Browsing by Author "Soriano, Francis"

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    Impacts of a rapidly warming environment on incubation and nestling periods of Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) on Machias Seal Island
    (University of New Brunswick, 2022-03) Soriano, Francis; Major, Heather
    The Gulf of Maine (GOM) is warming faster than most of the world’s oceans, cold-adapted seabirds such as Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica), that are nesting at the southernmost extent of their range in the GOM, are at reproductive risk. Since 1995, researchers from the Atlantic Laboratory for Avian Research (ALAR) have collected various environmental and demographic data for puffins nesting on Machias Seal Island and have observed changes in their phenology. Specifically, puffins are now hatching later than early in the time series but fledge date has not changed. Here, I investigate changes in puffin incubation and nestling periods and how these periods are reacting to changing environmental conditions in the GOM. I found that sea surface temperatures and the North Atlantic Oscillation affect incubation periods, while hatch date and precipitation affect nestling periods. This study provides a groundwork for further research into the reproductive flux that seabirds are experiencing.