Airflow modelling predicts seabird breeding habitat across islands

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Bio-mechanics
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Wind and airflow are critical for bird flight and shelter, especially at nest sites.
• Habitat selection models for breeding seabirds have not fully integrated airflow characteristics.
• Understanding these factors is crucial for conservation and reintroduction efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess if airflow characteristics predict seabird colony distribution.
• To investigate the role of wind speed and turbulence in breeding habitat selection for common guillemots (Uria aalge).
• To develop a predictive model for identifying high-quality seabird breeding habitats.

Main Methods:

• Utilized computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to analyze airflow patterns.
• Correlated airflow characteristics and cliff orientation with seabird colony distribution on Skomer Island.
• Validated models on a neighboring island to assess generality.

Main Results:

• Seabird occupancy is driven by the need for shelter from wind and wave action, not solely airflow characteristics.
• Models incorporating airflow and cliff orientation accurately predicted colony locations (80%) and avoided sites (93%).
• Models successfully identified 73% of the largest colonies on a neighboring island.

Conclusions:

• Breeding distribution of seabirds is influenced by shelter from environmental factors like wind and wave action.
• CFD modeling combined with geological features offers a robust approach for identifying suitable seabird habitats.
• This methodology can inform conservation strategies and seabird reintroduction programs, considering future climate projections.