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Citizen science data reveal possible multi-decadal phenological changes in the arrival time of a migratory tropical seabird species at the breeding ground
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
· Changes in climate and weather variability are having global impacts on the lives of organisms, particularly on upper
trophic-level predators such as pelagic seabirds. In the North Atlantic, migratory seabirds are expected to respond to climate
variability by adjusting their seasonal events, including the timing of migration and arrival at the breeding site. The timing
of these events may be infuenced by large-scale atmospheric phenomena such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and
the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) that gauge temporal and spatial variation in environmental conditions across
the North Atlantic. In the Bermuda Islands (32° 17′ 58″ N, 64° 47′ 25″ W), the White-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus
catsbyii) is one of the few breeding seabird species which returns every year between February and March after migration.
According to local belief their return announces the arrival of Spring, and this cultural importance means that the event is
noticed. Only recently, early tropicbird returns have been recorded and associated with unusual climate/weather conditions
experienced across the region. This raised the question of whether the species is showing some change in its phenology and
whether it might be afected by changing climatic conditions. To answer this question, we investigated tropicbird arrival dates
at Bermuda using current and historic observation data retrieved from the eBird citizen science platform. After accounting for
biases inherent to opportunistic data collection, we selected and used the frst annual observation as a proxy for bird arrival
time at the Bermuda breeding ground from 1953 to 2023. We found that tropicbird observation dates advanced substantially
over the past 70 years suggesting that arrival time has been likely shifting of ca. 20–25 days. However, frst observation
dates were not related to the variation in annual or winter NAO and AMO Indices, and further investigation is required to
understand the underlying causes of these progressively early arrivals. Overall, the study highlights that citizen-science data
can be used to unveil hidden phonological patterns when a standardized long-term data collection is missing.
Description
Keywords
Phenology Citizen science North Atlantic oscillation Atlantic Multi-decadal oscillation Tropic seabird White-tailed tropicbird Phaethon lepturus
Citation
Campioni, L., Madeiros, J., & Becciu, P. (2023). Citizen science data reveal possible multi-decadal phenological changes in the arrival time of a migratory tropical seabird species at the breeding ground. Marine Biology, 170(10). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-023-04268-3
Publisher
Springer Verlag