Relative importance of human activities and climate driving common murre population trends in the Northwest Atlantic |
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Authors: | Paul M Regular Gregory J Robertson William A Montevecchi Fyzee Shuhood Tony Power Douglas Ballam John F Piatt |
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Institution: | (1) Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Psychology Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, A1B 3X9, Canada;(2) Wildlife Research Division, Environment Canada, 6 Bruce Street, Mount Pearl, NL, A1N 4T3, Canada;(3) Parks and Natural Areas Division, Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 33 Reid’s Lane, Deer Lake, NL, A8A 2A3, Canada;(4) Nature Conservancy of Canada, 49-55 Elizabeth Ave., Suite 208, P.O. Box 11, St. John’s, NL, A1A 1W8, Canada;(5) USGS Alaska Science Center, 1011 E Tudor Rd, Anchorage, AK 99503, USA |
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Abstract: | Seabird populations are affected by environmental and anthropogenic influences on a global scale. Many population-level responses
to climate change have been shown, yet few studies have addressed the additive and/or relative impact of environmental and
anthropogenic influences on seabird populations. Using a mixed model approach, we analyzed the trends in plot counts of common
murres (Uria aalge) from a Low Arctic colony at Cape St. Mary’s, Newfoundland, across 26 years (1980–2006). We tested for associations between
population change and various environmental and anthropogenic covariates: water temperature, winter North Atlantic Oscillation,
hunting mortality, oil pollution, by-catch in fishing gear, and visitor disturbance. The number of murres occupying central
plots decreased from 1980 to 1989 and increased from 1990 to 2006. Annual changes in the population were negatively associated
with the estimated number of murres killed in the Newfoundland murre hunt and the high numbers killed in the early 1980s likely
caused the observed population decline. The large number of gillnets set in Newfoundland waters during the 1980s, and associated
incidence of drowning through by-catch, probably also contributed to the observed decline. Though a centennially significant
cold-water perturbation in 1991 forced a regime shift in pelagic food webs, the effect of ocean climate variability on the
population was not obvious. We conclude that management efforts should focus on assessing and mitigating the effects of human-induced
influences and consider the potential additive effects of climate change. |
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