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Population-level estimates of species' distributions can reveal fundamental ecological processes and facilitate conservation. However, these may be difficult to obtain for mobile species, especially colonial central-place foragers (CCPFs; e.g., bats, corvids, social insects), because it is often impractical to determine the provenance of individuals observed beyond breeding sites. Moreover, some CCPFs, especially in the marine realm (e.g., pinnipeds, turtles, and seabirds) are difficult to observe because they range tens to ten thousands of kilometers from their colonies. It is hypothesized that the distribution of CCPFs depends largely on habitat availability and intraspecific competition. Modeling these effects may therefore allow distributions to be estimated from samples of individual spatial usage. Such data can be obtained for an increasing number of species using tracking technology. However, techniques for estimating population-level distributions using the telemetry data are poorly developed. This is of concern because many marine CCPFs, such as seabirds, are threatened by anthropogenic activities. Here, we aim to estimate the distribution at sea of four seabird species, foraging from approximately 5,500 breeding sites in Britain and Ireland. To do so, we GPS-tracked a sample of 230 European Shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis, 464 Black-legged Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla, 178 Common Murres Uria aalge, and 281 Razorbills Alca torda from 13, 20, 12, and 14 colonies, respectively. Using Poisson point process habitat use models, we show that distribution at sea is dependent on (1) density-dependent competition among sympatric conspecifics (all species) and parapatric conspecifics (Kittiwakes and Murres); (2) habitat accessibility and coastal geometry, such that birds travel further from colonies with limited access to the sea; and (3) regional habitat availability. Using these models, we predict space use by birds from unobserved colonies and thereby map the distribution at sea of each species at both the colony and regional level. Space use by all four species' British breeding populations is concentrated in the coastal waters of Scotland, highlighting the need for robust conservation measures in this area. The techniques we present are applicable to any CCPF. The maps were updated in May 2018 to correct a small error. The updated maps should be used in place of those available before May 2018.
Data Archive for Seabed Species and Habitats (DASSH)
DASSH terms and conditions apply
| Other details | ||
| Internal code | Internally assigned metadata identifier | 2052 |
| Title | The title is used to provide a brief and precise description of the dataset such as 'Date', 'Originating organisation/programme', 'Location' and 'Type of survey'. All acronyms and abbreviations should be reproduced in full. | 2010-2014 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) United Kingdom Shag, Guillemot, Kittiwake and Razorbill distributions |
| File Identifier | The File Identifier is a code, preferably a GUID, that is globally unique and remains with the same metadata record even if the record is edited or transferred between portals or tools. | 01ea510a307c98cd1fd9855560ca251d |
| Resource Identifier | This is the code assigned by the data owner. | DASSHDT00000346 |
| Resource type | The resource type will likely be a dataset but could also be a series (collection of datasets with a common specification) or a service. | dataset |
| Start date | This describes the date the resource starts. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2010-05-01 |
| End date | This describes the date the resource ends. This may only be the year if month and day are not known | 2014-07-31 |
| Spatial resolution | This describes the spatial resolution of the dataset or the spatial limitations of the service. | inapplicable |
| Frequency of updates | This describes the frequency with which the resource is modified or updated i.e. a monitoring programme that samples once per year has a frequency that is described as 'annually'. | notPlanned |
| Abstract | The abstract provides a clear and brief statement of the content of the resource. | Population-level estimates of species' distributions can reveal fundamental ecological processes and facilitate conservation. However, these may be difficult to obtain for mobile species, especially colonial central-place foragers (CCPFs; e.g., bats, corvids, social insects), because it is often impractical to determine the provenance of individuals observed beyond breeding sites. Moreover, some CCPFs, especially in the marine realm (e.g., pinnipeds, turtles, and seabirds) are difficult to observe because they range tens to ten thousands of kilometers from their colonies. It is hypothesized that the distribution of CCPFs depends largely on habitat availability and intraspecific competition. Modeling these effects may therefore allow distributions to be estimated from samples of individual spatial usage. Such data can be obtained for an increasing number of species using tracking technology. However, techniques for estimating population-level distributions using the telemetry data are poorly developed. This is of concern because many marine CCPFs, such as seabirds, are threatened by anthropogenic activities. Here, we aim to estimate the distribution at sea of four seabird species, foraging from approximately 5,500 breeding sites in Britain and Ireland. To do so, we GPS-tracked a sample of 230 European Shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis, 464 Black-legged Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla, 178 Common Murres Uria aalge, and 281 Razorbills Alca torda from 13, 20, 12, and 14 colonies, respectively. Using Poisson point process habitat use models, we show that distribution at sea is dependent on (1) density-dependent competition among sympatric conspecifics (all species) and parapatric conspecifics (Kittiwakes and Murres); (2) habitat accessibility and coastal geometry, such that birds travel further from colonies with limited access to the sea; and (3) regional habitat availability. Using these models, we predict space use by birds from unobserved colonies and thereby map the distribution at sea of each species at both the colony and regional level. Space use by all four species' British breeding populations is concentrated in the coastal waters of Scotland, highlighting the need for robust conservation measures in this area. The techniques we present are applicable to any CCPF. The maps were updated in May 2018 to correct a small error. The updated maps should be used in place of those available before May 2018. |
| Lineage | Lineage includes the background information, history of the sources of data, data quality statements and methods. | "LAEA" projections centred on lat=-7.947 long=-14.30. Diving by tagged seabirds can result in short hiatuses in tracking data. To estimate missing locations, and to standardize sampling effort to exactly 100-s intervals, we resampled GPS tracks data by linear interpolation prior to further analysis. Due to the need to deploy and retrieve loggers at the nest, it is normal practice in tracking studies of breeding seabirds to record and analyze bursts of data from one or more complete foraging trip per individual. However, this usually results in individuals being observed for unequal amounts of time because trip duration typically varies widely among individual seabirds. To reduce this bias we subsampled tracking data by randomly selecting a 24-h burst of locations from each bird (Table 1). We omitted the small number of individuals that were tracked for less than 24 h from our analysis. We then selected locations recorded when birds were at sea, categorized according to distance and time from the nest (see Appendix S1 for details). Prior to analysis, we projected all spatial data in Lambert Azimuthal equal area (LAEA) coordinates. For modelling approach see the paper sighted in the "Additional Information" field under 'Modelling approach' in the 'Materials and Methods' section. |
| Related keywords | ||
| Keyword | General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Marine Environmental Data and Information Network |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | NDGO0005 | |
| Keyword title | data.gov.uk | |
| Keyword | General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Species distribution |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Bird taxonomy-related abundance per unit area of surface | |
| General subject area(s) associated with the resource, uses multiple controlled vocabularies | Bird counts | |
| Geographical coverage | ||
| North | The northern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 63.9608 |
| East | The eastern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 5.5633 |
| South | The southern-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | 48.7262 |
| West | The western-most limit of the data resource in decimal degrees | -17.6398 |
| Regional sea | Bristol Channel | |
| English Channel | ||
| Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland | ||
| Irish Sea and St. George's Channel | ||
| North Atlantic Ocean | ||
| North Sea | ||
| Norwegian Sea | ||
| Celtic Sea | ||
| VIIh | ||
| VIIf | ||
| VIIg | ||
| VIIk1 | ||
| VIIk2 | ||
| VIIj2 | ||
| IVc | ||
| VIIc1 | ||
| VIIc2 | ||
| VIIb | ||
| VIIa | ||
| IVb | ||
| VIb1 | ||
| VIb2 | ||
| VIa | ||
| Vb1a | ||
| XIIa4 | ||
| IVa | ||
| Vb1b | ||
| Va2 | ||
| IIa2 | ||
| Vb2 | ||
| XIIa2 | ||
| VIIe | ||
| VIId | ||
| atmosphere | ||
| atmospheric boundary layer | ||
| Responsible organisations | ||
| Role | The point of contact is person or organisation with responsibility for the creation and maintenance of the metadata for the resource. | pointOfContact |
| Organisation name | Data Archive for Seabed Species and Habitats (DASSH) | |
| Position name | Data Manager | |
| Phone | 01752 633102 | |
| Fax | 01752 633291 | |
| Delivery point | Marine Biological Association of the UK, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill | |
| Postal code | PL1 2PB | |
| City | Plymouth | |
| Role | The distributor is the person or organisation that distributes the resource. | distributor |
| Organisation name | Data Archive for Seabed Species and Habitats (DASSH) | |
| Position name | Data Manager | |
| Phone | 01752 633102 | |
| Fax | 01752 633291 | |
| Delivery point | Marine Biological Association of the UK, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill | |
| Postal code | PL1 2PB | |
| City | Plymouth | |
| Role | The originator is the person or organisation who created, collected or produced the resource. | originator |
| Organisation name | Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (HQ) | |
| Individual name | Mark Bolton | |
| Role | The custodian is the person or organisation that accepts responsibility for the resource and ensures appropriate care and maintenance. If a dataset has been lodged with a Data Archive Centre for maintenance then this organisation is be entered here. | custodian |
| Organisation name | Data Archive for Seabed Species and Habitats (DASSH) | |
| Position name | Data Manager | |
| Phone | 01752 633102 | |
| Fax | 01752 633291 | |
| Delivery point | Marine Biological Association of the UK, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill | |
| Postal code | PL1 2PB | |
| City | Plymouth | |
| Resource locators | ||
| Locator URL | Web address (URL) that links to the resource | http://dassh.ac.uk/downloads/DASSHDT00000346-AS01/ |
| Locator name | Name of the web resource | Download data here |
| Locator URL | Web address (URL) that links to the resource | http://www.dassh.ac.uk |
| Locator name | Name of the web resource | DASSH website |
| Dataset constraints | ||
| Limitations on public access | Any restrictions imposed on accessing the resource such as the need to agree to certain licence conditions. | DASSH terms and conditions apply |
| Access constraints (code) | ISO restriction code chosen from ISO 19115-1 Codelist | otherRestrictions |
| Use constraints (code) | ISO restriction name chosen from ISO 19115-1 Codelist | otherRestrictions |
| Use constraints | Any restriction on the use of the resource such as the need to agree to certain licence conditions. | DASSH terms and conditions apply |
| Available data formats | ||
| Data format | Format in which digital data can be provided for transfer | Geographic Information System |
| Version info | ||
| Date of publication | The publication date of the resource or if previously unpublished the date that the resource was made publicly available via the MEDIN network. | 2017-10-06 |
| Metadata date | The date when the content of this metadata record was last updated. | 2018-05-10 |
| Metadata standard name | The name of the metadata standard used to create this metadata | MEDIN Discovery metadata standard |
| Metadata standard version | The version of the MEDIN Discovery Metadata Standard used to create the metadata record | 2.3.8 |
© OpenStreetMap contributors