State of Nature report - RSPB

MARINE
Razorbill
Saving marine wildlife
Steve Knell
Most of the problems faced by marine wildlife
are a result of increased human pressure.
Positive management of marine
habitats is far more challenging
than on land. As a result, much
work is targeted at preventing harmful
impacts from human activities, often by
implementing relevant policies.
We urgently need an ecologically
coherent network of Marine Protected
Areas (MPAs), which will allow the
marine environment room to recover.
We are currently going through a
historic phase in marine conservation,
with the designation of national
networks of MPAs around the UK,
to support the protection provided
by European legislation. These are
long overdue.
The siting of these MPAs relies heavily
on knowing where marine wildlife
occurs: not an easy task given the
difficulties of studying biodiversity at
sea. However, recent developments
in tracking individual birds using
lightweight tags has provided a much
more detailed picture of how seabirds
use these areas, and is also redefining
our knowledge of the distance some
species are travelling to find food
– up to three times further than
previously thought, in some cases.
Case study
Following seabirds at sea
FAME (Future of the Atlantic Marine
Environment) is the largest seabird
tracking study ever undertaken,
part-funded by the EU Regional
Development Fund. The study, led by
the RSPB, involves seven different
partners, working in five different
countries. In the UK, scientists work at
five sites along the Atlantic coast (Fair
Isle and Orkney in Scotland; Colonsay in
the Hebrides; Bardsey Island in Wales;
and the Isles of Scilly) and concentrate
on five seabird species: fulmar, shag,
kittiwake, guillemot and razorbill.
Knowing where and why seabirds
forage is crucial in designating Marine
Protected Areas (MPAs) across the
north-east Atlantic. This knowledge
can also influence the placement of
offshore developments such as wind
farms, and inform research into the
impact of climate change on marine
food chains. Excitingly, by relating the
distribution data from seabird tracking
to oceanographic features, it is possible
to see not only where birds are foraging,
but why birds are foraging in these areas.
Figure 25
Map showing the movements of 23 razorbills tracked from Fair Isle in 2011.
Data from the RSPB.
To find out more about the FAME project, please visit www.fameproject.eu
64 STATE OF NATURE 2013