title: Decline of recent seabirds inferred from a composite 1000-year record of population dynamics.
abstract: Based on three ornithogenic sediment profiles and seabird subfossils therein from the Xisha Islands, South China Sea, the relative population size of seabirds over the past 1000 years was reconstructed using reflectance spectrum. Here we present an apparent increase and subsequent decline of seabirds on these islands in the South China Sea. Seabird populations peaked during the Little Ice Age (LIA, 1400-1850 AD), implying that the cool climate during the LIA appears to have been more favorable to seabirds on the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea. Climate change partly explains the recent decrease in seabird populations over the past 150 years, but the significant decline and almost complete disappearance thereof on most of the Xisha Islands is probably attributable to human disturbance. Our study reveals the increasing impact of anthropogenic activities on seabird population in recent times.
authors.affiliation: School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230009, China.|Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Liqiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Libin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polar Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
authors.forename: Liguang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230009, China.
authors.forename: Jinjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Xisha Deep Sea Marine Environment Observation and Research Station, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sansha, Hainan 573199, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D002681:China; D057231:Climate Change; D003080:Cold Temperature; D057894:Coral Reefs; D017753:Ecosystem; D005580:Fossils; D006802:Human Activities; D011157:Population Dynamics