Population dynamics and methodological assessments from a 15-year period of Amphibian monitoring in British Columbia's Southern Gulf Islands.

With amphibian populations facing a multitude of threats, including habitat loss, climate change, invasive species and infectious diseases, it is important to identify valuable amphibian habitat and the imminent pressures these environments face. Between 2004 and 2019, 6 years of amphibian surveys were conducted at Greenburn, Roe and McLean lakes in the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada. We assessed (1) species composition and trends of native amphibians, including at-risk northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora); (2) observations of invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus); and (3) the efficacy of visual encounter and trapping survey methods in determining multi-species amphibian occupancy. The shallow, semi-ephemeral McLean Lake hosted more amphibian species and more breeding activity than the larger, deeper waters of Greenburn and Roe lakes. Despite multiple observations, bullfrogs have thus far not established a detectable population within these lakes, with the presence of native and introduced predators as potential contributing factors. Declining trends in occupancy of native populations of R. aurora, Pacific chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla) and rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) were observed at all three lakes. Results varied within years by species and survey method, highlighting the importance of effective replication and employing complementary survey methods to optimize studies of amphibian occupancy. These observations also emphasize the value of shallow, small- to medium-sized waterbodies to native amphibian populations in the Southern Gulf Islands. As these waterbodies become increasingly threatened by global climate change and habitat degradation, the potential impacts of declining freshwater ecosystem health on amphibian populations should be considered.

Persisting Worldwide Seabird-Fishery Competition Despite Seabird Community Decline.

Fisheries transform marine ecosystems and compete with predators [1], but temporal trends in seabird-fishery competition had never been assessed on a worldwide scale. Using catch reconstructions [2] for all fisheries targeting taxa that are also seabird prey, we demonstrated that average annual fishery catch increased from 59 to 65 million metric tons between 1970-1989 and 1990-2010. For the same periods, we estimated that global annual seabird food consumption decreased from 70 to 57 million metric tons. Despite this decrease, we found sustained global seabird-fishery food competition between 1970-1989 and 1990-2010. Enhanced competition was identified in 48% of all areas, notably the Southern Ocean, Asian shelves, Mediterranean Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Californian coast. Fisheries generate severe constraints for seabird populations on a worldwide scale, and those need to be addressed urgently. Indeed, seabirds are the most threatened bird group, with a 70% community-level population decline across 1950-2010 [3].

Population Trend of the World's Monitored Seabirds, 1950-2010.

Seabird population changes are good indicators of long-term and large-scale change in marine ecosystems, and important because of their many impacts on marine ecosystems. We assessed the population trend of the world's monitored seabirds (1950-2010) by compiling a global database of seabird population size records and applying multivariate autoregressive state-space (MARSS) modeling to estimate the overall population trend of the portion of the population with sufficient data (i.e., at least five records). This monitored population represented approximately 19% of the global seabird population. We found the monitored portion of the global seabird population to have declined overall by 69.7% between 1950 and 2010. This declining trend may reflect the global seabird population trend, given the large and apparently representative sample. Furthermore, the largest declines were observed in families containing wide-ranging pelagic species, suggesting that pan-global populations may be more at risk than shorter-ranging coastal populations.

Global seabird response to forage fish depletion--one-third for the birds.

Determining the form of key predator-prey relationships is critical for understanding marine ecosystem dynamics. Using a comprehensive global database, we quantified the effect of fluctuations in food abundance on seabird breeding success. We identified a threshold in prey (fish and krill, termed "forage fish") abundance below which seabirds experience consistently reduced and more variable productivity. This response was common to all seven ecosystems and 14 bird species examined within the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans. The threshold approximated one-third of the maximum prey biomass observed in long-term studies. This provides an indicator of the minimal forage fish biomass needed to sustain seabird productivity over the long term.