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Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 422:105-112 (2011)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08968

Recent impacts of anthropogenic climate change on a higher marine predator in western Britain

Samuel Riou1,*, Catherine M. Gray2, M. de L. Brooke3, Petra Quillfeldt4, Juan F. Masello4, Christopher Perrins5, Keith C. Hamer1

1Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
2Peak District National Park Authority, Aldern House, Baslow Road, Bakewell DE45 1AE, UK
3Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
4Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Schlossallee 2, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
5Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK

ABSTRACT: Impacts of anthropogenic climate change on marine ecosystems are now widely acknowledged. In the NE Atlantic, abundant evidence from the partly enclosed waters of the North Sea indicates that recent climate-induced changes in primary and secondary productivity have been propagated up the food chain, with marked consequences for higher vertebrate predators such as seabirds. In contrast, however, there is much less indication of such impacts on higher predators in the more open Atlantic waters around the west coast of the British Isles. Through an annual comparison of chick growth and adult food provisioning behaviour of Manx shearwaters in SW Wales, we found that birds bred later and chicks attained lower peak and fledging masses in 2007 and 2008 than in any previous recorded year dating back to 1965. These changes were accompanied by a reduction in parental attendance at the colony, which was probably the result of parents switching to a dual foraging strategy in 2007 and 2008. These events were linked to higher sea surface temperature in the preceding winter and to a reduction in prey quality, as indicated by the mean body mass of 2 yr old herring. These are the first such findings for the west coast of Britain and indicate that within the NE Atlantic region, adverse impacts of climate change on higher marine predators are no longer restricted to the vicinity of the North Sea.


KEY WORDS: Breeding success · Foraging behaviour · Global warming · Manx shearwater · Phenology · Sea surface temperature


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Cite this article as: Riou S, Gray CM, Brooke MdL, Quillfeldt P, Masello JF, Perrins C, Hamer KC (2011) Recent impacts of anthropogenic climate change on a higher marine predator in western Britain. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 422:105-112. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08968

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