Seabird life history and climate variation on the Great Barrier Reef

To date the seabird research program has:

1) Quantified how increases in El-Nino intensity and sea-surface temperatures (SST) result in decreased breeding participation, increased foraging effort, reduced food availability, poor chick growth and/or reproductive failure across multiple seabird species in both the northern and southern GBR.

2) Identified important seabird foraging areas/regions that the lie both within and outside the GBR region

3) Identified physiochemical and oceanographic correlates associated with both the important foraging areas and El-Nino/SST impacts

4) Examined the relative impacts of other anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic stressors such as cyclone frequency and tourist visitation rates at a key breeding site

5) Examined the ability of multiple pelagic foraging seabird species to copy with climate related changes in food availability via behavioural and/or developmental plasticity.