Marine bird mass mortality events as an indicator of the impacts of ocean warming

Timothy Jones; Julia K. Parrish; Jacqueline Lindsey; Charlie Wright; Hillary K. Burgess; Jane Dolliver; Lauren Divine; Robert Kaler; David Bradley; Graham Sorenson; Rémi Torrenta; Stacia Backensto; Heather Coletti; James T. Harvey; Hannahrose M. Nevins; Erica Donnelly-Greenan; David L. Sherer; Jan Roletto; Kirsten Lindquist

doi:10.3354/meps14330

MEPS

Marine Ecology Progress Series

via Mailchimp

:HEATav8 (2023) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14330

Theme Section: How do marine heatwaves impact seabirds?

ADVANCE VIEW
Marine bird mass mortality events as an indicator of the impacts of ocean warming

Timothy Jones^1,*, Julia K. Parrish¹, Jacqueline Lindsey¹, Charlie Wright¹, Hillary K. Burgess¹, Jane Dolliver¹, Lauren Divine², Robert Kaler³, David Bradley⁴, Graham Sorenson⁴, Rémi Torrenta⁴, Stacia Backensto⁵, Heather Coletti⁵, James T. Harvey⁶, Hannahrose M. Nevins⁶, Erica Donnelly-Greenan⁶, David L. Sherer⁷, Jan Roletto⁸, Kirsten Lindquist^8,9

¹School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98105, USA
²Ecosystem Conservation Office, Aleut Community of St. Paul, Anchorage, Alaska 99503, USA
³Migratory Bird Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska 99503, USA
⁴Birds Canada/Oiseaux Canada, Delta, British Columbia V4G 2T9, Canada
⁵Inventory and Monitoring Program, National Park Service, Fairbanks, Alaska 99709, USA
⁶BeachCOMBERS, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, California 95039, USA
⁷BeachCOMBERS, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Ventura, California 93003, USA
⁸Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, NOAA, NOS, ONMS, San Francisco, California 94129, USA
⁹Greater Farallones Association, affiliate NOAA, NOS, ONMS, Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, San Francisco, California 94129, USA

*Corresponding author: timothy.t.jones@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: The frequency and severity of marine heatwaves (MHWs), an emergent property of global warming, has led to large-scale disruptions to marine ecosystems. As upper trophic species, marine birds reflect shifts in trophic structure and stability; therefore, a sharp increase in marine bird mortality is a clear signal of ecosystem impact. In this study, we analyzed 29 yr (1993–2021) of beached bird monitoring data (~90 000 surveys) to identify marine bird mortality events throughout the Northeast Pacific and Alaska, USA, and examined linkages to ocean?climate variability. Mortality events were documented throughout the study period, but massive events (>500 km in extent, >10 carcasses km^–1) occurred infrequently (n = 5), with an unprecedented sequence from 2014?2019. Event characteristics, including encounter rate (carcasses km^–1), duration, and spatial extent, were positively related to prior-year averaged sea surface temperature anomaly, with event magnitude (product of encounter rate, extent, and duration) displaying a step-like transition, increasing 5-fold between +0°C and +1°C above baseline (1981–2010) temperatures. Mortality events occurred more frequently following MHWs, and a common sequence of mortality events (at 1–6 and 10–16 mo after heatwave onset) was observed in the California Current large marine ecosystem following 3 prolonged MHW events. Following the second wave of mortality at 10–16 mo after MHW onset, a consistent 16 mo period of depressed carcass encounter rates ensued. Given continued global warming, our results point to more frequent large-scale mortality events and the potential for a new lower carrying capacity for marine birds in the Northeast Pacific.

KEY WORDS: Extreme events · Marine heatwaves · Citizen science · Seabird wrecks · North Pacific

Full text in pdf format
Supplementary material

Cite this article as: Jones T, Parrish JK, Lindsey JK, Wright C and others (2023) Marine bird mass mortality events as an indicator of the impacts of ocean warming. Mar Ecol Prog Ser :HEATav8. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14330

Export citation
Share: Facebook - - linkedIn

Cited by

Previous article Next article

:HEATav8 (2023) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14330

Theme Section: How do marine heatwaves impact seabirds?

ADVANCE VIEWMarine bird mass mortality events as an indicator of the impacts of ocean warming

ADVANCE VIEW
Marine bird mass mortality events as an indicator of the impacts of ocean warming