Seasonal variation in the abundance of seabirds in areas of mariculture

Abstract

Mariciilture lias emerged as a complementary income for small fishermen along the coast of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, causing significant alterations in the coastal landscape and creating a new substratum seabirds. From March 199S to February 1999, 48 censuses were carried out at four sample times, registering an average annual occurrence of 4448.7 birds, distributed among five seabird species. Laridae dominated in diversity and abundance, contributing with 98.1% of the birds recorded. The number of birds per float varied depending on the time of day and season of the year, showing an average of 2.09/1. Seabirds use the maricultiire area as a place to rest, to clean their feathers and to overnight.