Plastic debris in marine environments is of particular concern for seabirds, due to their exposure to these contaminants alongside multiple other marine and terrestrial stressors. Globally, 56% of seabird species have been affected by anthropogenic marine debris, predominantly plastics, either through ingestion or entanglement at sea or at the nest. However, despite this documented impact, we have limited understanding of the extent or variation in the effects of plastic pollution on seabirds, the pathways to impact, or what consequences it has when scaled from individuals to populations. Furthermore, plastics are not equally distributed in the environment. Understanding how plastic debris varies spatially, and how this relates to its presence within both seabird colonies and core foraging areas will assist the identification of regions, and populations at greater risk of harm.
Nest incorporation of plastics is increasingly common in species that naturally use vegetation and seaweed as nesting materials, such as the Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) and European Shag (Gulosus aristotelis). Given the large proportion of the global populations of these species found in the UK (gannet 56%, shag 34%), and their declining conservation status (European Shag: red; Northern Gannet: amber in the most recent, but pre-HPAI, assessment), understanding the risk posed by plastic debris and placing these threats in context is vital. In addition, nest incorporation of plastic debris may have indirect impacts on breeding behaviour and success through its potential to alter the thermal capacity of the nest microclimate via changes to the nest structure. However, this potential threat for seabirds remains unquantified despite evidence from other species that incorporation of anthropogenic materials, including plastics, is linked to increased nest cooling rate, and that it has a negative impact on breeding success.
Seabirds are sentinel species for environmental change, for example plastics ingested by Northern Fulmars are used as an indicator of environmental quality by OSPAR as part of its Coordinated Environmental Monitoring Programme. However, plastic ingestion is only one form of seabird-debris interaction, with another key interaction resulting from the incorporation of plastics into nest structures. Debris incorporated into nests tends to be larger in size, with a higher proportion of threadlike plastics and fewer fragments than ingested items. Studying nest-incorporated plastics in seabirds thus represents a potential additional, cost-effective, non-invasive monitoring tool for assessing this component of these anthropogenic contaminants.
Data on the spatial and temporal distribution of nest-incorporated plastics are severely lacking and represent a fundamental knowledge gap of pressing importance. By quantifying, and modelling nest incorporation of plastics across seabird species, this studentship will produce this required understanding of the temporal and spatial scale of plastics on seabird breeding grounds and develop tools to monitor/inform policy concerning plastics in the environment.
Through undertaking fieldwork, modelling and desk-based analyses this studentship will:
a) determine how the prevalence and distribution of plastic debris at sea and natural nesting material influences its occurrence in seabird nests, and whether the type or quantity of plastics incorporated into nests influences entanglement
b) understand how nest incorporation of plastic debris may affect the thermal properties and structure of seabird nests and the associated effect on breeding success
c) develop and assess the ability of nest-incorporated plastics to be used as a monitoring tool and environmental indicators to measure the efficacy of plastic pollution reduction policies and initiatives
d) assess the vulnerability of Scottish seabird populations to plastic debris specifically, and within the context of other known threats to seabirds, to understand the relative contribution plastics make in determining population status and trend.
Addressing these aims will provide governments and statutory nature conservation agencies with the scientific knowledge and evidence they need to successfully manage the marine environment and globally important Scottish seabird populations.
Furthermore, the approaches taken in this studentship will include:
Vulnerability assessment: Review and assess the vulnerability of seabirds to marine plastic debris according to species traits within a systematic review framework.
Nest monitoring & surveys: Monitoring plots will be established combining visual observations and long-term time-lapse camera deployments across multiple locations to collect data on the type and extent of plastic incorporation into European Shag and Northern Gannet nests. Further citizen science data from the project http://www.birdsanddebris.com will be analysed.
Thermal properties and nest structure: Temperature and microclimate sensors (e.g., ibuttons) will be deployed in nests and thermal imaging cameras from a further distance to gather thermal data on nests with varying plastic content (including controls with zero/minimal content).
Population Modelling: Statistical modelling and simulations to determine population level impacts of nest incorporated debris through both direct and indirect effects, i.e., changes in survival (entanglement) or productivity (thermal consequences) rates.
The studentship will be in partnership with Marine Scotland Science (MSS) and the University of Aberdeen (UoA), with additional collaboration with the Natural History Museum (NHM) and British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).
Project start date: 30 September 2024
Supervisory team:
Dr Neil James, ERI UHI
Dr Lucy Mitchell, ERI UHI
Dr Thomas Bodey, University of Aberdeen
Dr Bill Turrell, Marine Scotland Science
Project description
How to apply
Deadline 29 January 2024 mid-day GMT
Plastic debris in marine environments is of particular concern for seabirds, due to their exposure to these contaminants alongside multiple other marine and terrestrial stressors. Globally, 56% of seabird species have been affected by anthropogenic marine debris, predominantly plastics, either through ingestion or entanglement at sea or at the nest. However, despite this documented impact, we have limited understanding of the extent or variation in the effects of plastic pollution on seabirds, the pathways to impact, or what consequences it has when scaled from individuals to populations. Furthermore, plastics are not equally distributed in the environment. Understanding how plastic debris varies spatially, and how this relates to its presence within both seabird colonies and core foraging areas will assist the identification of regions, and populations at greater risk of harm.
Nest incorporation of plastics is increasingly common in species that naturally use vegetation and seaweed as nesting materials, such as the Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) and European Shag (Gulosus aristotelis). Given the large proportion of the global populations of these species found in the UK (gannet 56%, shag 34%), and their declining conservation status (European Shag: red; Northern Gannet: amber in the most recent, but pre-HPAI, assessment), understanding the risk posed by plastic debris and placing these threats in context is vital. In addition, nest incorporation of plastic debris may have indirect impacts on breeding behaviour and success through its potential to alter the thermal capacity of the nest microclimate via changes to the nest structure. However, this potential threat for seabirds remains unquantified despite evidence from other species that incorporation of anthropogenic materials, including plastics, is linked to increased nest cooling rate, and that it has a negative impact on breeding success.
Seabirds are sentinel species for environmental change, for example plastics ingested by Northern Fulmars are used as an indicator of environmental quality by OSPAR as part of its Coordinated Environmental Monitoring Programme. However, plastic ingestion is only one form of seabird-debris interaction, with another key interaction resulting from the incorporation of plastics into nest structures. Debris incorporated into nests tends to be larger in size, with a higher proportion of threadlike plastics and fewer fragments than ingested items. Studying nest-incorporated plastics in seabirds thus represents a potential additional, cost-effective, non-invasive monitoring tool for assessing this component of these anthropogenic contaminants.
Data on the spatial and temporal distribution of nest-incorporated plastics are severely lacking and represent a fundamental knowledge gap of pressing importance. By quantifying, and modelling nest incorporation of plastics across seabird species, this studentship will produce this required understanding of the temporal and spatial scale of plastics on seabird breeding grounds and develop tools to monitor/inform policy concerning plastics in the environment.
Through undertaking fieldwork, modelling and desk-based analyses this studentship will:
a) determine how the prevalence and distribution of plastic debris at sea and natural nesting material influences its occurrence in seabird nests, and whether the type or quantity of plastics incorporated into nests influences entanglement
b) understand how nest incorporation of plastic debris may affect the thermal properties and structure of seabird nests and the associated effect on breeding success
c) develop and assess the ability of nest-incorporated plastics to be used as a monitoring tool and environmental indicators to measure the efficacy of plastic pollution reduction policies and initiatives
d) assess the vulnerability of Scottish seabird populations to plastic debris specifically, and within the context of other known threats to seabirds, to understand the relative contribution plastics make in determining population status and trend.
Addressing these aims will provide governments and statutory nature conservation agencies with the scientific knowledge and evidence they need to successfully manage the marine environment and globally important Scottish seabird populations.
Furthermore, the approaches taken in this studentship will include:
Vulnerability assessment: Review and assess the vulnerability of seabirds to marine plastic debris according to species traits within a systematic review framework.
Nest monitoring & surveys: Monitoring plots will be established combining visual observations and long-term time-lapse camera deployments across multiple locations to collect data on the type and extent of plastic incorporation into European Shag and Northern Gannet nests. Further citizen science data from the project http://www.birdsanddebris.com will be analysed.
Thermal properties and nest structure: Temperature and microclimate sensors (e.g., ibuttons) will be deployed in nests and thermal imaging cameras from a further distance to gather thermal data on nests with varying plastic content (including controls with zero/minimal content).
Population Modelling: Statistical modelling and simulations to determine population level impacts of nest incorporated debris through both direct and indirect effects, i.e., changes in survival (entanglement) or productivity (thermal consequences) rates.
The studentship will be in partnership with Marine Scotland Science (MSS) and the University of Aberdeen (UoA), with additional collaboration with the Natural History Museum (NHM) and British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).
Project start date: 30 September 2024
Supervisory team:
Dr Neil James, ERI UHI
Dr Lucy Mitchell, ERI UHI
Dr Thomas Bodey, University of Aberdeen
Dr Bill Turrell, Marine Scotland Science