Regulation of Seabird Populations

Abstract

The original dichotomy of views of the ways in which seabird populations may be regulated is no longer useful; other factors should be taken into consideration, e.g. colony site may in some cases be limiting and breeding sites within colonies may regulate numbers of some species at a local level. Several lines of evidence also indicate that food availability during the breeding season may be reduced by intraspecific competition and the consequent reductions in breeding parameters may regulate populations. Negative relationships between colony size and several breeding parameters in different seabird species support the idea of competition for food around the colony. The authors present population models which suggest that changes in breeding parameters could result in density-dependent regulation.