Migratory birds modulate niche tradeoffs in rhythm with seasons and life history.

Movement is a key means by which animals cope with variable environments. As they move, animals construct individual niches composed of the environmental conditions they experience. Niche axes may vary over time and covary with one another as animals make tradeoffs between competing needs.

Prevalence of Haemosporidian Parasites in an Arctic Breeding Seabird Species-The Red-Throated Diver ().

Haemosporida, vector-transmitted blood parasites, can have various effects and may also exert selection pressures on their hosts. In this study we analyse the presence of Haemosporida in a previously unstudied migratory seabird species, the red-throated diver . Red-throated divers were sampled during winter and spring in the eastern German Bight (North Sea).

Migration distance affects how closely Eurasian wigeons follow spring phenology during migration.

Background: The timing of migration for herbivorous migratory birds is thought to coincide with spring phenology as emerging vegetation supplies them with the resources to fuel migration, and, in species with a capital breeding strategy also provides individuals with energy for use on the breeding grounds. Individuals with very long migration distances might however have to trade off between utilising optimal conditions en route and reaching the breeding grounds early, potentially leading to them overtaking spring on the way. Here, we investigate whether migration distance affects how closely individually tracked Eurasian wigeons follow spring phenology during spring migration.

Satellite telemetry and digital aerial surveys show strong displacement of red-throated divers (Gavia stellata) from offshore wind farms.

Expansion of offshore wind energy is vital for the reduction of CO emissions. However, offshore wind farms may negatively impact the environment without proper planning. Here we assess the robustness of the conclusions of earlier studies that the strictly protected red-throated diver, Gavia stellata, is strongly displaced from wind farms in the German Bight (North Sea).

A novel approach for assessing effects of ship traffic on distributions and movements of seabirds.

Marine habitats are nowadays strongly affected by human activities, while for many species the consequences of these impacts are still unclear. The red-throated diver (Gavia stellata) has been reported to be sensitive to ship traffic and other anthropogenic pressures and is consequently of high conservation concern. We studied red-throated divers in the German Bight (North Sea) using satellite telemetry and digital aerial surveys with the aim of assessing effects of ship traffic on the distribution and movements of this species during the non-breeding season.

The importance of benthic-pelagic coupling for marine ecosystem functioning in a changing world.

Benthic-pelagic coupling is manifested as the exchange of energy, mass, or nutrients between benthic and pelagic habitats. It plays a prominent role in aquatic ecosystems, and it is crucial to functions from nutrient cycling to energy transfer in food webs. Coastal and estuarine ecosystem structure and function are strongly affected by anthropogenic pressures; however, there are large gaps in our understanding of the responses of inorganic nutrient and organic matter fluxes between benthic habitats and the water column.

Patterns of migrating soaring migrants indicate attraction to marine wind farms.

Monitoring of bird migration at marine wind farms has a short history, and unsurprisingly most studies have focused on the potential for collisions. Risk for population impacts may exist to soaring migrants such as raptors with K-strategic life-history characteristics. Soaring migrants display strong dependence on thermals and updrafts and an affinity to land areas and islands during their migration, a behaviour that creates corridors where raptors move across narrow straits and sounds and are attracted to islands.

Global patterns of marine mammal, seabird, and sea turtle bycatch reveal taxa-specific and cumulative megafauna hotspots.

Recent research on ocean health has found large predator abundance to be a key element of ocean condition. Fisheries can impact large predator abundance directly through targeted capture and indirectly through incidental capture of nontarget species or bycatch. However, measures of the global nature of bycatch are lacking for air-breathing megafauna.

Dynamic habitat models: using telemetry data to project fisheries bycatch.

Fisheries bycatch is a recognized threat to marine megafauna. Addressing bycatch of pelagic species however is challenging owing to the dynamic nature of marine environments and vagility of these organisms. In order to assess the potential for species to overlap with fisheries, we propose applying dynamic habitat models to determine relative probabilities of species occurrence for specific oceanographic conditions.

Conservation of marine megafauna through minimization of fisheries bycatch.

Many populations of marine megafauna, including seabirds, sea turtles, marine mammals, and elasmobranchs, have declined in recent decades due largely to anthropogenic mortality. To successfully conserve these long-lived animals, efforts must be prioritized according to feasibility and the degree to which they address threats with the highest relative impacts on population dynamics. Recently, Wilcox and Donlan (2007, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment) and Donlan and Wilcox (2008, Biological Invasions) proposed a conservation strategy of "compensatory mitigation" in which fishing industries offset bycatch of seabirds and sea turtles by funding eradication of invasive mammalian predators from the terrestrial reproductive sites of these marine animals.