scholarly journals Cross-species screening of microsatellite markers for individual identification of snow petrel Pagodroma nivea and Wilson's storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus in Antarctica

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anant Pande ◽  
Nidhi Rawat ◽  
Kuppusamy Sivakumar ◽  
Sambandam Sathyakumar ◽  
Vinod B. Mathur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microsatellite Markers ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Individual Identification ◽  
Seabird Species ◽  
Snow Petrel ◽  
Storm Petrel ◽  
Oceanites Oceanicus

Seabirds are important indicators of marine ecosystem health. Species within the order Procellariiformes are the most abundant seabird species group distributed from warm tropical to cold temperate regions including Antarctica. There is a paucity of information on basic biology of the pelagic seabird species nesting on the Antarctic continents, and long-term studies are required to gather data on their population demography, genetics and other ecological parameters. Under the ‘Biology and Environmental Sciences’ component of the Indian Antarctic programme, long-term monitoring of Antarctic biodiversity is being conducted. In this paper, we describe results of cross-species screening of a panel of 12 and 10 microsatellite markers in two relatively little studied seabird species in Antarctica, the snow petrel Pagodroma nivea and the Wilson's storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus, respectively. These loci showed high amplification success and moderate levels of polymorphism in snow petrel (mean no. of alleles 7.08 ± 3.01 and mean observed heterozygosity 0.35 ± 0.23), but low polymorphism in Wilson's storm petrel (mean no. of alleles 3.9 ± 1.3 and mean observed heterozygosity 0.28 ± 0.18). The results demonstrate that these panels can unambiguously identify individuals of both species (cumulative PIDsibs for snow petrel is 3.7 × 10−03 and Wilson's storm petrel is 1.9 × 10−02) from field-collected samples. This work forms a baseline for undertaking long-term genetic research of these Antarctic seabird species and provides critical insights into their population genetics.

scholarly journals Standardizing microsatellite panels for individual identification of seabirds’ Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea and Wilson’s Storm Petrel Oceanites oceanicus in Antarctica

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anant Pande ◽  
Nidhi Rawat ◽  
Kuppusamy Sivakumar ◽  
Sambandan Sathyakumar ◽  
Vinod B. Mathur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Research ◽  
Individual Identification ◽  
Seabird Species ◽  
Snow Petrel ◽  
Antarctic Continent ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Past Population ◽  
Storm Petrel ◽  
Oceanites Oceanicus

ABSTRACTSeabirds are known to be important indicators of marine ecosystems health. Procellariiformes are one of the most abundant seabird species distributed from warm tropical to cold temperate regions including Antarctica. With few long-term studies on breeding seabirds at the Antarctic continent, crucial biological parameters such as genetic variation, population genetic structure and past population demography is lacking for most of the commonly occurring species. Under the ‘Biology and Environmental Sciences’ component of the Indian Antarctic programme, long-term monitoring of Antarctic biodiversity is being conducted. In this paper, we describe a panel of 12 and 10 cross-species microsatellite markers for two relatively less studied seabird species in Antarctica, snow petrel Pagodroma nivea and Wilson’s storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus, respectively. These loci showed high amplification success and moderate level of polymorphism in snow petrel (mean no. of alleles 7.08±3.01 and mean observed heterozygosity 0.35±0.23), but low polymorphism in Wilson’s storm petrel (mean no. of alleles 3.9±1.3 and mean observed heterozygosity 0.28±0.18). The results demonstrate that these panels can unambiguously identify individuals of both species from various types of biological materials. This work forms a baseline for undertaking long-term genetic research of Antarctic seabird species and provides critical insights into their population genetics.

Change in the North Sea ecosystem from the 1970s to the 2010s: great skua diets reflect changing forage fish, seabirds, and fisheries

2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 925-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella E Church ◽  
Robert W Furness ◽  
Glen Tyler ◽  
Lucy Gilbert ◽  
Stephen C Votier
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Seabird Species ◽  
Rissa Tridactyla ◽  
Fulmarus Glacialis ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

Abstract Understanding anthropogenic impacts are crucial to maintain marine ecosystem health. The North Sea has changed in recent decades, largely due to commercial fishing and climate change. Seabirds can act as useful indicators of these changes. By analyzing n = 20 013 pellets and n = 24 993 otoliths regurgitated by great skuas Stercorarius skua in northern Scotland over five decades from the 1970s to the 2010s (in 36 years 1973–2017), we reveal how the diet of this top predator has changed alongside the changing North Sea ecosystem. Sandeels Ammodytes spp. were the most common dietary item during the 1970s, but became virtually absent from the 1980s onward. Discarded whitefish dominated skua diets from the 1980s to the present day, despite long-term declines in North Sea discard production. However, the discarded fish eaten by great skuas has become smaller and the species composition changed. Skua pellets only rarely contained avian prey in the 1970s but this increased during the 1980s, and fluctuated between 10% and 20% from the 1990s to 2010s. There have also been changes in the avian prey in the diet—black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla generally being replaced by auks Alcid spp. and northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis. The Shetland marine ecosystem has experienced steep declines in sandeel stocks and in seabirds that feed on them. Great skuas have been able to prey switch to respond to this change, supported by abundant discards, enabling them to maintain a favourable population status while other seabird species have declined.

scholarly journals Linking 19th century European settlement to the disruption of a seabird’s natural population dynamics

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (51) ◽  
pp. 32484-32492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew P. Duda ◽  
Sylvie Allen-Mahé ◽  
Christophe Barbraud ◽  
Jules M. Blais ◽  
Amaël Boudreau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Population Cycles ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
European Settlement ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
Term Monitoring ◽  
Storm Petrel

Recent estimates indicate that ∼70% of the world’s seabird populations have declined since the 1950s due to human activities. However, for almost all bird populations, there is insufficient long-term monitoring to understand baseline (i.e., preindustrial) conditions, which are required to distinguish natural versus anthropogenically driven changes. Here, we address this lack of long-term monitoring data with multiproxy paleolimnological approaches to examine the long-term population dynamics of a major colony of Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) on Grand Colombier Island in the St. Pierre and Miquelon archipelago—an overseas French territory in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. By reconstructing the last ∼5,800 y of storm-petrel dynamics, we demonstrate that this colony underwent substantial natural fluctuations until the start of the 19th century, when population cycles were disrupted, coinciding with the establishment and expansion of a European settlement. Our paleoenvironmental data, coupled with on-the-ground population surveys, indicate that the current colony is only ∼16% of the potential carrying capacity, reinforcing concerning trends of globally declining seabird populations. As seabirds are sentinel species of marine ecosystem health, such declines provide a call to action for global conservation. In response, we emphasize the need for enlarged protected areas and the rehabilitation of disturbed islands to protect ecologically critical seabird populations. Furthermore, long-term data, such as those provided by paleoecological approaches, are required to better understand shifting baselines in conservation to truly recognize current rates of ecological loss.

Past records and current distribution of seabirds at Larsemann Hills and Schirmacher Oasis, east Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anant Pande ◽  
Samrat Mondol ◽  
Sambandam Sathyakumar ◽  
Vinod B. Mathur ◽  
Yogesh Ray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Seabird Species ◽  
South Polar Skua ◽  
Larsemann Hills ◽  
Snow Petrel ◽  
Schirmacher Oasis ◽  
Storm Petrel ◽  
South Polar

Abstract Seabird populations in Antarctica serve as indicators to assess the impacts of global environmental change. Ecological data on seabirds in Antarctica are scarce due to limited knowledge on their distribution and abundance in most parts of the continent. In this study, we investigated the status of seabird species around the Indian research stations Bharati at Larsemann Hills, Prydz bay and Maitri at Schirmacher Oasis, central Dronning Maud Land located in east Antarctica. We conducted primary surveys during austral summers under the Indian Antarctic Program and compiled published as well as unpublished information on seabird distribution from these areas. We employed intensive area search methods to locate presence of seabird nesting and moulting sites. Ten species were recorded from Larsemann Hills with confirmed breeding of snow petrel, south polar skua and Wilson’s storm-petrel. Only south polar skua and Adélie penguin were reported breeding at Schirmacher Oasis with unconfirmed breeding of Wilson’s storm-petrel. This study presents the first detailed synthesis of status of seabirds from Larsemann Hills and Schirmacher Oasis regions in Antarctica and serves as a strong baseline for future ecological work on seabirds in the sector of operation of Indian Antarctic Program.

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