Climate change, reproductive performance and diet composition of marine birds in the southern California Current system, 1969-1997

We studied the effects of low-frequency climate change on the reproductive performance of 11 species of marine bird in the southern California Current system, 1969–1997. Reproductive performance of Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) and Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocrax auritus) in southern California demonstrated an increase in the 1970s and early 1980s, attributable to recovery from organochlorine contamination (primarily DDE). Brandt’s Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) in central California was the only species to demonstrate a secular increase in performance through time, a pattern that remains unexplained. Ashy Storm-petrel (Oceanodroma homochroa ) and Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) demonstrated curvilinear patterns of change, with decreasing reproductive performance in the past decade. All other species including Western Gull (Larus occidentalis), Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba), Xantus’s Murrelet (Synthiloboramphus hypoleucus ), Common Murre (Uria aalge), Cassin’s Auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) and Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata ) showed diminishing reproductive performance through time. Patterns of change for the murre and auklets were not significant, presumably because of a lack of reproductive variation for these species, which display a conservative breeding effort (i.e. single-egg clutches). Changes in the birds’ abilities to provision young and maintain chick survival during May–July each year appeared most closely related to overall changes in reproductive performance. Dietary change indicated a decline in use of juvenile rockfish ( Sebastes spp.) by marine birds in central California. There was also significant interannual variability in consumption of juvenile rockfish and the euphausiid Thysanoessa spinifera. Patterns of change in marine bird reproductive performance were generally concordant between southern and central California after considering the period of recovery for Brown Pelican and Double-crested Cormorant. The decline in reproductive performance and changes in diet composition do not appear directly related to the polarity reversal of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation

[1]  Steven R. Hare,et al.  Decadal-scale regime shifts in the large marine ecosystems of the North-east Pacific: a case for historical science , 1994 .

[2]  R. Beamish,et al.  Pacific salmon production trends in relation to climate , 1993 .

[3]  S. Gilman,et al.  Climate-Related, Long-Term Faunal Changes in a California Rocky Intertidal Community , 1995, Science.

[4]  PhD R. W. Furness BSc,et al.  Seabird Ecology , 1987, Tertiary Level Biology.

[5]  D. Ainley,et al.  Variation in the diet of Cassin's auklet reveals spatial, seasonal, and decadal occurrence patterns of euphausiids off California, USA , 1996 .

[6]  Timothy J. Hoar,et al.  The 1990–1995 El Niño‐Southern Oscillation Event: Longest on Record , 1996 .

[7]  N. Graham Decadal-scale climate variability in the tropical and North Pacific during the 1970s and 1980s: observations and model results , 1994 .

[8]  D. Cayan,et al.  Climate-Ocean Variability and Ecosystem Response in the Northeast Pacific , 1998, Science.

[9]  K. Hobson,et al.  Trophic Relationships among Seabirds in Central California: Combined Stable Isotope and Conventional Dietary Approach , 1997 .

[10]  Richard J. Beamish,et al.  Have there been recent changes in climate? Ask the fish , 2000 .

[11]  G. Mitchum,et al.  Decadal and basin-scale variation in mixed layer depth and the impact on biological production in the Central and North Pacific, 1960-88 , 1995 .

[12]  W. Sydeman,et al.  Survival, breeding probability and reproductive success in relation to population dynamics of Brandt's Cormorants Phalacrocorax penicillatus , 1999 .

[13]  T. Barnett,et al.  Interdecadal variability of the Pacific Ocean: model response to observed heat flux and wind stress anomalies , 1994 .

[14]  J. Mcgowan,et al.  Climate and change in oceanic ecosystems: The value of time-series data. , 1990, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[15]  William S. Cleveland,et al.  Visualizing Data , 1993 .

[16]  Richard J. Beamish,et al.  The regime concept and natural trends in the production of Pacific salmon , 1999 .

[17]  James W. Hurrell,et al.  Decadal atmosphere-ocean variations in the Pacific , 1994 .

[18]  J. Wallace,et al.  ENSO-like Interdecadal Variability: 1900–93 , 1997 .

[19]  S. Chatterjee,et al.  Regression Analysis by Example (2nd ed.). , 1992 .

[20]  F. Chavez,et al.  THE STATE OF THE CALIFORNIA CURRENT IN 1995-1 996: CONTINUING DECLINES IN MACROZOOPLANKTON BIOMASS DURING A PERIOD OF NEARLY NORMAL CIRCULATION , 1996 .

[21]  P. Monaghan Relevance of the behaviour of seabirds to the conservation of marine environments , 1996 .

[22]  Steven R. Hare,et al.  Empirical evidence for North Pacific regime shifts in 1977 and 1989 , 2000 .

[23]  D. Mackas,et al.  Changes in the zooplankton community of the British Columbia continental margin, 1985-1999, and their covariation with oceanographic conditions , 2001 .

[24]  Dean Roemmich,et al.  Climatic Warming and the Decline of Zooplankton in the California Current , 1995, Science.

[25]  A. J. Gaston,et al.  Seabirds of the Farallon Islands , 1991 .

[26]  Robert W. Furness,et al.  Birds as monitors of environmental change , 1993 .

[27]  K. Erikstad,et al.  ON THE COST OF REPRODUCTION IN LONG-LIVED BIRDS: THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABILITY , 1998 .

[28]  W. Sydeman,et al.  PINNIPED POPULATION DYNAMICS IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA: CORRELATIONS WITH SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND UPWELLING INDICES , 1999 .

[29]  N. Graham,et al.  Physical and biological consequences of a climate event in the central North Pacific , 1994 .

[30]  A Bakun,et al.  Global Climate Change and Intensification of Coastal Ocean Upwelling , 1990, Science.

[31]  S. Chatterjee,et al.  Regression Analysis by Example , 1979 .

[32]  G. Hunt,et al.  Gull Chick Survival: The Significance of Growth Rates, Timing of Breeding and Territory Size , 1976 .

[33]  R. Beamish,et al.  The re-occurrence of sardines off British Columbia characterises the dynamic nature of regimes , 2001 .

[34]  William J. Sydeman,et al.  Upper trophic level predators indicate interannual negative and positive anomalies in the California Current food web , 1995 .

[35]  Barbara M. Hickey,et al.  The California current system—hypotheses and facts☆ , 1979 .

[36]  F. Gress,et al.  Brown pelicans: influence of food supply on reproduction , 1982 .

[37]  D. Roemmich Ocean Warming and Sea Level Rise Along the Southwest U.S. Coast , 1992, Science.

[38]  T. Hayward,et al.  Pacific Ocean climate change: atmospheric forcing, ocean circulation and ecosystem response. , 1997, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[39]  J. Riley Progress in Oceanography , 1964, Nature.

[40]  Peter Pyle,et al.  Ocean warming and long-term change in pelagic bird abundance within the California current system , 1996 .

[41]  J. Wallace,et al.  A Pacific Interdecadal Climate Oscillation with Impacts on Salmon Production , 1997 .

[42]  W. Montevecchi Birds as indicators of change in marine prey stocks , 1993 .

[43]  N. Aebischer,et al.  Parallel long-term trends across four marine trophic levels and weather , 1990, Nature.