Data from: Northwest range shifts and shorter wintering period of an Arctic seabird in response to four decades of changing ocean climate

Climate change is altering the marine environment at a global scale, with
some of the most dramatic changes occurring in Arctic regions.
These changes may affect the distribution and migration patterns of marine
species throughout the annual cycle. Species distribution models have
provided detailed understanding of the responses of terrestrial species to
climate changes, often based on observational data; biologging
offers the opportunity to extend those models to migratory marine
species that occur in marine environments where direct
observation is difficult. We used species distribution modelling
and tracking data to model past changes in the non-breeding
distribution of thick-billed murres Uria lomvia from a colony in Hudson
Bay, Canada, between 1982 and 2019. The predicted distribution of
murres shifted during fall and winter. The largest shifts have occurred
for fall migration, with range shits of 211 km west and 50
km north per decade, compared with a 29 km shift west per decade
in winter. Regions of range expansions had larger declines in sea
ice cover, smaller increases in sea surface temperature, and
larger increases in air temperature than regions where the range
was stable or declining. Murres migrate in and out of Hudson Bay
as ice forms each fall and melts each spring. Habitat in
Hudson Bay has become available later into the fall and earlier
in the spring, such that habitat in Hudson Bay was available for
21 d longer in 2019 than in 1982. Clearly, marine climate is altering the
distribution and annual cycle of migratory marine species that
occur in areas with seasonal ice cover.