The year-round distribution of Northeast Atlantic seabird populations: Applications for population management and marine spatial planning

Per  Fauchald; Arnaud  Tarroux; Françoise  Amélineau; Vegard Sandøy  Bråthen; Sébastien  Descamps; Morten  Ekker; Hálfdán Helgi  Helgason; Malin Kjellstadli  Johansen; Benjamin  Merkel; Borge Moe; Jens  Åström; Tycho Anker-Nilssen; Oskar Bjørnstad; Olivier Chastel; Signe  Christensen Dalsgaard; Jóhannis  Danielsen; Francis Daunt; Nina  Dehnhard; Kjell Einar Erikstad; Alexey  Ezhov; Maria  Gavrilo; Gunnar Thor  Hallgrimsson; Erpur Snær  Hansen; Mike Harris; Morten  Helberg; Jón Einar  Jónsson; Yann  Kolbeinsson; Yuri   Krasnov; Magdalene  Langset; Svein-Håkon  Lorentsen; Erlend  Lorentzen; Mark Newell; Bergur  Olsen; Tone  Kristin Reiertsen; Geir Helge Systad; Paul Thompson; Thorkell Lindberg  Thórarinsson; Sarah Wanless; Katarzyna  Wojczulanis-Jakubas; Hallvard Strøm

doi:10.3354/meps13854

The year-round distribution of Northeast Atlantic seabird populations: Applications for population management and marine spatial planning

Per Fauchald^* (Corresponding Author), Arnaud Tarroux, Françoise Amélineau, Vegard Sandøy Bråthen, Sébastien Descamps, Morten Ekker, Hálfdán Helgi Helgason, Malin Kjellstadli Johansen, Benjamin Merkel, Borge Moe, Jens Åström, Tycho Anker-Nilssen, Oskar Bjørnstad, Olivier Chastel, Signe Christensen Dalsgaard, Jóhannis Danielsen, Francis Daunt, Nina Dehnhard, Kjell Einar Erikstad, Alexey EzhovMaria Gavrilo , Gunnar Thor Hallgrimsson, Erpur Snær Hansen, Mike Harris, Morten Helberg, Jón Einar Jónsson, Yann Kolbeinsson, Yuri Krasnov, Magdalene Langset, Svein-Håkon Lorentsen, Erlend Lorentzen, Mark Newell, Bergur Olsen, Tone Kristin Reiertsen, Geir Helge Systad , Paul Thompson, Thorkell Lindberg Thórarinsson, Sarah Wanless, Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Hallvard Strøm

^*Corresponding author for this work

Aberdeen Centre For Environmental Sustainability

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Abstract

Tracking data of marine predators are increasingly used in marine spatial management. We developed a spatial dataset with estimates of the monthly distribution of six pelagic seabird species breeding in the Northeast Atlantic. The dataset is based on year-round global location sensor (GLS) tracking data of 2356 adult seabirds from 2006-2019 from a network of seabird colonies, datadescribing the physical environment, and data on seabird population sizes. Tracking and environmental data were combined in monthly species distribution models (SDMs). Cross-validations were used to assess the transferability of models between years and breeding locations. The analyses showed that birds from colonies close to each other (< 500 km) used the same nonbreeding habitats, while birds from distant colonies (>1000 km) used colony-specific, and in many cases, non11 overlapping habitats. Based on these results, the SDM from the nearest model colony was used to predict the distribution of all seabird colonies lying within a species-specific cut-off distance (400-500 km). The uncertainties in predictions were estimated by cluster bootstrap sampling. The resulting dataset consists of 4692 map layers, each layer predicting the densities of birds from a given species, colony and month across the North Atlantic. The dataset represents the annual distribution of 23.5 million adult pelagic seabirds, or 87% of the Northeast Atlantic breeding population of the study species. We show how the dataset can be used in population and spatial management applications, including the detection of population-specific nonbreeding habitats and identifying populations influenced by marine protected areas.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	255-276
Number of pages	22
Journal	Marine Ecology Progress Series
Volume	676
Early online date	14 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13854
Publication status	Published - 2021

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgement
We thank all the fieldworkers for their hard work collecting data. Funding for this study was provided by the Norwegian Ministry for Climate and the Environment, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association along with eight oil companies through the SEATRACK project (www.seapop.no/en/seatrack). Fieldwork in Norwegian colonies (incl. Svalbard
and Jan Mayen) was supported by the SEAPOP program (www.seapop.no grant number 192141). The French Polar Institute Paul Emile Victor, funded the ORNITHO-ENDOCRINO program (IPEV program 330 to O. Chastel) on Kongsfjord kittiwakes. Russian field operations were enabled by the crew on SY Alter Ego and Open Ocean project team. A.V. Ezhov and Yu.V. Krasnov were supported by the project No 0228-2019-0004 “Ornithofauna of the northern seas: peculiarities of the nonbreeding season” with the framework of MMBI research plan and the state order for 2109-2021. The work on the Isle of May was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (Award NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCaPE programme delivering National Capability). ES Hansen was supported by Veiðikortasjóður

Data Availability Statement

Data availability. The data sets developed in the present study and R-code to extract the data are available from the first author. Please visit the SEATRACK website (https://seapop. no/en/seatrack/) for more information.

Keywords

Fulmarus glacialis
Uria aalge
Uria lomvia
Alle alle
Fratercula arctica
marine spatial planning
SEATRACK

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Fauchald_etal_MEPS_Year_Round_Distribution_VoR
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Fauchald, P., Tarroux, A., Amélineau, F., Bråthen, V. S., Descamps, S., Ekker, M., Helgason, H. H., Johansen, M. K., Merkel, B., Moe, B., Åström, J., Anker-Nilssen, T., Bjørnstad, O., Chastel, O., Christensen Dalsgaard, S., Danielsen, J., Daunt, F., Dehnhard, N., Erikstad, K. E., ... Strøm, H. (2021). The year-round distribution of Northeast Atlantic seabird populations: Applications for population management and marine spatial planning. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 676, 255-276. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13854

Fauchald, P, Tarroux, A, Amélineau, F, Bråthen, VS, Descamps, S, Ekker, M, Helgason, HH, Johansen, MK, Merkel, B, Moe, B, Åström, J, Anker-Nilssen, T, Bjørnstad, O, Chastel, O, Christensen Dalsgaard, S, Danielsen, J, Daunt, F, Dehnhard, N, Erikstad, KE, Ezhov, A, Gavrilo , M, Hallgrimsson, GT, Hansen, ES, Harris, M, Helberg, M, Jónsson, JE, Kolbeinsson, Y, Krasnov, Y, Langset, M, Lorentsen, S-H, Lorentzen, E, Newell, M, Olsen, B, Kristin Reiertsen, T, Systad , GH, Thompson, P, Thórarinsson, TL, Wanless, S, Wojczulanis-Jakubas, K & Strøm, H 2021, 'The year-round distribution of Northeast Atlantic seabird populations: Applications for population management and marine spatial planning', Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol. 676, pp. 255-276. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13854

@article{897a61f9af1042eab06d7f3b15f28331,

title = "The year-round distribution of Northeast Atlantic seabird populations: Applications for population management and marine spatial planning",

abstract = "Tracking data of marine predators are increasingly used in marine spatial management. We developed a spatial dataset with estimates of the monthly distribution of six pelagic seabird species breeding in the Northeast Atlantic. The dataset is based on year-round global location sensor (GLS) tracking data of 2356 adult seabirds from 2006-2019 from a network of seabird colonies, datadescribing the physical environment, and data on seabird population sizes. Tracking and environmental data were combined in monthly species distribution models (SDMs). Cross-validations were used to assess the transferability of models between years and breeding locations. The analyses showed that birds from colonies close to each other (< 500 km) used the same nonbreeding habitats, while birds from distant colonies (>1000 km) used colony-specific, and in many cases, non11 overlapping habitats. Based on these results, the SDM from the nearest model colony was used to predict the distribution of all seabird colonies lying within a species-specific cut-off distance (400-500 km). The uncertainties in predictions were estimated by cluster bootstrap sampling. The resulting dataset consists of 4692 map layers, each layer predicting the densities of birds from a given species, colony and month across the North Atlantic. The dataset represents the annual distribution of 23.5 million adult pelagic seabirds, or 87% of the Northeast Atlantic breeding population of the study species. We show how the dataset can be used in population and spatial management applications, including the detection of population-specific nonbreeding habitats and identifying populations influenced by marine protected areas.",

keywords = "Fulmarus glacialis, Uria aalge, Uria lomvia, Alle alle, Fratercula arctica, marine spatial planning, SEATRACK",

author = "Per Fauchald and Arnaud Tarroux and Fran{\c c}oise Am{\'e}lineau and Br{\aa}then, {Vegard Sand{\o}y} and S{\'e}bastien Descamps and Morten Ekker and Helgason, {H{\'a}lfd{\'a}n Helgi} and Johansen, {Malin Kjellstadli} and Benjamin Merkel and Borge Moe and Jens {\AA}str{\"o}m and Tycho Anker-Nilssen and Oskar Bj{\o}rnstad and Olivier Chastel and {Christensen Dalsgaard}, Signe and J{\'o}hannis Danielsen and Francis Daunt and Nina Dehnhard and Erikstad, {Kjell Einar} and Alexey Ezhov and Maria Gavrilo and Hallgrimsson, {Gunnar Thor} and Hansen, {Erpur Sn{\ae}r} and Mike Harris and Morten Helberg and J{\'o}nsson, {J{\'o}n Einar} and Yann Kolbeinsson and Yuri Krasnov and Magdalene Langset and Svein-H{\aa}kon Lorentsen and Erlend Lorentzen and Mark Newell and Bergur Olsen and {Kristin Reiertsen}, Tone and Systad, {Geir Helge} and Paul Thompson and Th{\'o}rarinsson, {Thorkell Lindberg} and Sarah Wanless and Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas and Hallvard Str{\o}m",

note = "Acknowledgement We thank all the fieldworkers for their hard work collecting data. Funding for this study was provided by the Norwegian Ministry for Climate and the Environment, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association along with eight oil companies through the SEATRACK project (www.seapop.no/en/seatrack). Fieldwork in Norwegian colonies (incl. Svalbard and Jan Mayen) was supported by the SEAPOP program (www.seapop.no grant number 192141). The French Polar Institute Paul Emile Victor, funded the ORNITHO-ENDOCRINO program (IPEV program 330 to O. Chastel) on Kongsfjord kittiwakes. Russian field operations were enabled by the crew on SY Alter Ego and Open Ocean project team. A.V. Ezhov and Yu.V. Krasnov were supported by the project No 0228-2019-0004 “Ornithofauna of the northern seas: peculiarities of the nonbreeding season” with the framework of MMBI research plan and the state order for 2109-2021. The work on the Isle of May was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (Award NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCaPE programme delivering National Capability). ES Hansen was supported by Vei{\dh}ikortasj{\'o}{\dh}ur",

year = "2021",

doi = "10.3354/meps13854",

language = "English",

volume = "676",

pages = "255--276",

journal = "Marine Ecology Progress Series",

issn = "0171-8630",

publisher = "Inter-Research",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - The year-round distribution of Northeast Atlantic seabird populations

T2 - Applications for population management and marine spatial planning

AU - Fauchald, Per

AU - Tarroux, Arnaud

AU - Amélineau, Françoise

AU - Bråthen, Vegard Sandøy

AU - Descamps, Sébastien

AU - Ekker, Morten

AU - Helgason, Hálfdán Helgi

AU - Johansen, Malin Kjellstadli

AU - Merkel, Benjamin

AU - Moe, Borge

AU - Åström, Jens

AU - Anker-Nilssen, Tycho

AU - Bjørnstad, Oskar

AU - Chastel, Olivier

AU - Christensen Dalsgaard, Signe

AU - Danielsen, Jóhannis

AU - Daunt, Francis

AU - Dehnhard, Nina

AU - Erikstad, Kjell Einar

AU - Ezhov, Alexey

AU - Gavrilo , Maria

AU - Hallgrimsson, Gunnar Thor

AU - Hansen, Erpur Snær

AU - Harris, Mike

AU - Helberg, Morten

AU - Jónsson, Jón Einar

AU - Kolbeinsson, Yann

AU - Krasnov, Yuri

AU - Langset, Magdalene

AU - Lorentsen, Svein-Håkon

AU - Lorentzen, Erlend

AU - Newell, Mark

AU - Olsen, Bergur

AU - Kristin Reiertsen, Tone

AU - Systad , Geir Helge

AU - Thompson, Paul

AU - Thórarinsson, Thorkell Lindberg

AU - Wanless, Sarah

AU - Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Katarzyna

AU - Strøm, Hallvard

N1 - Acknowledgement We thank all the fieldworkers for their hard work collecting data. Funding for this study was provided by the Norwegian Ministry for Climate and the Environment, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association along with eight oil companies through the SEATRACK project (www.seapop.no/en/seatrack). Fieldwork in Norwegian colonies (incl. Svalbard and Jan Mayen) was supported by the SEAPOP program (www.seapop.no grant number 192141). The French Polar Institute Paul Emile Victor, funded the ORNITHO-ENDOCRINO program (IPEV program 330 to O. Chastel) on Kongsfjord kittiwakes. Russian field operations were enabled by the crew on SY Alter Ego and Open Ocean project team. A.V. Ezhov and Yu.V. Krasnov were supported by the project No 0228-2019-0004 “Ornithofauna of the northern seas: peculiarities of the nonbreeding season” with the framework of MMBI research plan and the state order for 2109-2021. The work on the Isle of May was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (Award NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCaPE programme delivering National Capability). ES Hansen was supported by Veiðikortasjóður

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Tracking data of marine predators are increasingly used in marine spatial management. We developed a spatial dataset with estimates of the monthly distribution of six pelagic seabird species breeding in the Northeast Atlantic. The dataset is based on year-round global location sensor (GLS) tracking data of 2356 adult seabirds from 2006-2019 from a network of seabird colonies, datadescribing the physical environment, and data on seabird population sizes. Tracking and environmental data were combined in monthly species distribution models (SDMs). Cross-validations were used to assess the transferability of models between years and breeding locations. The analyses showed that birds from colonies close to each other (< 500 km) used the same nonbreeding habitats, while birds from distant colonies (>1000 km) used colony-specific, and in many cases, non11 overlapping habitats. Based on these results, the SDM from the nearest model colony was used to predict the distribution of all seabird colonies lying within a species-specific cut-off distance (400-500 km). The uncertainties in predictions were estimated by cluster bootstrap sampling. The resulting dataset consists of 4692 map layers, each layer predicting the densities of birds from a given species, colony and month across the North Atlantic. The dataset represents the annual distribution of 23.5 million adult pelagic seabirds, or 87% of the Northeast Atlantic breeding population of the study species. We show how the dataset can be used in population and spatial management applications, including the detection of population-specific nonbreeding habitats and identifying populations influenced by marine protected areas.

AB - Tracking data of marine predators are increasingly used in marine spatial management. We developed a spatial dataset with estimates of the monthly distribution of six pelagic seabird species breeding in the Northeast Atlantic. The dataset is based on year-round global location sensor (GLS) tracking data of 2356 adult seabirds from 2006-2019 from a network of seabird colonies, datadescribing the physical environment, and data on seabird population sizes. Tracking and environmental data were combined in monthly species distribution models (SDMs). Cross-validations were used to assess the transferability of models between years and breeding locations. The analyses showed that birds from colonies close to each other (< 500 km) used the same nonbreeding habitats, while birds from distant colonies (>1000 km) used colony-specific, and in many cases, non11 overlapping habitats. Based on these results, the SDM from the nearest model colony was used to predict the distribution of all seabird colonies lying within a species-specific cut-off distance (400-500 km). The uncertainties in predictions were estimated by cluster bootstrap sampling. The resulting dataset consists of 4692 map layers, each layer predicting the densities of birds from a given species, colony and month across the North Atlantic. The dataset represents the annual distribution of 23.5 million adult pelagic seabirds, or 87% of the Northeast Atlantic breeding population of the study species. We show how the dataset can be used in population and spatial management applications, including the detection of population-specific nonbreeding habitats and identifying populations influenced by marine protected areas.

KW - Fulmarus glacialis

KW - Uria aalge

KW - Uria lomvia

KW - Alle alle

KW - Fratercula arctica

KW - marine spatial planning

KW - SEATRACK

U2 - 10.3354/meps13854

DO - 10.3354/meps13854

M3 - Article

SN - 0171-8630

VL - 676

SP - 255

EP - 276

JO - Marine Ecology Progress Series

JF - Marine Ecology Progress Series

ER -

The year-round distribution of Northeast Atlantic seabird populations: Applications for population management and marine spatial planning

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Keywords

UN SDGs

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