Topic
Amsterdam albatross
About: Amsterdam albatross is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 18 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1441 citations. The topic is also known as: Diomedea amsterdamensis.
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TL;DR: The first successful tracking of a bird using satellite telemetry was described in this article, which showed that the birds covered between 3,600 and 15,000 km in a single foraging trip during an incubation shift.
Abstract: ALTHOUGH the study of seabirds in their land-based breeding colonies has attracted much attention, an understanding of their ecology at sea, particularly their foraging range and the location of their feeding zones, remains a major challenge1. The foraging range of pelagic feeders nesting on a given colony or island is purely speculative2,3. Since the eighteenth century4, the Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) has been thought to be one of the most widely ranging seabirds, and breeders are thought to travel up to 1,800 km from the nest on foraging trips5,6. Here, we describe the first successful tracking of a bird using satellite telemetry. Tracks of Wandering albatrosses in the southwestern Indian Ocean showed that they covered between 3,600 and 15,000 km in a single foraging trip during an incubation shift. They flew at speeds of up to 80 km per h and over distances of up to 900 km per day. They remained active at night, particularly on moonlit nights and wind appeared to have a major influence on the foraging strategy of these albatrosses. Detailed knowledge of their movements at sea may prove critical to the conservation of the Wandering albatross and particularly of the closely related Amsterdam albatross (D. amsterdamensis), both of which are endangered7–9.
487 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a demographic study of the Crozet population indicates that the earlier decline was mainly the result of increased adult mortality and secondarily of low recruitment, and that decreased fishing effort and a concentration outside the central Indian Ocean by the Japanese fishery during recent years has probably resulted in the slow recovery of these albatross populations as a result of improved adult survival and recruitment.
358 citations
TL;DR: Dayton et al. as discussed by the authors presented a case study of quantifying bycatch from a basin-wide pelagic longline fishery and assessed the population-level impact on a vulnerable seabird, the Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) in the central North Pacific.
Abstract: Pelagic longline fisheries worldwide incidentally take long-lived seabird species. This mortality has led to fisheries restrictions to protect seabirds at risk, including Wandering (Diomedea exulans) and Amsterdam Albatross (D. amsterdamensis) in the South Pacific and Spectacled Petrel (Procellaria conspicillata) in the South Atlantic. Because pelagic longline fisheries involve multinational fleets operating in vast ocean regions, assessing total bycatch levels for a seabird is challenging. Here we present a case study of quantifying bycatch from a basin-wide pelagic longline fishery and assessing the population-level impact on a vulnerable seabird, the Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) in the central North Pacific. We develop an assessment method that uses observer data to estimate bycatch for one fleet and then uses scenario analysis to estimate bycatch for remaining fleets. Our method generates a bounded estimate of bycatch within an ocean region, ranging from the worst-case to the best-case bycatch scenario. We find that Black-footed Albatross mortality across all fleets in the central North Pacific may total as much as 10 000 individuals/yr. At this level of mortality, population declines are likely. However, even at the best-case bycatch estimate (5200 individuals/yr), population declines may occur over the next three generations (60 years). Although this analysis requires extensive estimation and extrapolation from existing data, it is critical to provide fisheries managers with bounded estimates of likely population-level effects of current fishing activity.
Corresponding Editor: Paul Dayton
166 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that the worldwide spread of avian cholera is probably the major cause of the decrease on Amsterdam Island of the large yellow-nosed albatross population, which was previously attributed to long-line fishing.
Abstract: Infectious diseases have the potential to cause rapid declines and extinction in vertebrate populations, and are likely to be spreading with increased globalisation and climate warming. In the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, no major outbreaks of infectious diseases have been reported to date, perhaps because of isolation and cold climate, although recent evidence suggests their presence. The major threat for the Southern Ocean environment is today considered to be fishing activities, and especially controversial long-lining which is assumed to be the cause of the major decreases in albatross and large petrel populations observed recently. Here we show that the worldwide spread of avian cholera is probably the major cause of the decrease on Amsterdam Island of the large yellow-nosed albatross (Diomedea chlororhynchos) population, which was previously attributed to long-line fishing. Another pathogenic bacterium, Erysipelas, was also present. The diseases affect mainly young chicks, with a cyclic pattern between years, but also kill adult birds. The outbreak of the disease probably occurred in the mid-1980s when chick mortality increased, adult survival decreased and the population started to decrease. The diseases may be currently threatening the very rare Amsterdam albatross (D. amsterdamensis) with extinction, and are probably also affecting sooty albatrosses (Phoebetria fusca). The spread of diseases to the most remote areas of the world raises major concern for the conservation of the Southern Ocean environment.
100 citations
TL;DR: Simulations supported the hypothesis that genetic diversity in albatrosses was already depleted prior to their divergence, and appear to challenge the classical view about the negative consequences of genetic depletion on species survival.
Abstract: Low genetic diversity is predicted to negatively impact species viability and has been a central concern for conservation. In contrast, the possibility that some species may thrive in spite of a relatively poor diversity has received little attention. The wandering and Amsterdam albatrosses (Diomedea exulans and Diomedea amsterdamensis) are long-lived seabirds standing at an extreme along the gradient of life strategies, having traits that may favour inbreeding and low genetic diversity. Divergence time of the two species is estimated at 0.84 Myr ago from cytochromeb data. We tested the hypothesis that both albatrosses inherited poor genetic diversity from their common ancestor. Within the wandering albatross, per cent polymorphic loci and expected heterozygosity at amplified fragment length polymorphisms were approximately one-third of the minimal values reported in other vertebrates. Genetic diversity in the Amsterdam albatross, which is recovering from a severe bottleneck, was about twice as low as in the wandering albatross. Simulations supported the hypothesis that genetic diversity in albatrosses was already depleted prior to their divergence. Given the generally high breeding success of these species, it is likely that they are not suffering much from their impoverished diversity. Whether albatrosses are unique in this regard is unknown, but they appear to challenge the classical view about the negative consequences of genetic depletion on species survival.
77 citations