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Population status and trends of Southern Giant Petrels (Macronectes giganteus) breeding in North Patagonia, Argentina

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Abstract

The actual breeding population of the Southern Giant Petrel from the northern Patagonian colonies of Argentina on Isla Arce and Isla Gran Robredo was estimated to be 2,300 pairs. The available data sets are small, but showed a positive linear trend at Isla Gran Robredo over the last 14 years, but no trend was detected by a linear model at Isla Arce over a 17-year-period. Our study suggests higher population numbers in recent years. The close presence of increasing penguin, elephant seal and sea lion colonies, the low capture rates by longliners at the Patagonian shelf and/or the extensive use of waste from an increasing fleet of trawlers and jiggers as extra food supply might be some of the reasons for such a population increase.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Gonzalo Herrera and Ricardo Vera for assistance and data gathering. We are grateful to Dr. J. C. Creuwels for his dedicated and constructive comments during the revision of the manuscript. We also thank the Dirección General de Intereses Marítimos y Pesca Continental of the Chubut Province for institutional support and Prefectura Naval Argentina (PNA) for logistical support. We specially thank Maximiliano Cosentino, helicopter pilot of the PNA, who died during a rescue operation at sea shortly after conducting our survey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Nacional Patagónico (CONICET), Boulevard Brown 3600, Puerto Madryn, 9120, Chubut, Argentina

    Flavio Quintana, Sofía Copello & Pablo Yorio

  2. Dirección General de Intereses Marítimos y Pesca Continental, 9 de Julio y J.A. Roca, 9103, Rawson, Chubut, Argentina

    Gabriel Punta

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  1. Flavio Quintana
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  2. Gabriel Punta
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  3. Sofía Copello
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  4. Pablo Yorio
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Correspondence to Flavio Quintana.

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Quintana, F., Punta, G., Copello, S. et al. Population status and trends of Southern Giant Petrels (Macronectes giganteus) breeding in North Patagonia, Argentina. Polar Biol 30, 53–59 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0159-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0159-9

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