Effects of El Niño-driven changes in wind patterns on North Pacific albatrosses.
Changes to patterns of wind and ocean currents are tightly linked to climate change and have important implications for cost of travel and energy budgets in marine vertebrates. We evaluated how El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-driven wind patterns affected breeding Laysan and black-footed albatross across a decade of study. Owing to latitudinal variation in wind patterns, wind speed differed between habitat used during incubation and brooding; during La Niña conditions, wind speeds were lower in incubating Laysan (though not black-footed) albatross habitat, but higher in habitats used by brooding albatrosses. Incubating Laysan albatrosses benefited from increased wind speeds during El Niño conditions, showing increased travel speeds and mass gained during foraging trips. However, brooding albatrosses did not benefit from stronger winds during La Niña conditions, instead experiencing stronger cumulative headwinds and a smaller proportion of trips in tailwinds. Increased travel costs during brooding may contribute to the lower reproductive success observed in La Niña conditions. Furthermore, benefits of stronger winds in incubating habitat may explain the higher reproductive success of Laysan albatross during El Niño conditions. Our findings highlight the importance of considering habitat accessibility and cost of travel when evaluating the impacts of climate-driven habitat change on marine predators.
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11790, USA lesley.thorne@stonybrook.edu.
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Thorne
Ocean Sciences Department, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA Center for the Science of Animal Care and Welfare, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, Brookfield, IL 60513, USA.
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Conners
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA Environmental Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, 99 Pacific Street, Suite 255A, Monterey, CA 93940, USA.
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Hazen
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA Environmental Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, 99 Pacific Street, Suite 255A, Monterey, CA 93940, USA.
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Bograd
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, 104 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331-3803, USA.
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Antolos
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA.
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Costa
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA Department of Biological Sciences, San José State University, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192, USA.
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Shaffer
D025041:Animal Migration / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D059000:El Nino-Southern Oscillation; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*
El Niño-Southern Oscillation; albatross; central place forager; movement; seabird; wind