IN A NUTSHELL ...
Biogeography
Carryover Effects
Feeding Ecology
Individual Plasticity
Marine Conservation
Meta-population studies
Migratory Connectivity
Seabirds
Spatial Ecology
Transequatorial Migrations
MY LATEST RESEARCH
Migratory connectivity and non-breeding habitat segregation across biogeographical scales in closely related seabird taxa: For this work, we collated a dataset of 1,346 year-round tracks of 805 individuals from the Atlantic Calonectris species complex, breeding in 34 different colonies distributed along the Mediterranean and Atlantic basins. With this large dataset we aimed to (1) compare Migratory Connectivity (MC) values at three different aggregation levels (colony, population, taxa) and (2) obtain non-breeding distributions and habitat preferences for each taxon and at different aggregation levels, in order to detect differences that can be indicative of ecological and, eventually, evolutionary divergence. First, we expect to find weak MC among breeding colonies of the same taxon, but strong MC among different taxa. Second, we expect larger differences in habitat preferences during the non-breeding period among different taxa than among populations or colonies of a given taxon.
The global spatial ecology and conservation of the world’s smallest and elusive seabirds, the storm petrels, across the Mediterranean and NE Atlantic Ocean: Patterns of distribution and trophic ecology differ among species, and they often face different anthropogenic threats. Merging this knowledge with integrative taxonomy has enormous potential for defining accurate Conservation Units (CU). SEAGHOSTS aims to build on limited knowledge of the spatial and trophic ecology of the storm petrel species (Hydrobatidae and Oceanitidae) and their populations breeding in Europe. Specifically, it aims to assess the major at-sea threats storm petrels face on their Mediterranean and NE Atlantic breeding grounds and on their suspected Southern Atlantic wintering grounds. These threats include climate change, renewable energy infrastructures, aquaculture, and contamination, including plastic exposure. Storm petrels are excellent sentinels of the marine ecosystem because: (a) they are highly pelagic, covering vast distances for foraging and migrating, (b) they feed on low trophic level prey, therefore responding sooner than larger seabirds to environmental changes, (c) they are long-lived, and (d) they are extremely sensitive to anthropogenic threats. Until now, their small body size and secretive behaviour has posed a major constraint on their study.
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