Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2021

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V16

The diet of Atlantic Puffin chicks in 12 Icelandic colonies 2011-2021

Höfundar / Authors: Erpur Snaer Hansen and Rodrigo A. Martinez Catalan

Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: Náttúrustofa Suðurlands

Kynnir / Presenter: Rodrigo A. Martínez Catalan

Long term monitoring is an essential tool to detect changes in ecosystems and identify the key factors underlying population fluctuations. We present data on chick diet from 12 colonies by analysing >10,000 photographs collected in the Icelandic Puffin Population Monitoring Program (the “Puffin Rally”) between 2011-2021. The food loads were initially identified into 19 taxonomic groups and later reduced into six categories: 1) Lesser Sandeel (Amodytes marinus); 2) Capelin (Mallotus villosus); 3) Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus); 4) Euphausiids; 5) “Other spp." – a collective of less common species and 6) unidentified; and their frequency of occurrence calculated. The results were grouped regionally to four neritic ecosystems around Iceland: West; South; East and North. Preliminary results show significant differences in diet composition, particularly between the North, where “Other spp.” are an important part of the diet, and the Sandeel-dominated south. Our aim is to understand the contributions of variation in food availability and environmental changes to Puffin population growth rate.