Local prey shortages drive foraging costs and breeding success in a declining seabird, the Atlantic puffin

As more and more species face anthropogenic threats, understanding causes of population declines in vulnerable taxa is essential. However, long-term datasets, ideal to identify lasting or indirect effects on fitness measures such as those caused by environmental factors, are not always available. Here we use a single year but multi-population approach on populations with contrasting demographic trends to identify possible drivers and mechanisms of seabird population changes in the north-east Atlantic, using the Atlantic puffin, a declining species, as a model system. We combine miniature GPS trackers with camera traps and DNA metabarcoding techniques on four populations across the puffins’ main breeding range to provide the most comprehensive study of the species’ foraging ecology to date. We find that puffins use a dual foraging tactic combining short and long foraging trips in all four populations, but declining populations in southern Iceland and north-west Norway have mu...随着越来越多的物种面临人为活动威胁，解析脆弱类群的种群下降成因至关重要。然而，用于识别环境因素等对适合度指标产生的长期或间接影响的理想长期数据集，并非总能获取。 为此，本研究以种群衰退物种大西洋海鹦（Atlantic puffin）为模式系统，针对东北大西洋海域的海鹦种群，采用单年度多种群研究框架，结合种群人口统计趋势的差异，旨在明确海鹦种群数量变化的潜在驱动因素与作用机制。 我们在大西洋海鹦主要繁殖分布范围内的四个种群中，将微型GPS追踪器与红外相机诱捕器、DNA宏条形码（DNA metabarcoding）技术相结合，开展了截至目前该物种觅食生态学领域最为全面的研究。 研究发现，四个种群的大西洋海鹦均采用兼具短途与长途觅食行程的双重觅食策略，但冰岛南部与挪威西北部的衰退种群拥有（原文此处内容截断）。