Artificial lights and seabirds: is light pollution a threat for the threatened Balearic petrels?

Journal of Ornithology - Tập 156 - Trang 893-902 - 2015
Airam Rodríguez1,2,3, David García4, Beneharo Rodríguez3, Esteban Cardona4, Lluís Parpal5, Pere Pons6
1Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Seville, Spain
2Research Department, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Cowes, Australia
3Canary Islands’ Ornithology and Natural History Group (GOHNIC), Tenerife, Spain
4Islands Biodiversity Research Initiative (IRBI), Mallorca, Spain
5Consorci per a la Recuperació de la Fauna de les Illes Balears (COFIB), Mallorca, Spain
6Balearic Ornithology Group (GOB-Minorca), Menorca, Spain

Tóm tắt

Petrels are among the most threatened group of birds. On top of facing predation by introduced mammals and incidental bycatch, these seabirds have to deal with an emerging threat, light pollution, which is increasing globally. Fledglings are disoriented and attracted to artificial lights in their maiden night flights from their nests to the sea. Once grounded, they are exposed to multiple threats leading to high mortality. We report on numbers of three petrel species (Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, Scopoli’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea, and European storm-petrel Hydrobates pelagicus) rescued on the Balearic Islands, Mediterranean Sea, in the period 1999–2013. We assessed the proportion of grounded fledglings in the population and colonies impact based on radiance levels measured from a nocturnal satellite image. We also calculated the radius of light pollution impact. At least 304 fledgling birds were found stranded due to attraction to artificial lights, fatally affecting 8.5 % of them. The proportion of grounded fledglings ranged between 0.13 and 0.56 % of the fledglings produced annually. The body mass of Balearic and Scopoli’s shearwater fledglings decreased with rescue date. Light-induced mortality increased during the fledging period for Scopoli’s shearwaters. Birds were rescued at a mean distance of 4833 m from the nearest colony, and between 30 and 47 % of colonies were exposed to light-polluted areas. Although impact seems to be low for all species, urban development and, consequently, the increase in light pollution in the proximity of the colonies should be taken into account to reduce as much as possible this emerging source of mortality.

Tài liệu tham khảo

Ainley DG, Podolsky R, Nur N, Deforest L, Spencer GA (2001) Status and population trends of the Newell’s Shearwater on Kauai: insights from modelling. Stud Avian Biol 22:108–123 Amengual JF, Aguilar JS (1998) The impact of the black rat (Rattus rattus) on the reproduction of Cory’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea in the Cabrera National Park, Balearic Islands, Spain. In: Walmsley JG, Goutner V, El Hili A, Sultana J (eds) Ecologie des oiseaux marins et gestion intégrée du littoral en Méditerranée. 4éme symposium méditerranéen des oiseaux marins, Hammamet, 11–16 April 1995. Arc Editions, Rades, pp 94–121 Arcos JM (2011) International species action plan for the Balearic shearwater, Puffinus mauretanicus. SEO/BirdLife & BirdLife International Baccetti N, Sposimo P, Giannini F (2005) Artificial lights and mortality of Cory’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea on a Mediterranean island. Avocetta 29:89–91 BirdLife International (2015) IUCN Red List for birds. http://www.birdlife.org. Accessed 27 Mar 2015 Croxall JP, Butchart SHM, Lascelles B, Stattersfield AJ, Sullivan B et al (2012) Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment. Bird Conserv Int 22:1–34 Day RH, Cooper BA, Telfer TC (2003) Decline of Townsend’s (Newell’s) shearwaters (Puffinus auricularis newelli) on Kauai, Hawaii. Auk 120:669–679 de Miguel AS, Zamorano J, Gómez Castaño J, Pascual S (2014) Evolution of the energy consumed by street lighting in Spain estimated with DMSP-OLS data. J Quant Spectrosc Radiat Transf 139:109–117 Elvidge CD, Baugh K, Zhizhin M, Hsu FC (2013) Why VIIRS data are superior to DMSP for mapping nighttime lights. Proc Asia-Pac Adv Netw 35:62–69 Fontaine R, Gimenez O, Bried J (2011) The impact of introduced predators, light-induced mortality of fledglings and poaching on the dynamics of the Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) population from the Azores, northeastern subtropical Atlantic. Biol Conserv 144:1998–2011 García D (2009) Predation on the endemic Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus by Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus. Alauda 77:230–231 Gaston KJ, Duffy JP, Gaston S, Bennie J, Davies TW (2014) Human alteration of natural light cycles: causes and ecological consequences. Oecologia 176:917–931 Genovart M, Juste J, Contreras-Díaz H, Oro D (2012) Genetic and phenotypic differentiation between the critically endangered Balearic shearwater and neighboring colonies of its sibling species. J Hered 103:330–341 Glass JP, Ryan PG (2013) Reduced seabird night strikes and mortality in the Tristan rock lobster fishery. Afr J Mar Sci 35:589–592 Griesemer AM, Holmes ND (2011) Newell’s shearwater population modeling for habitat conservation plan and recovery planning. Technical Report 176. The Hawaii Pacific Island Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit and Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, Honolulu, HI, USA Hölker F, Moss T, Griefahn B, Kloas W, Voigt CC et al (2010a) The dark side of light: a transdisciplinary research agenda for light pollution policy. Ecol Soc 15:13 Hölker F, Wolter C, Perkin EK, Tockner K (2010b) Light pollution as a biodiversity threat. Trends Ecol Evol 25:681–682 IBESTAT (2014) Institut d’Estadística de les Illes Balears. Conselleria d’Economia I Competitivitat, Govern de les Illes Balears. http://ibestat.caib.es/ibestat/inici. Accessed 26 Aug 2014 Laguna JM, Barbara N, Metzger B (2014) Light pollution impact on “tubenose” seabirds: an overview of areas of concern in the Maltese Islands. BirdLife Malta. http://www.birdlifemalta.org/photos/otherfiles/5922.pdf. Accessed 1 Dec 2014 Le Corre M, Ollivier A, Ribes S, Jouventin P (2002) Light-induced mortality of petrels: a 4-year study from Réunion Island (Indian Ocean). Biol Conserv 105:93–102 Longcore T, Rich C (2004) Ecological light pollution. Front Ecol Environ 2:191–198 Madroño A, González C, Atienza JC (2004) Libro rojo de las aves de España. Dirección General para la Conservación de la Biodiversidad-SEO/BirdLife, Madrid, Spain Merkel FR, Johansen KL (2011) Light-induced bird strikes on vessels in Southwest Greenland. Mar Pollut Bull 62:2330–2336 Miles W, Money S, Luxmoore R, Furness RW (2010) Effects of artificial lights and moonlight on petrels at St Kilda. Bird Study 57:244–251 Miles WTS, Parsons M, Close AJ, Luxmoore R, Furness RW (2013) Predator-avoidance behaviour in a nocturnal petrel exposed to a novel predator. Ibis 155:16–31 Mougin J-L, Jouanin C, Roux F, Zino F (2000) Fledging weight and juvenile survival of Cory’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea on Selvagem Grande. Ring Migr 20:107–110 Oro D, Aguilar JS, Igual JM, Louzao M (2004) Modelling demography and extinction risk in the endangered Balearic shearwater. Biol Conserv 116:93–102 Oro D, De León A, Minguez E, Furness RW (2005) Estimating predation on breeding European storm-petrels (Hydrobates pelagicus) by yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis). J Zool Lond 265:421–429 Podolsky R, Ainley D, Spencer G, Deforest L, Nur N (1998) Mortality of Newell’s shearwaters caused by collisions with urban structures on Kauai. Colon Waterbirds 21:20–34 Raine H, Borg JJ, Raine A, Bariner S, Cardona MB (2007) Light pollution and its effect on Yelkouan shearwaters in Malta; causes and solutions. Malta: Life Project Yelkouan Shearwater. BirdLife Malta. http://www.birdlifemalta.org/photos/otherfiles/370.pdf. Accessed 1 Aug 2014 Reed JR, Sincock JL, Hailman JP (1985) Light attraction in endangered procellariiform birds: reduction by shielding upward radiation. Auk 102:377–383 Rich C, Longcore T (eds) (2006) Ecological consequences of artificial night lighting. Island Press, Washington, USA Rodrigues P, Aubrecht C, Gil A, Longcore T, Elvidge C (2012) Remote sensing to map influence of light pollution on Cory’s shearwater in São Miguel Island, Azores Archipelago. Eur J Wildl Res 58:147–155 Rodríguez A, Rodríguez B (2009) Attraction of petrels to artificial lights in the Canary Islands: effect of the moon phase and age class. Ibis 151:299–310 Rodríguez A, Rodríguez B, Curbelo A, Pérez A, Marrero S, Negro JJ (2012a) Factors affecting mortality of shearwaters stranded by light pollution. Anim Conserv 15:519–526 Rodríguez A, Rodríguez B, Lucas MP (2012b) Trends in numbers of petrels attracted to artificial lights suggest population declines in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Ibis 154:167–172 Rodríguez A, Burgan G, Dann P, Jessop R, Negro JJ, Chiaradia A (2014) Fatal attraction of short-tailed shearwaters to artificial lights. PLoS ONE 9:e110114 Rodríguez A, Rodríguez B, Negro JJ (2015) GPS tracking for mapping seabird mortality induced by light pollution. Sci Rep 5:10670 Ronconi RA, Allard KA, Taylor PD (2014) Bird interactions with offshore oil and gas platforms: review of impacts and monitoring techniques. J Environ Manag 147:34–45 Sanz-Aguilar A, Tavecchia G, Pradel R, Minguez E, Oro D (2008) The cost of reproduction and experience-dependent vital rates in a small petrel. Ecology 89:3195–3203 Sanz-Aguilar A, Tavecchia G, Genovart M, Igual JM, Oro D (2011) Studying the reproductive skipping behavior in long-lived birds by adding nest inspection to individual-based data. Ecol Appl 21:555–564 Sauleda CV (2006) Libro Rojo de los vertebrados de las Baleares, 3rd edn. Conselleria de Medi Ambient, Govern de les Illes Balears Tavecchia G, Minguez E, de León A, Louzao M, Oro D (2008) Living close, doing differently: small-scale asynchrony. Ecology 89:77–85 Telfer TC, Sincock JL, Byrd GV, Reed JR (1987) Attraction of Hawaiian seabirds to lights: conservation efforts and effects of moon phase. Wildl Soc Bull 15:406–413 Troy JR, Holmes ND, Green MC (2011) Modeling artificial light viewed by fledgling seabirds. Ecosphere 2:109 Troy JR, Holmes ND, Veech JA, Green MC (2013) Using observed seabird fallout records to infer patterns of attraction to artificial light. Endanger Species Res 22:225–234 Wiese FK, Montevecchi WA, Davoren GK, Huettmann F, Diamond AW, Linke J (2001) Seabirds at risk around offshore oil platforms in the north-west Atlantic. Mar Pollut Bull 42:1285–1290 Wynn RB, Rodríguez-Molina A, McMinn-Grivé M (2010) The predation of Balearic shearwaters by peregrine falcons. Br Birds 103:350–356