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Sea ice extent and phenology influence breeding of high-Arctic seabirds: 4 decades of monitoring in Nunavut, Canada

  • Population ecology – original research
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Abstract

Seabirds breeding in the high Arctic contend with variable annual sea ice conditions, with important consequences depending on a species’ unique reproductive and foraging ecology. We assessed the influence of sea ice extent and phenology on seabird breeding biology using monitoring data collected for northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus), black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), and thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) breeding at Prince Leopold Island, Nunavut, Canada over 4 decades. We expected that years of later sea ice break-up and greater ice cover around the colony would create greater challenges to foraging and could result in delayed nest initiation, decreased colony attendance, and lower nesting success, but with distinct responses from each species. We also tested for time-lagged effects of ice conditions, where sea ice in a given year could impact food availability or juvenile recruitment in later years. Ice conditions around the colony exhibited no significant overall temporal trends or changepoints over the past 50 years (1970–2021), while counts of kittiwakes and murres increased over the study period 1975–2013. No trends were evident in counts of fulmars or gulls or in egg-laying dates or nest success for any species. However, three species (all but glaucous gulls) exhibited unique responses between breeding metrics and sea ice, highlighting how breeding decisions and outcomes may differ among species under the same environmental conditions in a given year. Time-lagged effects were only detected for kittiwake nest counts, where the date of spring ice break-up around the colony was negatively associated with counts at a 5-year lag. Greater distances to open water were associated with lower colony attendance by fulmars and later nest initiation by kittiwakes and murres. Our analyses provide additional insights to effects of sea ice on high-Arctic seabird breeding ecology, which will be useful in predicting and planning for the complex effects of a changing climate and changing human pressures on this high-latitude ecosystem and for the management of high-Arctic marine-protected areas.

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Data and code availability statement

The data supporting the results and custom code will be readily available from the lead author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

David Nettleship originally designed and supervised biological work at Prince Leopold Island and organized follow-up work in 1988. We are very grateful to all those who have helped to collect these data over the past 40 years. Special thanks to Christine Eberl for arranging supplies and shipping and for acting as our southern agent, to Myra Robertson for handling permits, and to the Polar Continental Shelf Project of Natural Resources Canada and the Nunavut Research Institute for logistical support.

Funding

Financial support was provided by Environment Canada-Canadian Wildlife Service and the Northern Ecosystem Initiative, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Northern Studies Trust program, and the W. Garfield Weston Foundation. SEG was supported by a Weston Family Award in Northern Research Post-Doctoral Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, NS, B4P2R6, Canada

    S. E. Gutowsky, J. E. Baak & M. L. Mallory

  2. Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    A. J. Gaston

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  1. S. E. Gutowsky
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  2. J. E. Baak
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  3. A. J. Gaston
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  4. M. L. Mallory
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Contributions

AJG and MLM originally formulated the idea, AJG developed the methodology, AJG and MLM conducted the fieldwork, SEG curated and analyzed the data, SEG, JB and MLM wrote the manuscript and AJG provided editorial advice.

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Correspondence to S. E. Gutowsky.

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All applicable institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed, including all appropriate annual permits (e.g., Government of Nunavut Research License WL 2012-049, Canadian Wildlife Service permits NUN-SCI-12-04, NUN-MBS-12-03, Animal Care EC-PN = 12-020).

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Communicated by Thomas Koert Lameris.

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Gutowsky, S.E., Baak, J.E., Gaston, A.J. et al. Sea ice extent and phenology influence breeding of high-Arctic seabirds: 4 decades of monitoring in Nunavut, Canada. Oecologia 198, 393–406 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-022-05117-8

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