The year-round distribution and habitat preferences of Campbell albatross (Thalassarche impavida) Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems

The use of miniaturized electronic tracking devices has illuminated our understanding of seabird distributions and habitat use, and how anthropogenic threats interact with seabirds in both space and time. To determine the year-round distribution of adult Campbell albatross (Thalassarche impavida), a single-island endemic, breeding only at Campbell Island in New Zealand's subantarctic, a total of 68 year-long location data sets were acquired from light-based geolocation data-logging tags deployed on breeding birds in 2009 and 2010. During the incubation and chick-guard phases of the breeding season, birds used cool (<10°C) waters over the Campbell Plateau, but also ranged over deeper, shelf-break and oceanic waters (4,000–5,500 m) beyond the Plateau. Later in the breeding season, during post-guard chick-rearing, Campbell albatrosses exploited generally deep waters (4,000–5,000 m) beyond the Campbell Plateau. During the non-breeding period, adults tended to move northwards into warmer (approximately 15°C) waters and occupied areas beyond western Australia in the west to offshore from Chile in the east. Overall, about 30% of adults spent some of their non-breeding period in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, substantially expanding the previously reported range for this species. One bird, that failed in its breeding attempt in October 2009, departed Campbell Island and circumnavigated the southern oceans before being recaptured back at Campbell Island in October 2010. This is the first example of an annually-breeding albatross species completing a circumnavigation between breeding attempts. Overlap with fishing effort, using data from the Global Fishing Watch database, was assessed on a monthly and seasonal basis. Generally, levels of overlap between Campbell albatross and fishing effort were relatively low during the breeding season but were approximately 60% higher during the non-breeding period, underlining the need for international initiatives to safeguard this species.

小型电子追踪设备的应用，极大深化了我们对海鸟分布、栖息地利用模式，以及人为威胁如何在时空维度上与海鸟产生交互作用的认知。为明确仅繁殖于新西兰亚南极坎贝尔岛的单岛特有种——坎贝尔信天翁（Campbell albatross，学名Thalassarche impavida）的全年分布情况，研究团队于2009年与2010年为繁殖个体部署了基于光感的地理定位数据记录标签，共获取68套全年位置数据集。
在繁殖季的孵卵期与雏鸟看护阶段，坎贝尔信天翁活动于坎贝尔高原的冷水（水温低于10℃）海域，同时也会涉足高原外侧的深水、陆架坡折带及远洋海域（水深4000~5500米）。繁殖季后期的雏鸟育雏期（看护期结束后），坎贝尔信天翁则主要利用坎贝尔高原外侧的深水海域（水深4000~5000米）。
非繁殖期内，成鸟倾向于向北迁移至水温约15℃的暖水海域，活动范围西至澳大利亚西部外海，东达智利近海区域。整体而言，约30%的成鸟会在非繁殖期的部分时段停留于中太平洋与东太平洋海域，大幅拓展了此前学界对该物种分布范围的认知。
2009年10月繁殖失败的1只个体，从坎贝尔岛出发绕行南大洋，并于2010年10月在坎贝尔岛被重新捕获。这是首个被记录到的、每年繁殖的信天翁物种在两次繁殖尝试间完成环球航行的案例。
研究基于全球捕鱼监测（Global Fishing Watch）数据库的数据，按月度与季节维度评估了坎贝尔信天翁与捕捞活动的重叠程度。整体来看，繁殖季内二者的重叠水平相对较低，但在非繁殖季重叠程度提升约60%，这凸显了开展国际协作以保护该物种的必要性。