, M., Reid, J. B., Newton, J. and Votier, S. C. (2013) Intercolony movement of pre-breeding seabirds over oceanic scales: implications of cryptic age-classes for conservation and metapopulation dynamics. Divers. Distrib. 20: 160–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BirdLife International (2017) Hydrobates leucorhous. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22698511A119292983. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22698511A119292983.enGoogle Scholar
Bond, A. L. and Diamond, A. W. (2009) Mercury concentrations in seabird tissues from Machias Seal Island, New Brunswick, Canada. Sci. Total Environ. 407: 4340–4347.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bond, A. L., Wilhelm, S. I., Pirie-Hay, D. W., Robertson, G. J. and Arany, J. (Submitted) Gull predation in a declining Leach’s storm-petrel colony.Google Scholar
Bond, A. L., Wilhelm, S. I., Robertson, G. J. and Avery-Gomm, S. (2016) Differential declines among nesting habitats of breeding Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) and Great Black-backed Gulls (Larus marinus) in Witless Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Waterbirds 39 (Special Publication 1): 143–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buren, A. D., Koen-Alonso, M., Pepin, P., Mowbray, F., Nakashima, B., Stenson, G., Ollerhead, N. and Montevecchi, W. A. (2014) Bottom-up regulation of capelin, a keystone forage species. Plos ONE. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0087589CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burgess, N., Hedd, A., Pollet, I. L., Mauck, R. A., Diamond, A. W., Burke, C. M., McFarlane Tranquilla, L. A., Montevecchi, W. A., Valliant, M., Wilhelm, S. I. and Robertson, G. J. (2016) Differences in mercury exposure of breeding Leach’s storm-petrels related to their foraging patterns in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. Oral presentation at 7th World Congress of the Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry, Orlando, Florida, 6–10 Nov 2016.Google Scholar
Cairns, D. K., Elliot, R. D., Threlfall, W. and Montevecchi, W. A. (1989) A researcher’s guide to Newfoundland seabird colonies. St. John’s, NL. Memorial University of Newfoundland. Occasional Paper in Biology No. 14.Google Scholar
Fife, D. T., Pollet, I. L., Robertson, G. J., Mallory, M. L. and Shutler, D. (2015) Apparent survival of adult Leach’s Storm-Petrels (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) breeding on Bon Portage Island, Nova Scotia. Avian Conserv. Ecol. 10(1):2. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ACE-00771-100201Google Scholar
Gjerdrum, C., Burgess, N., Hedd, A., McFarlane Tranquilla, L., Pollet, I., Ronconi, R. and Wilhelm, S. (2018) What risks do offshore lights and flares pose to Leach’s Storm-Petrels in Atlantic Canada? Paper presented at the 45th annual meeting of Pacific Seabird Group, Baja California Sur, México. Abstract retrieved from https://pacificseabirdgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Abstracts_PSG2018.pdfGoogle Scholar
Head, E. J. H. and Pepin, P. (2010) Spatial and inter-decadal variability in plankton abundance and composition in the Northwest Atlantic (1958–2006). J. Plankton Res. 32: 1633–1648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedd, A., Pollet, I. L., Mauck, R. A., Burke, C. M., Mallory, M. L., McFarlane Tranquilla, L. A., Montevecchi, W. A., Robertson, G. J., Ronconi, R. A., Shutler, D., Wilhelm, S. I. and Burgess, N. M. (2018) Foraging areas, offshore habitat use and colony overlap by incubating Leach’s Storm-Petrels Oceanodroma leucorhoa in the Northwest Atlantic. Plos ONE 13(5): e0194389. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194389CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huntington, C. E., Butler, R. G. and Mauck, R. (1996) Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), version 2.0. In Poole, A. F. and Gill, F. B., eds. The Birds of North America. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.Google Scholar
Lormée, L., Delord, K., Letournel, B. and Barbraud, C. (2012) Population survey of Leach’s Storm-Petrels breeding at Grand Colombier Island, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon Archipelago. Wilson J. Ornith. 124: 245–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mauck, R. A., Dearborn, D. C. and Huntington, C. E. (2018) Annual global mean temperature explains reproductive success in a marine vertebrate from 1955 to 2010. Glob. Change Biol. 24: 1599–1613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montevecchi, W. A. and Tuck, L. M. (1987) Newfoundland birds: Exploitation, study, conservation. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Publications of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, No. 21. Editor, Raymond A. Paynter, Jr.Google Scholar
Newson, S. E., Mitchell, P. I., Parsons, M., O’Brien, S. H., Austin, G. E., Benn, S., Black, J., Blackburn, J. Brodie, B. Humphreys, E., Leech, D., Prior, M. and Webster, M. (2008) Population decline of Leach’s Storm-petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa within the largest colony in Britain and Ireland. Seabird 21: 77–84.Google Scholar
Pollet, I. L. (2017) Influence of extrinsic factors on movements and reproductive success of Leach’s Storm-Petrels (Oceanodroma leucorhoa). PhD Thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.Google Scholar
Pollet, I. L., Hedd, A., Taylor, P. D., Montevecchi, W. A. and Shutler, D. (2014) Migratory movements and wintering areas of Leach’s Storm-Petrels tracked using geolocators. J. Field Ornithol. 85: 321–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollet, I. L., Leonard, M. L., O’Driscoll, N. J., Burgess, N. M. and Shutler, D. (2016) Relationships between blood mercury levels, reproduction, and return rate in a small seabird. Ecotoxicology 26: 97–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollet, I. L., Ronconi, R. A., Leonard, M. L. and Shutler, D. (2019) Migration routes and stopover areas of Leach’s Storm Petrels Oceanodrom leucorhoa. Mar. Ornithol. 47: 55–65.Google Scholar
Pollet, I. L. and Shutler, D. (2018) Leach’s Storm Petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa population trends on Bon Portage Island, Canada. Seabirds 31: 73–80.Google Scholar
Robertson, G. J. and Elliot, R. D. (2002) Changes in seabird populations breeding on Small Island, Wadham Islands, Newfoundland. Can. Wildl. Serv. Tech. Rep. Ser. No. 381. Atlantic Region.Google Scholar
Robertson, G. J., Russel, J. and Fifield, D. (2002) Breeding population estimates for three Leach’s Storm-petrel colonies in southeastern Newfoundland, 2001. Can. Wildl. Serv. Tech. Rep. Ser. No. 380. Atlantic Region.Google Scholar
Robertson, G. J., Russell, J., Bryant, R., Fifield, D. A. and Stenhouse, I. J. (2006) Size and trends of Leach’s storm-petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa breeding populations in Newfoundland. Atlantic Seabirds 8: 41–50.Google Scholar
Ronconi, R., Allard, K. A. and Taylor, P. D. (2015) Bird interactions with offshore oil and gas platforms: Review of impacts and monitoring techniques. J. Environ. Manage. 147: 34–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sklepkovych, B. O. (1986) The predatory behaviour and impact of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on the seabird colonies of Baccalieu Island, Newfoundland. Master’s thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.Google Scholar
Sklepkovych, B. O. and Montevecchi, W. A. (1989) The world’s largest known nesting colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel on Baccalieu Island, Newfoundland. American Birds 43: 38–42.Google Scholar
Stenhouse, I. J. and Montevecchi, W. A. (1999) Indirect effects of the availability of forage fish and fisheries discards: gull predation on breeding storm-petrels. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 184: 303–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stenhouse, I. J., Robertson, G. J. and Montevecchi, W. A. (2000) Herring Gull Larus argentatus predation on Leach’s Storm-Petrels Oceanodroma leucorhoa breeding on Great Island, Newfoundland. Atlantic Seabirds 2: 35–44.Google Scholar
Wiese, F. K., Montevecchi, W. A., Davoren, G. K., Huettmann, F., Diamond, A. W. and Linke, J. (2001) Seabirds at risk around offshore oil platforms in the Northwest Atlantic. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 42: 1285–1290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilhelm, S. I., Mailhiot, J., Arany, J., Chardine, J. W., Robertson, G. J. and Ryan, P. C. (2015) Update and trends of three important seabird populations in the western North Atlantic using a geographic information system approach. Mar. Ornithol. 43: 211–222.Google Scholar