Acoustic activity across a seabird colony reflects patterns of within-colony flight rather than nest density
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Accepted version
Date
2019-05-18
Authors
Arneill, Gavin E.
Critchley, Emma Jane
Wischnewski, Saskia
Jessopp, Mark J.
Quinn, John L.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Published Version
Abstract
Passive acoustic monitoring is increasingly being used as a cost‐effective way to study wildlife populations, especially those that are difficult to census using conventional methods. Burrow‐nesting seabirds are among the most threatened birds globally, but they are also one of the most challenging taxa to census, making them prime candidates for research into such automated monitoring platforms. Passive acoustic monitoring has the potential to determine presence/absence or quantify burrow‐nesting populations, but its effectiveness remains unclear. We compared passive acoustic monitoring, tape‐playbacks and GPS tracking data to investigate the ability of passive acoustic monitoring to capture unbiased estimates of within‐colony variation in nest density for the Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus. Variation in acoustic activity across 12 study plots on an island colony was examined in relation to burrow density and environmental factors across 2 years. As predicted fewer calls were recorded when wind speed was high, and on moon‐lit nights, but there was no correlation between acoustic activity and the density of breeding birds within the plots as determined by tape‐playback surveys. Instead, acoustic indices correlated positively with spatial variation in the in‐colony flight activity of breeding individuals detected by GPS. Although passive acoustic monitoring has enormous potential in avian conservation, our results highlight the importance of understanding behaviour when using passive acoustic monitoring to estimate density and distribution.
Description
Keywords
Acoustic indices , Census methods , Passive acoustic monitoring , Procellariiformes , Telemetry , Burrow-nesting seabird
Citation
Arneill, G. E., Critchley, E. J., Wischnewski, S., Jessopp, M. J. and Quinn, J. L. (2019) 'Acoustic activity across a seabird colony reflects patterns of within-colony flight rather than nest density', Ibis, In Press, doi: 10.1111/ibi.12740
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Copyright
© 2019 British Ornithologists’ Union. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: (2019) ‘Acoustic activity across a seabird colony reflects patterns of within‐colony flight rather than nest density’, Ibis, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12740. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving