An ecologically sound and participatory monitoring network for pan-Arctic seabirds



: Clairbaux Manon, Rönkä Mia, Anker-Nilssen Tycho, Artukhin Yuri, Danielsen Jóhannis, Gavrilo Maria, Gilchrist Grant, Hansen Erpur Snær, Hedd April, Kaler Robert, Kuletz Kathy, Olsen Bergur, Mallory Mark L., Merkel Flemming Ravn, Strøm Hallvard, Fort Jérôme, Grémillet David

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

: 2024

: Conservation Biology

: Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology

: Conserv Biol

: e14287

: 38

: 6

: 0888-8892

: 1523-1739

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14287

: https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.14287

: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/404651471


In a warming Arctic, circumpolar long-term monitoring programs are key to advancing ecological knowledge and informing environmental policies. Calls for better involvement of Arctic peoples in all stages of the monitoring process are widespread, although such transformation of Arctic science is still in its infancy. Seabirds stand out as ecological sentinels of environmental changes, and priority has been given to implement the Circumpolar Seabird Monitoring Plan (CSMP). We assessed the representativeness of a pan-Arctic seabird monitoring network focused on the black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) by comparing the distribution of environmental variables for all known versus monitored colonies. We found that with respect to its spatiotemporal coverage, this monitoring network does not fully embrace current and future environmental gradients. To improve the current scheme, we designed a method to identify colonies whose inclusion in the monitoring network will improve its ecological representativeness, limit logistical constraints, and improve involvement of Arctic peoples. We thereby highlight that inclusion of study sites in the Bering Sea, Siberia, western Russia, northern Norway, and southeastern Greenland could improve the current monitoring network and that their proximity to local populations might allow increased involvement of local communities. Our framework can be applied to improve existing monitoring networks in other ecoregions and sociological contexts.

Last updated on 2025-14-03 at 15:29