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MEPS 676:255-276 (2021)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13854

Year-round distribution of Northeast Atlantic seabird populations: applications for population management and marine spatial planning

Per Fauchald1,*, Arnaud Tarroux1, Françoise Amélineau2, Vegard Sandøy Bråthen3, Sébastien Descamps2, Morten Ekker4, Halfdan Helgi Helgason2,21, Malin Kjellstadli Johansen2, Benjamin Merkel2,5, Børge Moe3, Jens Åström3, Tycho Anker-Nilssen3, Oskar Bjørnstad6, Olivier Chastel7, Signe Christensen-Dalsgaard3, Jóhannis Danielsen8, Francis Daunt9, Nina Dehnhard3, Kjell Einar Erikstad1, Alexey Ezhov10, Maria Gavrilo11,12,22, Gunnar Thor Hallgrimsson13, Erpur Snær Hansen14, Mike Harris9, Morten Helberg15, Jón Einar Jónsson16, Yann Kolbeinsson17, Yuri Krasnov10, Magdalene Langset3, Svein-Håkon Lorentsen3, Erlend Lorentzen2, Mark Newell9, Bergur Olsen8, Tone Kristin Reiertsen1, Geir Helge Systad18, Paul Thompson19, Thorkell Lindberg Thórarinsson17, Sarah Wanless9, Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas20, Hallvard Strøm

1Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
2Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
3Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
4The Norwegian Environment Agency, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
5Akvaplan-niva AS, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
6Karmøy Ringmerkingsgruppe, 4280 Skudeneshavn, Norway
7Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS-Univ. La Rochelle, France
8Faroe Marine Research Institute, 110 Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
9UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik EH26 0QB, UK
10Murmansk Marine Biological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Murmansk 183010, Russia
11National Park Russian Arctic, 163000 Arkhangelsk, Russia
12Association Maritime Heritage, Icebreaker ‘Krassin’, Saint-Petersburg 199106, Russia
13Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland
14South Iceland Nature Research Centre, 900 Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland
15Østfold University College, 1757 Halden, Norway
16University of Iceland’s Research Center at Snæfellsnes, 340 Stykkishólmur, Iceland
17Northeast Iceland Nature Research Centre, 640 Húsavík, Iceland
18Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 5006 Bergen, Norway
19Lighthouse Field Station, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, IV11 8LU, UK
20University of Gdansk, Dept. of Vertebrate Ecology and Zoology, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
21Present address: East Iceland Nature Research Centre, 740 Neskaupstaður, Iceland
22Present address: Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Saint-Petersburg 199397, Russia
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: Tracking data of marine predators are increasingly used in marine spatial management. We developed a spatial data set with estimates of the monthly distribution of 6 pelagic seabird species breeding in the Northeast Atlantic. The data set was based on year-round global location sensor (GLS) tracking data of 2356 adult seabirds from 2006-2019 from a network of seabird colonies, data describing 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 apart) used the same nonbreeding habitats, while birds from distant colonies (>1000 km) used colony-specific and, in many cases, non-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). Uncertainties in the predictions were estimated by cluster bootstrap sampling. The resulting data set consisted of 4692 map layers, each layer predicting the densities of birds from a given species, colony and month across the North Atlantic. This data set 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 data set 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.


KEY WORDS: Fulmarus glacialis · Rissa tridactyla · Uria aalge · Uria lomvia · Alle alle · Fratercula arctica · Marine spatial planning · SEATRACK


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Cite this article as: Fauchald P, Tarroux A, Amélineau F, Bråthen VS and others (2021) Year-round distribution of Northeast Atlantic seabird populations: applications for population management and marine spatial planning. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 676:255-276. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13854

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