Response of breeding European Storm Petrels to habitat change

Bernard Cadiou (1) , Frédéric Bioret (2) , Delphine Chenesseau (1)

1 Bretagne Vivante-SEPNB
2 Institut de Géoarchitecture

Mainly through trampling and manuring, ground-nesting seabirds induced significant habitat changes both on vegetation cover and soil in one of the largest French colonies of European Storm Petrel , Habitat deterioration led to a high level of erosion and the collapse of many former Rabbit burrows previously occupied by breeding Storm Petrels. The loss of burrows accelerated in recent years since Great Cormorants bred on the islet with growing numbers. The main consequence of this disturbance was at first shifting of breeding Storm Petrels from burrows to rocky sites, reflecting some behavioral plasticity to buffer environmental variability. But over 18 years, a significant decrease in breeding numbers of Storm Petrels was recorded and attributed to continuous nest site destruction. Thus, other behavioral responses were also suspected, such as temporary non-breeding or emigration of birds that have to find a new nest site. Such a problem of heavy erosion and loss of nesting habitat could induce serious detrimental effects on burrowing seabirds breeding in a limited number of colonies.

Mots clés: Nesting habitat; Burrow; Interspecific interactions; Breeding numbers

Bernard Cadiou, Frédéric Bioret, Delphine Chenesseau. Response of breeding European Storm Petrels to habitat change. Journal für Ornithologie = Journal of Ornithology, 2009, 151 (2), pp.317-327. ⟨10.1007/s10336-009-0458-3⟩. ⟨hal-00568353⟩