Bird droppings provide clues to environmental change

Led by Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s researchers, a collaborative research team of Canadian universities (Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s 카지노게임사이트, 카지노게임사이트 of Ottawa, Memorial 카지노게임사이트 of Newfoundland) and government scientists have identified concerning trends in the population size of Leach카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Storm-petrels, a vulnerable seabird that mainly lives on Baccalieu Island, 64 km north of St. John카지노 게임 컬렉션�s, Nfld.

The study led by Matthew Duda, and co-authored by John Smol, suggests that marine wildlife, including the Leach카지노 게임 컬렉션�s storm-petrel, are not only confronting a range of recent human-induced pressures, but are also responding to longer-term environmental factors.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�The seabirds act as 카지노 게임 컬렉션�environmental engineers카지노 게임 컬렉션� by depositing large volumes of nutrient-rich feces and other refuse, thereby changing the aquatic and terrestrial landscape,카지노 게임 컬렉션� says Dr. Smol, a biology professor and the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change at Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s 카지노게임사이트. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�By taking sediment cores from storm-petrel impacted ponds, we can reconstruct past population trends going back centuries or millennia, where many important clues lay hidden.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

The researchers took advantage of the fact that storm-petrels build burrow nests on islands, often around freshwater ponds. Therefore, the ponds카지노 게임 컬렉션� sediments preserve the effects of changes in the amounts of seabird fecal matter and provide a 카지노 게임 컬렉션�history book카지노 게임 컬렉션� of past changes in the environment.

Using a variety of biological and chemical indicators in dated sediment cores, the researchers could track changes in seabird populations going back more than 1,700 years.

Ongoing observations indicate that the seabird population has been declining in recent decades, but that striking changes have also occurred in the past, prior to human impacts.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�Our approach identified striking changes in the colony size of storm-petrels on Baccalieu Island," says Matthew Duda, Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s 카지노게임사이트 doctoral candidate in the Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory (PEARL). "First, we confirmed that the population has been declining since the 1980s. More surprisingly, however, we determined that the current colony underwent marked changes in the past, including rapid growth in the early-1800s. Furthermore, we identified an earlier colony about 1,500 years ago that declined without the influence of human stressors. So now in response to the ever-increasing pressure imposed by human activity, the situation is likely even more risky for this important oceanic bird.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

The authors caution that their paleoecological data further reinforce the fragility of seabird colonies and the critical need for evidence-based management.

The research was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Note: This article originally appeared in the Queen's Gazette.