Explore open access research and scholarly works from NERC Open Research Archive

Advanced Search

Ecosystems mediate climate impacts on northern hemisphere seabirds

Killeen, Helen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6942-7315; Sydeman, William J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1902-4654; Hoover, Brian ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1603-6932; Thompson, Sarah Ann ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1667-0853; Kristiansen, Trond ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6121-297X; García-Reyes, Marisol ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7784-2933; Koval, Gammon; Ceballos, Erendira; Heal, Molly ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0065-3955; Anker-Nilssen, Tycho ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1030-5524; Barrett, Robert; Becker, Peter; Berglund, Per-Arvid ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5378-9792; Birkhead, Tim; Boulinier, Thierry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5898-7667; Bouwhuis, Sandra ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4023-1578; Daunt, Francis ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4638-3388; Dehnhard, Nina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4182-2698; Diamond, Antony; Elliott, Kyle; Erikstad, Kjell Einar; Fayet, Annette L.; Flint, Elizabeth; Furness, Robert W. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5143-0367; Golubova, Elena; Hansen, Erpur Snær ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6899-2817; Harris, Mike ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9559-5830; Hatch, Scott ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0064-8187; Hedd, April; Hentati-Sundberg, Jonas; Jahncke, Jaime; Kitaysky, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3888-6313; Lorentsen, Svein-Håkon; Lyons, Don ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4486-9261; Major, Heather L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7265-1289; Mazurkiewicz, David; Miles, Will; Newell, Mark ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8875-2642; Orben, Rachael A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0802-407X; Oro, Daniel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4782-3007; Parker, Michael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1760-2628; Plissner, Jonathan; Rail, Jean-François; Reiertsen, Tone Kristin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9579-2420; Renner, Heather; Rock, Jennifer C.; Strøm, Hallvard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4823-0409; Suryan, Robert M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0755-8317; Thayer, Julie; Trowbridge, Jannelle; Velarde, Enriqueta ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8954-3527; Wanless, Sarah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2788-4606; Warzybok, Pete; Watanuki, Yutaka; Whelan, Shannon; Young, Lindsay. 2025 Ecosystems mediate climate impacts on northern hemisphere seabirds. Communications Earth & Environment, 6, 804. 11, pp. 10.1038/s43247-025-02717-z

Abstract
Ecosystem structure and biophysical processes mediate biological responses to climate changes, but few studies have examined impacts of this dynamic among upper trophic levels. We investigated ecosystem differences in how diverse seabird populations across the northern hemisphere have responded to changes in regional mixed layer temperature and water column stratification. Using 138 time series of breeding productivity over the past half-century, we show that seabird reproductive productivity has declined in the Arctic and North Atlantic but not in the Pacific during a period of ubiquitous mixed layer warming and regionally-variable stratification trends. Models of breeding productivity and ocean drivers show that seabird responses to climate change vary by ecosystem. Additionally, ecosystems in which seabirds exhibit detectibly declining productivity tend to have lower overall diet diversity across seabird species. These findings emphasize the importance of ecosystem processes and structure in determining the vulnerability of marine predators to climate change.
Documents
540417:267582
[thumbnail of N540417JA.pdf]
Preview
N540417JA.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 4.0.

Download (2MB) | Preview
Information
Library
Statistics

Downloads per month over past year

More statistics for this item...

Metrics

Altmetric Badge

Dimensions Badge

Share
Add to AnyAdd to TwitterAdd to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to PinterestAdd to Email
View Item