title: Global spatial ecology of three closely-related gadfly petrels.
abstract: The conservation status and taxonomy of the three gadfly petrels that breed in Macaronesia is still discussed partly due to the scarce information on their spatial ecology. Using geolocator and capture-mark-recapture data, we examined phenology, natal philopatry and breeding-site fidelity, year-round distribution, habitat usage and at-sea activity of the three closely-related gadfly petrels that breed in Macaronesia: Zino's petrel Pterodroma madeira, Desertas petrel P. deserta and Cape Verde petrel P. feae. All P. feae remained around the breeding area during their non-breeding season, whereas P. madeira and P. deserta dispersed far from their colony, migrating either to the Cape Verde region, further south to equatorial waters in the central Atlantic, or to the Brazil Current. The three taxa displayed a clear allochrony in timing of breeding. Habitat modelling and at-sea activity patterns highlighted similar environmental preferences and foraging behaviours of the three taxa. Finally, no chick or adult was recaptured away from its natal site and survival estimates were relatively high at all study sites, indicating strong philopatry and breeding-site fidelity for the three taxa. The combination of high philopatry, marked breeding asynchrony and substantial spatio-temporal segregation of their year-round distribution suggest very limited gene flow among the three taxa.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio) and Departament de Biologia Animal, Universitat de Barcelona, Av Diagonal 643, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
authors.forename: Raül
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: BirdLife International-The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke St, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Iván
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.affiliation: Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3004-517 Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Vitor H
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Paiva
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio) and Departament de Biologia Animal, Universitat de Barcelona, Av Diagonal 643, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Militão
authors.affiliation: Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Estação de Biologia Marinha do Funchal and OOM-Museu de História Natural do Funchal, Rua da Mouraria 31, Funchal 9004-546, Madeira, Portugal.|Freira Conservation Project (FCP), Avenida do Infante 26, 9000-015 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Biscoito
authors.affiliation: Parque Natural da Madeira, Quinta do Bom Sucesso, Caminho do Meio, Funchal 9050-251, Madeira, Portugal.
authors.forename: Dília
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Menezes
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Estação de Biologia Marinha do Funchal and OOM-Museu de História Natural do Funchal, Rua da Mouraria 31, Funchal 9004-546, Madeira, Portugal.|Freira Conservation Project (FCP), Avenida do Infante 26, 9000-015 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal.
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zino
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio) and Departament de Biologia Animal, Universitat de Barcelona, Av Diagonal 643, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: González-Solís
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D004175:Diptera / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D051456:Gene Flow