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Spatial overlaps of foraging and resting areas of black-legged kittiwakes breeding in the English Channel with existing marine protected areas

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Abstract

The English Channel is one of the most anthropized marine ecosystems due to increasing human pressures, both along the coasts and at sea. Numerous marine protected areas (MPAs) have been created in this area but their ecological relevance still needs to be demonstrated for mobile species such as seabirds. Here, we identified the at-sea foraging and resting areas of black-legged kittiwakes to quantify their spatial overlap with existing neighbouring MPAs. Using solar-powered GPS-UHF, we tracked at-sea trips of 36 kittiwakes breeding at three colonies along the French coasts of the English Channel: Boulogne-sur-Mer (Hauts-de-France, n = 11), Fécamp (Normandy, n = 14) and Saint-Pierre-du-Mont (Normandy, n = 11). While kittiwakes nesting at the two Normand colonies shared some of their foraging areas, birds from Boulogne-sur-Mer did not overlap their foraging areas with Normand birds. GPS-tracked birds from all three colonies remained close to the shore (<30 km) and mainly remained within French national waters. The existing MPA network encompassed >60% of all recorded locations, but MPA use was largely colony-specific. Habitat models built to predict habitat suitability confirmed that some MPAs encompassed highly suitable foraging and resting habitats for black-legged kittiwakes in the English Channel. Connectivity between the studied colonies was high, as indicated by inter-colony prospecting movements recorded in two individuals which supposedly failed their reproduction. Overall, this work highlights that marine species such as seabirds could benefit from existing MPAs. Nevertheless, the diversity of MPA types and their different roles complicates their effectiveness to protect marine biodiversity.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the fieldworkers involved in the capture of individuals and deployment of the loggers, particularly volunteers of the Groupe Ornithologique Normand. We also thank Thierry Boulinier for fruitful discussions. CA, GLG, FG and DG developed the study. GLG and FG conducted fieldwork. AP led the data processing, analyses and interpretation, with contribution from CP. AP led the writing and other authors commented on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, Montpellier, France

    Aurore Ponchon & David Grémillet

  2. Antenne Manche-Mer du Nord de l’Agence des Aires Marines Protégées, 4 rue du colonel Fabien, BP 3476083, Le Havre Cedex, France

    Christophe Aulert

  3. Groupe Ornithologique Normand, 181, rue d’Auge, 14000, Caen, France

    Gilles Le Guillou & Fabrice Gallien

  4. MARBEC (MARine Biodiverity Exploitation and Conservation) UMR 248, IRD, University of Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Clara Péron

  5. FitzPatrick Institute, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

    David Grémillet

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  1. Aurore Ponchon
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  2. Christophe Aulert
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  3. Gilles Le Guillou
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  4. Fabrice Gallien
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  5. Clara Péron
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  6. David Grémillet
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Correspondence to Aurore Ponchon.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

This study was partly funded by Eoliennes Offshores du Calvados & Eoliennes Offshores des Hautes Falaises and French Agency for Marine Protected Areas. David Grémillet acknowledges the support of the French Polar Institute (Progr. ADACLIM 388).

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All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted. This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Ponchon, A., Aulert, C., Le Guillou, G. et al. Spatial overlaps of foraging and resting areas of black-legged kittiwakes breeding in the English Channel with existing marine protected areas. Mar Biol 164, 119 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-017-3151-8

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