Duda Matthew P, Cyr Frédéric, Robertson Gregory J, Michelutti Neal, Meyer-Jacob Carsten, Hedd April, Montevecchi William A, Kimpe Linda E, Blais Jules M, Smol John P
Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL), Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Glob Chang Biol. 2022 Jul;28(14):4292-4307. doi: 10.1111/gcb.16171. Epub 2022 Apr 20.
Seabird population size is intimately linked to the physical, chemical, and biological processes of the oceans. Yet, the overall effects of long-term changes in ocean dynamics on seabird colonies are difficult to quantify. Here, we used dated lake sediments to reconstruct ~10,000-years of seabird dynamics in the Northwest Atlantic to determine the influences of Holocene-scale climatic oscillations on colony size. On Baccalieu Island (Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada)-where the world's largest colony of Leach's storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous Vieillot 1818) currently breeds-our data track seabird colony growth in response to warming during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (ca. 9000 to 6000 BP). From ca. 5200 BP to the onset of the Little Ice Age (ca. 550 BP), changes in colony size were correlated to variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). By contrasting the seabird trends from Baccalieu Island to millennial-scale changes of storm-petrel populations from Grand Colombier Island (an island in the Northwest Atlantic that is subjected a to different ocean climate), we infer that changes in NAO influenced the ocean circulation, which translated into, among many things, changes in pycnocline depth across the Northwest Atlantic basin where the storm-petrels feed. We hypothesize that the depth of the pycnocline is likely a strong bottom-up control on surface-feeding storm-petrels through its influence on prey accessibility. Since the Little Ice Age (LIA), the effects of ocean dynamics on seabird colony size have been altered by anthropogenic impacts. Subsequently, the colony on Baccalieu Island grew at an unprecedented rate to become the world's largest resulting from favorable conditions linked to climate warming, increased vegetation (thereby nesting habitat), and attraction of recruits from other colonies that are now in decline. We show that although ocean dynamics were an important driver of seabird colony dynamics, its recent influence has been modified by human interference.
海鸟种群数量与海洋的物理、化学和生物过程密切相关。然而，海洋动力学长期变化对海鸟栖息地的总体影响难以量化。在此，我们利用测年的湖泊沉积物重建了西北大西洋约10000年的海鸟动态，以确定全新世尺度气候振荡对栖息地规模的影响。在巴卡利厄岛（加拿大纽芬兰与拉布拉多省）——世界上最大的暴雪鹱（Hydrobates leucorhous Vieillot 1818）栖息地目前在此繁殖——我们的数据追踪了全新世暖期（约9000至6000 BP）期间海鸟栖息地随气候变暖的增长情况。从约5200 BP到小冰期开始（约550 BP），栖息地规模的变化与北大西洋涛动（NAO）的变化相关。通过对比巴卡利厄岛的海鸟趋势与大科伦比耶岛（西北大西洋的一个岛屿，受不同海洋气候影响）暴雪鹱种群千年尺度的变化，我们推断NAO的变化影响了海洋环流，这在诸多方面导致了暴雪鹱觅食的西北大西洋盆地温跃层深度的变化。我们推测，温跃层深度可能通过影响猎物可及性，对表层觅食的暴雪鹱产生强烈的自下而上的控制作用。自小冰期以来，海洋动力学对海鸟栖息地规模的影响已因人为影响而改变。随后，巴卡利厄岛的栖息地以前所未有的速度增长，成为世界上最大的栖息地，这得益于与气候变暖、植被增加（从而提供了筑巢栖息地）以及吸引其他数量正在减少的栖息地的新成员相关的有利条件。我们表明，尽管海洋动力学是海鸟栖息地动态的重要驱动因素，但其近期影响已因人类干扰而改变。
