Combined spatio-temporal impacts of climate and longline fisheries on the survival of a trans-equatorial marine migrant

• Published in: PloS one 2012-07, Vol.7 (7), p.e40822
• Main Authors: Ramos, Raül, Granadeiro, José Pedro, Nevoux, Marie, Mougin, Jean-Louis, Dias, Maria Peixe, Catry, Paulo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 20th century; Animal biology; Animal breeding; Animal Migration - physiology; Animals; Anthropogenic factors; Aquatic birds; Biology; Breeding; Breeding seasons; By-catch; Bycatch; Calonectris diomedea; Calonectris diomedea borealis; Capture-recapture studies; Charadriiformes - physiology; Climate; Climate change; Climate effects; Conservation; Conservation biology; Demographic variables; Demographics; Demography; Earth sciences; Ecosystem; Environmental Sciences; Equatorial regions; Fisheries; Food availability; Foraging behavior; Geography; Global Changes; Global warming; Human influences; Humans; Impact prediction; Laridae; Larus audouinii; Larus sabini; Life history; Life Sciences; Longline; Longlining (Fisheries); Migrants; Migration; Migratory species; Models, Biological; Mortality; Phenology; Population; Portugal; Schedules; Sea surface temperature; Southern Oscillation; Southern Oscillation Index; Studies; Surface temperature; Survival; Survival Analysis; Time Factors; Wildlife; Wildlife conservation; Wildlife habitats
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040822

Predicting the impact of human activities and their derivable consequences, such as global warming or direct wildlife mortality, is increasingly relevant in our changing world. Due to their particular life history traits, long-lived migrants are amongst the most endangered and sensitive group of animals to these harming effects. Our ability to identify and quantify such anthropogenic threats in both breeding and wintering grounds is, therefore, of key importance in the field of conservation biology. Using long-term capture-recapture data (34 years, 4557 individuals) and year-round tracking data (4 years, 100 individuals) of a trans-equatorial migrant, the Cory's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), we investigated the impact of longline fisheries and climatic variables in both breeding and wintering areas on the most important demographic trait of this seabird, i.e. adult survival. Annual adult survival probability was estimated at 0.914±0.022 on average, declining throughout 1978-1999 but recovering during the last decade (2005-2011). Our results suggest that both the incidental bycatch associated with longline fisheries and high sea surface temperatures (indirectly linked to food availability; SST) increased mortality rates during the long breeding season (March-October). Shearwater survival was also negatively affected during the short non-breeding season (December-February) by positive episodes of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). Indirect negative effects of climate at both breeding (SST) and wintering grounds (SOI) had a greater impact on survival than longliner activity, and indeed these climatic factors are those which are expected to present more unfavourable trends in the future. Our work underlines the importance of considering both breeding and wintering habitats as well as precise schedules/phenology when assessing the global role of the local impacts on the dynamics of migratory species.