Seabird Ecology
Introduction
Adélie penguins
What are the issues?
Oi (grey-faced petrels; Pterodroma macroptera gouldi) populations on the Ruamāhua (Aldermen) Islands and Moutohora (Whale Island) are of great social and cultural importance to Hauraki Māori and Ngāti Awa respectively. Hauraki Māori have expressed their desire to resume their kaitiaki (guardian) role over the Aldermen Islands by actively engaging their people, in collaboration with the Department of Conservation (DOC), in the management of this island ecosystem and the harvest of this keystone species. Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa have also expressed their desire to review the current status of the oi population on Moutohora, and determine whether it is recovering after the removal of rats in 1987. To provide the requested management advice, the factors that influence and regulate Oi population growth need to be identified and the mechanisms of change understood. This will be crucial to conservation management on the islands and the wider marine environment and for assessing the viability of developing the oi harvest as a resource in the future.
The importance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean as indicators of the world's health, a driver of global processes, a place of unique ecosystems, and a chronograph of paleoclimate and geological information is widely recognised. The Ross Sea represents one of the last relatively unexploited fisheries in the world and offers one of the last chances to understand ecological processes in a system where both top-down and bottom-up forcing are still relatively intact. Its unmodified status makes it distinct from the wider 'Antarctic marine ecosystem' that has already had upper-trophic organisms removed by industrial fisheries. Fisheries have so depleted upper- and mid-trophic levels of almost all the world's oceans that the definition of a 'healthy' marine system with normally functioning trophic pathways may no longer apply. The Ross Sea offers one of the few remaining opportunities, through the assessment of an apex predator population, to gauge how a relatively simple marine ecosystem functions in the face of rapid climate change.
Our Rats and Seabirds research (RASP) also provides a unique opportunity to investigate ecosystem functioning, in particular how invasions of native ecosystems by alien organisms (a major component of human-induced global change) can act as a biological driver of ecosystem function.
Some alien species cause large changes in the community structure of native organisms through a range of biotic mechanisms, notably competition and predation. However, what remains less well understood is how these changes affect the function of native ecosystems. Islands provide a unique opportunity for investigating biological drivers of ecosystem function. Different islands in an archipelago may contain different combinations of organisms, and each island operates as a spatially discrete entity, which enables a level of true replication of independent ecosystems that can be achieved in no other way. If islands in an archipelago differ in alien biota, this provides a powerful tool for assessing impacts of alien organisms on ecosystems
What research is needed?
Research is needed to:
- Determine the abundance of seabird populations
- Identify what biological, physical and human factors influence and regulate seabird populations
- Understand the mechanisms of how these factors regulate seabird populations
- Determine the sustainability of seabird harvests
- Determine the impact of climate change on seabird populations and ecosystems that support them
- Support Māori aspirations to manage seabird populations and their island ecosystems
RASP research asks the following:
- How above- and below-ground subsystems are interlinked
- How native 'ecosystem engineers' (seabirds) affect ecosystem function
- How alien top predators (rats) indirectly affect ecosystem function
- How sea-to-land nutrient fluxes affect ecosystem function
- How New Zealand's mainland ecosystem used to function (Prior to human and rat arrivals, much of coastal regions likely supported large populations of seabirds.)
How will this information be used?
Scientific findings and/or mātauranga (traditional knowledge) information will advance our understanding of processes that regulate seabird populations around New Zealand and in Antarctica. Identifying and developing an understanding of the human, biological and physical factors that influence seabird populations and ecosystem processes will assist iwi and relevant Crown agencies to implement effective management of these resources and environments. Two of the research themes provide a distinctively Māori approach to understanding seabird populations and their ecosystems, and are examples of collaborative bicultural approaches to research. Outcomes from this research will assist iwi groups to reaffirm and maintain their mātauranga, ahī kā (traditional rights) and whanaungatanga (relatedness) linkages to their land.
The information that emerges from the Mauriora ki nga Oi research project will be used by Hauraki Māori and Ngāti Awa to inform management decision-making related to oi populations on the Ruamāhua (Aldermen) Islands and Moutohora (Whale Island). An informed decision-making process will benefit the longevity of oi, and the ecological benefits of oi to these island ecosystems. For example, long-term outcomes of the project are population models that can advise iwi on sustainable levels of harvest. Linkages between oi demographic rates and atmospheric-oceanic processes can advise on potential climate change impacts. Information about overlap in oi foraging ranges and commercial fishing zones, and incidences of by-catch, will inform the Ministry of Fisheries about the potential impacts of the commercial fishing industry. This type of information will also inform the development and implementation of a Ruamāhua (Aldermen) Island Operational Plan between Hauraki Māori and DOC; and future revisions to the Moutohora (Whale Island) Management Strategy between Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa and DOC.
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| Ruamahua Islands | Oi adult |
Information from the Adélie penguin project will contribute to the understanding of factors impacting Adélie penguin populations, in particular in the Ross Sea region, and will assist New Zealand to assert a continued influence in Antarctic governance through maintaining an effective role in the Antarctic Treaty System. Previous research indicates that the Adélie penguin is a sensitive 'bellwether' and an extremely valuable indicator species of climate change. By investigating the processes that control Adélie penguin population size, demographics and distribution we can determine the effect that local, regional and global factors may have, in the face of climate change, on the structure of this relatively undisturbed marine ecosystem. Therefore, Adélie penguins can be used as a biological proxy to supply environmental stewardship agencies with an improved understanding of current and future natural and human-based pressures on the Ross Sea ecosystem to ensure the conservation of global natural heritage.
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| Adelie penguin creche | Chick banding |
Information will feed decision-support strategies that identify and prioritise natural and human-induced threats to Adélie penguins. The resulting information will be used for management of the Ross Sea Region (e.g. facilitating decisions regarding priority, location, extent and components of Marine Protected Areas - MPA) and to assist in New Zealand's input to decision making within the context of the Antarctic Treaty 1959; the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty 1991 (Madrid Protocol); and the New Zealand Environmental Strategy for the Ross Sea Region. This information will also support New Zealand's active participation in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) by using Adélie penguin population dynamics to characterise ecosystem health in the Ross Sea region (CCAMLR areas 88.1 and 88.2) and supporting strong environmental standards and sustainable economic benefits. It will also promote New Zealand's interest in demonstrating and advocating for best practice in environmental stewardship in this region. One of the key roles of CCAMLR is to ensure that commercial fishing does not irreversibly harm ecosystem relationships. CCAMLR recognises Adélie penguins as a key upper-trophic indicator species and their potential as a monitoring tool to detect any anthropogenic effects on the marine ecosystem such as the overfishing of Adélie penguin prey species. Therefore, our project outcomes will greatly assist CCAMLR to distinguish between changes due to fishing and/or environmental variability, including global climate change.
Research areas
- Adélie penguin dynamics
Primary contact: Philip Lyver
Looking at the distribution, abundance and breeding behaviour of Adélie penguins in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. - Rats and seabirds research (RASP)
Primary contact: Peter Bellingham
Initiated in 2003, this project is using 20 islands in northern New Zealand as outdoor laboratories to investigate effects of alien organisms on ecosystems. - Restoration and sustainability of petrel populations
Primary contact: Philip Lyver
The Oi (Grey-faced petrel, Pterodroma macroptera gouldi) is a taonga for both the Hauraki and Ngāti Awa communities, and is considered a keystone species to the ecosystems on the Ruamāhua (Aldermen) Islands and Moutohora (Whale Island). Scientific and mātauranga (traditional knowledge) analyses will advance understanding of what factors drive changes and long-term trends in Oi populations on these islands.
Primary contact
 | Philip Lyver Email  |
Landcare Research | |
Phone: 03 321 9999 |