MEPS

Marine Ecology Progress Series

MEPS is a leading hybrid research journal on all aspects of marine, coastal and estuarine ecology. Priority is given to outstanding research that advances our ecological understanding.

Online: ISSN 1616-1599

Print: ISSN 0171-8630

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps

Journal contents
Mar Ecol Prog Ser

Local variations in population trends and migration strategies of the Svalbard Brünnich’s guillemot

ABSTRACT: The conservation status of seabirds is of increasing concern, with climate change identified as one of the main threats. This is especially true for Arctic seabirds, which breed in one of the fastest-warming regions on Earth. On Svalbard, the number of Brünnich’s guillemots Uria lomvia has been declining since the late 1990s, mostly due to deteriorating wintering conditions; this conclusion was based on colonies located in the western and southern part of the archipelago. Here, we used new data from northeast Svalbard to investigate whether this trend holds true for other populations of Brünnich’s guillemots. We found that numbers of northeast Svalbard guillemots have been increasing in the last decade. These contrasting trends are associated with different migration strategies. Birds from the northeast population winter in the northern Barents Sea, while the vast majority of west and south Svalbard birds winter between Iceland and Canada. Despite rapid climate change, the northern Barents Sea still seems to provide adequate conditions for wintering seabirds. Our study highlights the need to consider spatial variation in population trends, even at a small spatial scale, when assessing the status of a given species. In the Northeast Atlantic, most Brünnich’s guillemots breed in southeast Svalbard and in the Russian Arctic, where they have been poorly studied. Our study indicates that population trends in these regions cannot be inferred from what is observed in south and west Svalbard. Geographically representative monitoring is necessary to reliably assess the Brünnich’s guillemot’s status in this part of the Arctic.

KEYWORDS

Sébastien Descamps (Corresponding Author)

  • Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway
Sebastien.Descamps@npolar.no

Benjamin Merkel (Co-author)

  • Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway
Benjamin.Merkel@npolar.no

Hallvard Strøm (Co-author)

  • Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway
hallvard.strom@npolar.no

Handling Editor:
Thierry Boulinier, Montpellier, France

Reviewers:
G. Robertson, F. Ramirez, M. Frederiksen