Projects
Long-Term Monitoring of Seabird Populations
Project Team: Matt Wood, Freya Blockley Matt manages long-term population studies of seven species of seabirds on Skomer Island, a globally important seabird colony off the coast of West Wales. Our focus is on understanding demographic drivers of population change, and developing monitoring and census techniques. Skomer is home to the world’s largest colony of Manx Shearwaters, along with European Storm-petrels, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Atlantic Puffins, and Razorbills. This project is supported by the Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP). Skomer Island is a 'Key Site' in the SMP, one of several in the UK where monitoring of vital rates takes place. By monitoring breeding success and survival rates, we can understand how seabirds are responding to potential threats from rapid environmental change, to pollution and offshore wind development, informing effective conservation measures to address the challenges faced by seabirds. Recent work on kittiwakes has highlighted the need for offshore wind farm developments to incorporate recent and localized data to mitigate potential adverse effects, emphasizing the importance of using detailed monitoring data and effective analytical techniques in environmental impact assessments to inform the conservation of this red-listed seabird.
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Seabird Watch
www.seabirdwatch.org is a citizen science initiative dedicated to monitoring and researching seabird populations, particularly in remote and challenging environments. By deploying a network of remote time-lapse cameras, the project captures continuous images of seabird colonies, enabling year-round observation without frequent human intervention. This approach minimizes disturbance to the birds and allows for comprehensive data collection. To manage the vast amount of imagery collected, Seabird Watch engages the public through an online platform where volunteers assist in processing the data by tagging and counting seabirds in the images. This citizen science model not only accelerates data analysis but also fosters public involvement in ecological research. These advancements in conservation technology are revolutionizing how scientists monitor seabird populations, leading to more efficient data collection and enhanced conservation efforts. The project is led by Tom Hart (Oxford Brookes University), with Mark Jessop (UC Cork), Ellie Owen (National Trust Scotland) and Matt Wood (Glos). Alice Edney studied for MSc by Research at Gloucestershire before a doctorate at the University of Oxford, and has advanced this project’s analysis of timelapse data from Svalbard to Brittany.
ProcBe (Procellariiform Behaviour and Demographics)
Project Team: Katie Bickerton, Cat Horswill, Matt Wood Seabird monitoring of vital rates is challenging, due to field logistics and complex analytical needs. This project focuses on refining key vital rates in seabird ecology, particularly breeding adult and juvenile survival, essential for Population Viability Analyses (PVAs) of Manx shearwaters and European storm-petrel. Analyses of available datasets from breeding colonies across the Celtic and Irish Seas will be conducted, to facilitate effective Environmental Impact Assessments for proposed Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs). Firstly, we aim to refine demographic rates at key colonies by analyzing mark-recapture ringing datasets for breeding adult survival. Integrated Population Modelling will then be applied to estimate juvenile survival, and compared with empirical estimates from ringing data. Secondly, we will assess different approaches to PVA, comparing derived estimates with historical ringing data and evaluating the adequacy of PVA approaches, including stationary demographic rates versus non-stationary rates. As part of the wider ProcBe project, colleagues at the University of Oxford, RSPB and JNCC are using cutting-edge approaches to understand flight-height behaviour. We will combine our work with these improved estimates of flight behaviour, to facilitate effective Environmental Impact Assessments for these species for future OWFs in the Celtic and Irish Seas.
Funded by the Offshore Wind Evidence and Change Programme, led by The Crown Estate in partnership with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
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Census Methods for Burrow-nesting Seabirds
Many seabirds, like storm petrels and shearwaters, nest in underground or in remote inaccessible locations, making them difficult to study using traditional methods. We have pioneered new call-playback analysis techniques to improve population estimates, make monitoring more effective, share these techniques with conservation managers via the Stormie Shiny app platform [link: https://leopet8.wixsite.com/mysite]
