Multispecies tracking reveals a major seabird hotspot in the North Atlantic

Tammy Davies (1) , Ana P.B. Carneiro (1) , Marguerite Tarzia (1) , Ewan Wakefield (2) , Janos Hennicke (3) , Morten Frederiksen (4) , Erpur Snær Hansen (5) , Bruna Campos (6) , Carolina Hazin (1) , Ben Lascelles (1) , Tycho Anker‐nilssen (7) , Hólmfríður Arnardóttir (8) , Robert Barrett (9) , Manuel Biscoito (10) , Loïc Bollache (11) , Thierry Boulinier (12) , Paulo Catry (13) , Filipe Ceia (14) , Olivier Chastel (15) , Signe Christensen‐dalsgaard (7) , Marta Cruz‐flores (16) , Jóhannis Danielsen (17) , Francis Daunt (18) , Euan Dunn (19) , Carsten Egevang (20) , Ana Isabel Fagundes (21) , Annette Fayet (22) , Jérôme Fort (23) , Robert Furness (24) , Olivier Gilg (11) , Jacob González‐solís (16) , José Pedro Granadeiro (25) , David Grémillet (15) , Tim Guilford (22) , Sveinn Are Hanssen (7) , Michael Harris (18) , April Hedd (26) , Nicholas Per Huffeldt (27) , Mark Jessopp (28) , Yann Kolbeinsson (29) , Johannes Krietsch (30) , Johannes Lang (31) , Jannie Fries Linnebjerg (32) , Svein‐håkon Lorentsen (7) , Jeremy Madeiros (33) , Ellen Magnusdottir (34) , Mark Mallory (35) , Laura Mcfarlane Tranquilla (36) , Flemming Merkel (37) , Teresa Militão (16) , Børge Moe (7) , William Montevecchi (38) , Virginia Morera‐pujol (16) , Anders Mosbech (32) , Verónica Neves (13) , Mark Newell (39) , Bergur Olsen (17) , Vitor Paiva (13) , Hans‐ulrich Peter (40) , Aevar Petersen (41) , Richard Phillips (42) , Iván Ramírez (1) , Jaime Ramos (14) , Raül Ramos (16) , Robert Ronconi (43) , Peter Ryan (44) , Niels Martin Schmidt (32) , Ingvar Sigurðsson (45) , Benoît Sittler (46) , Harald Steen (47) , Iain Stenhouse (48) , Hallvard Strøm (47) , Geir Systad (7) , Paul Thompson (49) , Thorkell Thórarinsson (29) , Rob S.A. Bemmelen (50) , Sarah Wanless (51) , Francis Zino (52) , Maria Dias (1)

1 BirdLife International
2 College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences [Glasgow]
3 German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
4 Aarhus University [Aarhus]
5 Southwest Iceland Nature Research Centre
6 EuroNatur Foundation
7 NINA - Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
8 Fuglavernd / BirdLife in Iceland
9 Tromsø University Museum
10 Funchal Natural History Museum
11 LCE - Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249)
12 CEFE - Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
13 MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre [Portugal]
14 MARE UC - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre
15 CEBC - Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372
16 Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio) and Dept. de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals
17 Faroe Marine Research Institute
18 UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology [Penicuik, U.K.]
19 RSPB - Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
20 GINR - Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
21 Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA) [Lisboa]
22 University of Oxford
23 LIENSs - LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés
24 Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine
25 CESAM - Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
26 Wildlife Research Division, Environment and Climate Change [Mount Pearl]
27 Department of Bioscience [Roskilde]
28 School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences [Ireland]
29 Northeast Iceland Nature Research Centre [Húsavík]
30 Institute of Ecology and Evolution [Jena]
31 Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians & Fish
32 Department of Bioscience [Roskilde, Denmark]
33 Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of Bermuda, Paget, Bermuda
34 Háskóli Íslands [Reykjavik, Iceland]
35 Biology, Acadia University,Wolfville, NS, Canada
36 Birds Canada, Sackville, NB, Canada
37 Department of Bioscience [Roskilde]
38 Psychology Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada
39 Centre for Ecology & Hydrology - Lake Ecosystems Group [Lancaster, U.K.]
40 Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Jena, Germany
41 Independent Researcher
42 BAS - British Antarctic Survey
43 Canadian Wildlife Service
44 FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
45 Icelandic Institute of Natural History
46 University of Freiburg [Freiburg]
47 Norwegian Polar Institute
48 Biodiversity Research Institute
49 Lighthouse Field Station
50 Bureau Waardenburg
51 UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology [Penicuik, UK]
52 Freira Conservation Project, Funchal, Portugal

The conservation of migratory marine species, including pelagic seabirds, is challenging because their movements span vast distances frequently beyond national jurisdictions. Here, we aim to identify important aggregations of seabirds in the North Atlantic to inform ongoing regional conservation efforts. Using tracking, phenology, and population data, we mapped the abundance and diversity of 21 seabird species. This revealed a major hotspot associated with a discrete area of the subpolar frontal zone, used annually by 2.9–5 million seabirds from ≥56 colonies in the Atlantic: the first time this magnitude of seabird concentrations has been documented in the high seas. The hotspot is temporally stable and amenable to site-based conservation and is under consideration as a marine protected area by the OSPAR Commission. Protection could help mitigate current and future threats facing species in the area. Overall, our approach provides an exemplar data-driven pathway for future conservation efforts on the high seas.

Mots clés: area beyond national jurisdiction; Atlantic; biologging; conservation; high seas; marine protected area; regional seas convention

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Tammy Davies, Ana P.B. Carneiro, Marguerite Tarzia, Ewan Wakefield, Janos Hennicke, et al.. Multispecies tracking reveals a major seabird hotspot in the North Atlantic. Conservation Letters, 2021, 14, pp.e12824. ⟨10.1111/conl.12824⟩. ⟨hal-03331141⟩