Species: All species
Coral reef islands hold keys for tropical seabird conservation
Many tropical seabirds rely on coral reef islands for breeding, and it shows within BirdLife’s Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBAs) network! In a newly published study, our team emphasizes the importance
New study on seabirds adds new perspective on how tracking data can identify important sites for conservation
During the recent global summit on biodiversity, world leaders committed to protecting 30% of the world’s oceans for nature. But which 30% of the oceans should be protected to safeguard the most vulnerable
Welcome to the new Seabird Tracking Database website!
The Seabird Tracking Database hosted by BirdLife International is one of the world’s greatest marine conservation collaborations and the largest collection of seabird tracking data in existence. It serves as a central repository
Spatial scales of marine conservation management for breeding seabirds
Knowing the spatial scales at which effective management can be implemented is fundamental for conservation planning. This is especially important for mobile species, which can be exposed to threats across large areas, but the space use requirements of different species can vary to an extent that might render some management approaches inefficient. Here the space use patterns of seabirds were examined to provide guidance on whether conservation management approaches should be tailored for taxonomic groups with different movement characteristics. Seabird tracking data were synthesised from 5419 adult breeding individuals of 52 species in ten families that were collected in the Atlantic Ocean basin between 1998 and 2017. Two key aspects of spatial distribution were quantified, namely how far seabirds ranged from their colony, and to what extent individuals from the same colony used the same areas at sea. There was evidence for substantial differences in patterns of space-use among the ten studied seabird families, indicating that several alternative conservation management approaches are needed. Several species exhibited large foraging ranges and little aggregation at sea, indicating that area-based conservation solutions would have to be extremely large to adequately protect such species. The results highlight that short-ranging and aggregating species such as cormorants, auks, some penguins, and gulls would benefit from conservation approaches at relatively small spatial scales during their breeding season. However, improved regulation of fisheries, bycatch, pollution and other threats over large spatial scales will be needed for wide-ranging and dispersed species such as albatrosses, petrels, storm petrels and frigatebirds.
track2KBA: An R package for identifying important sites for biodiversity from tracking data
Identifying important sites for biodiversity is vital for conservation and management. However, there is a lack of accessible, easily applied tools that enable practitioners to delineate important sites for highly mobile species using established criteria.
We introduce the R package ‘track2KBA’, a tool to identify important sites at the population level using tracking data from individual animals based on three key steps: (a) identifying individual core areas, (b) assessing population-level representativeness of the sample and (c) quantifying spatial overlap among individuals and scaling up to the population.
We describe package functionality and exemplify its application using tracking data from three taxa in contrasting environments: a seal, a marine turtle and a migratory land bird.
This tool facilitates the delineation of sites of ecological relevance for diverse taxa and provides output useful for assessing their importance to a population or species, as in the Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) Standard. As such, ‘track2KBA’ can contribute directly to conservation planning at global and regional levels.
Tracking data and the conservation of the high seas: Opportunities and challenges
Biologging technology is rapidly advancing—scientists are obtaining data on movement and behaviour for a range of species, more accurately than ever before. With this information, it is possible to understand more about important areas and their connections across the open ocean including the high seas, beyond national jurisdictions. But an absence of a global governance framework has so far hindered a coordinated approach to conservation action on the high seas.
We showcase a candidate high seas MPA in the Northeast Atlantic identified primarily from seabird tracking data and being taken forward under a regional process: the North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Seamount (NACES) MPA, under the OSPAR Commission. It provides a unique case study to learn about the intricacies of implementation when applying tracking information for conservation. From this, we identify the facilitating conditions and challenges faced from identification to designation and highlight actionable opportunities for future area-based management of the high seas that will be made possible under a new agreement.
Policy implications. The North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Seamount (NACES) MPA demonstrates the power of translating tracking data into usable geospatial knowledge to inform conservation and policy and provides an exemplar for a data-driven approach to high seas conservation that can become a reality under the forthcoming governance framework (under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (known as the BBNJ Agreement)). This new agreement presents a unique conservation opportunity both for the application of tracking data to conservation outcomes and for the protection of migratory species.
