0000000000089899
AUTHOR
Yuri V. Albores-barajas
Climate driven life histories: the case of the Mediterranean Storm petrel
Seabirds are affected by changes in the marine ecosystem. The influence of climatic factors on marine food webs can be reflected in long-term seabird population changes. We modelled the survival and recruitment of the Mediterranean storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis) using a 21-year mark-recapture dataset involving almost 5000 birds. We demonstrated a strong influence of prebreeding climatic conditions on recruitment age and of rainfall and breeding period conditions on juvenile survival. The results suggest that the juvenile survival rate of the Mediterranean subspecies may not be negatively affected by the predicted features of climate change, i.e., warmer summers and lower rai…
Forecasting ocean warming impacts on seabird demography: a case study on the European storm petrel
Bottom-up climatic forcing has been shown to be influential for a variety of marine taxa, but evidence on seabird populations is scarce. Seasonal variation in environmental conditions can have an indirect effect on subsequent reproduction, which, given the longevity and single-brooding of seabirds, may affect population dynamics. Our study focuses on linking the effect of oceanographic conditions (from 1991 to 2013) to the fecundity and consequently pop - ulation growth rate of the Mediterranean subspecies of the European storm petrel Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis. In this study, we examined 23 yr of > 5400 capture–mark−recaptures (CMR) and modelled the probability of skipping reproductio…
Effects of human disturbance on cave-nesting seabirds: The case of the storm petrel
We tested the effects of human disturbance in two sub-colonies of Mediterranean storm petrel. We conducted three experiments to measure the capacity of the storm petrels to respond to stress. The part of the colony exposed to human disturbance resulted to be habituated and did not show chronic stress related to anthropogenic disturbance.
Diet and diving behaviour of European Storm Petrels Hydrobates pelagicus in the Mediterranean (ssp. melitensis).
Capsule Unlike Atlantic populations, which feed on krill, Mediterranean populations feed mainly on pelagic fish Gymnammodites cicerellus. Aims To determine the diet and dive depth of the Mediterranean subspecies of European Storm Petrels Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis. Methods Analysis of regurgitates of adults arriving at the colony for chick feeding and by determination of dives depth using the capillary tube method. Results The main prey is Gymnammodites cicerellus, a pelagic fish. Storm Petrels dive for their prey and can reach up to 5 m in depth. They also make short foraging trips just outside the colony where they capture Opossum Shrimps Misydacea. Conclusions European Storm Petrels…