Cold comfort: Arctic seabirds find refugia from climate change and potential competition in marginal ice zones and fjords

Climate change alters species distributions by shifting their fundamental niche in space through time. Such effects may be exacerbated by increased inter-specific competition if climate alters species dominance where competitor ranges overlap. This study used census data, telemetry and stable isotop...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ambio 2022-02, Vol.51 (2), p.345-354
Main Authors: Bonnet-Lebrun, Anne-Sophie, Larsen, Thomas, Thórarinsson, Thorkell Lindberg, Kolbeinsson, Yann, Frederiksen, Morten, Morley, Tim I., Fox, Derren, Boutet, Aude, le Bouard, Fabrice, Deville, Tanguy, Hansen, Erpur Snær, Hansen, Thomas, Roberts, Patrick, Ratcliffe, Norman
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Animals
Aquatic birds
Arctic Regions
Atmospheric Sciences
Changing Arctic Ocean
Charadriiformes
Climate Change
Cold water
Competition
Congeners
Conservation
Conservation status
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecological effects
Ecology
Ecosystem
Ecosystem services
Environment
Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology
Environmental Management
Estuaries
Fjords
Foraging behavior
Ice
Ice Cover
Isotopes
Physical Geography
Population decline
Refugia
Refugium
Sea currents
Seabirds
Stable isotopes
Sympatry
Telemetry
Water currents
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Summary:Climate change alters species distributions by shifting their fundamental niche in space through time. Such effects may be exacerbated by increased inter-specific competition if climate alters species dominance where competitor ranges overlap. This study used census data, telemetry and stable isotopes to examine the population and foraging ecology of a pair of Arctic and temperate congeners across an extensive zone of sympatry in Iceland, where sea temperatures varied substantially. The abundance of Arctic Brünnich’s guillemot Uria lomvia declined with sea temperature. Accessibility of refugia in cold water currents or fjords helped support higher numbers and reduce rates of population decline. Competition with temperate Common guillemots Uria aalge did not affect abundance, but similarities in foraging ecology were sufficient to cause competition when resources are limiting. Continued warming is likely to lead to further declines of Brünnich’s guillemot, with implications for conservation status and ecosystem services.
ISSN:0044-7447
1654-7209
DOI:10.1007/s13280-021-01650-7