Abstract.
The snow petrel Pagodroma nivea is an obligate associate of sea-ice and one of the most abundant seabird species of the Southern Ocean. Time- and sex-specific annual variation in adult survival was estimated using capture-mark-recapture of petrels nesting at Pétrels Island, Terre Adélie, 1981–1997. On the basis of a regression analysis, 44% of the variation was linked inversely to the latitudinal extent of sea-ice during winter (June) in the region offshore of the study colony, where this population is likely to spend the non-breeding season. Monthly sea-surface temperature anomalies tended to influence adult survival but the relationship was not statistically significant. Why sea-ice extent should have such a critical effect on this species is yet to be explained, but the relationship, in the context of environmental warming and the consequent potential loss of Antarctic sea-ice, is an important one for this species.
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Barbraud, C., Weimerskirch, H., Guinet, C. et al. Effect of sea-ice extent on adult survival of an Antarctic top predator: the snow petrel Pagodroma nivea . Oecologia 125, 483–488 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420000481
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420000481