Seabird populations on Antarctic Peninsula unexpected
December 5, 2018, British Antarctic Survey
Results of a new study on Antarctic seabirds shows a larger percentage of their populations inhabit important nesting sites around Ryder Bay, close to British Antarctic Survey's Rothera Station than previously thought. The study has also led to a call for protection of these important nesting sites and is published in the journal Polar Biology (20 November).
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists counted occupied skua and shag territories at 10 sites around Ryder Bay, including a new colony of shags discovered at the Mikkelsen Islands. In total they recorded close to 1000 occupied skua territories, 260 nonbreeding skuas and over 400 breeding pairs of Antarctic shags at Rothera Point and adjacent islands in Ryder Bay.
Results show for the first time that populations in this area are well above the threshold adopted by BirdLife International for identifying Important Bird (and Biodiversity) Areas (IBAs) in Antarctica. This is set at 1 percent or more of the global population.
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2018-12-seabird-populations-antarctic-peninsula-unexpected.html#jCp
