Academic Journal

Atolls are globally important sites for tropical seabirds

Λεπτομέρειες βιβλιογραφικής εγγραφής
Τίτλος: Atolls are globally important sites for tropical seabirds
Συγγραφείς: Sebastian Steibl, Simon Steiger, Alex S. Wegmann, Nick D. Holmes, Hillary S. Young, Peter Carr, James C. Russell
Πηγή: Nature Ecology & Evolution. 8:1907-1915
Στοιχεία εκδότη: Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2024.
Έτος έκδοσης: 2024
Θεματικοί όροι: IMPACTS, Islands, Evolutionary Biology, LAND, Tropical Climate, Science & Technology, CLIMATE-CHANGE, Ecology, PRODUCTIVITY, 3103 Ecology, AMMONIA EMISSIONS, CONSERVATION, Environmental Sciences & Ecology, 41 Environmental Sciences, Nesting Behavior, Birds, 4104 Environmental management, Animals, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, ISLANDS, 3104 Evolutionary biology, Ecosystem, 31 Biological Sciences
Περιγραφή: Seabirds play critical roles on islands. By catalysing terrestrial and marine productivity through guano nutrient input, seabirds support natural island functioning. In the Indo-Pacific, atolls comprise one-third of all islands but only ~0.02% of island area. The importance of atolls as seabird nesting grounds has been historically neglected except on a few key atolls. We compiled a global dataset of seabird surveys on atolls and modelled seabird distribution and nutrient deposition on all Indo-Pacific atolls. We found that atolls are breeding sites for 37 species, ranging from a few dozen to more than 3 million individuals per atoll. In total, an estimated 31.2 million seabirds nest on atolls, or ~25% of the tropical seabirds of the world. For 14 species, more than half of their global populations nest on atolls. Seabirds forage more than 10,000-100,000 km² around an atoll and deposit, on average, 65,000 kg N and 11,000 kg P per atoll per year, thus acting as major nutrient pumps within the tropical Indo-Pacific. Our findings reveal the global importance of atolls for tropical seabirds. Given global change, conservation will have to leverage atoll protection and restoration to preserve a relevant fraction of the tropical seabirds of the world.
Τύπος εγγράφου: Article
Περιγραφή αρχείου: Print-Electronic; application/pdf
Γλώσσα: English
ISSN: 2397-334X
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02496-4
Σύνδεσμος πρόσβασης: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39147843
Rights: Springer Nature TDM
Αριθμός Καταχώρησης: edsair.doi.dedup.....0553ef83df0d8fc92ac776a81eb70d95
Βάση Δεδομένων: OpenAIRE
Περιγραφή
ISSN:2397334X
DOI:10.1038/s41559-024-02496-4