Abstract
Since 1956, Southern Giant Petrels on the Frazier Islands, East Antarctica, have been counted with different census techniques, sometimes varying within seasons and among islands, which hindered analysis of the data. Protective measures for the islands from 1986 onwards have increased the need for reliable long-term census data, but reduced the ways to collect these data. Published and unpublished data were re-examined, and population trends were reconstructed based on two relatively standardised techniques: the number of active chicks (AC) and the number of apparently occupied nests (AON) around hatching. AC-values from Nelly Island from 1959 to 1998 indicate substantial periodic fluctuations, but no consistent long-term change. Since the late 1970s, AC-values on the other two islands and AON-values suggest that the breeding population may have grown by 35%. This recent growth, however, is within the extent of periodic fluctuations observed in Southern Giant Petrel population that is stable over the long term.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to all the ornithologists who conducted censuses on the Frazier Islands since 1956. The Australian Antarctic Division and crews at Wilkes Station and Casey Station are thanked for their logistical support. David Drynan of the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Schemes is thanked for providing banding data. Georg Engelhard and Wim Wolff are thanked for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. Donna Patterson-Fraser, Jacob González-Solís and an anonymous reviewer gave valuable comments to improve the final manuscript. Antarctic research by Alterra is commissioned by the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) and was funded by the Netherlands AntArctic Program (NAAP) coordinated by the Research Council for Earth and Life Sciences (ALW-NWO). The Australian Antarctic Advisory Committee (ASAC) is thanked for permitting research at Frazier Islands by JC, EJW and JAvF.
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Creuwels, J.C.S., Stark, J.S., Woehler, E.J. et al. Monitoring of a Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus population on the Frazier Islands, Wilkes Land, Antarctica. Polar Biol 28, 483–493 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0663-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0663-8