McGill University
Candidat Ph.D.
superviseur(e): Kyle Elliott
Charles-André Bost
Début: 2019-09-05
Fin: 2023-08-28

Projet

Profil d'accélération/profondeur des guillemots de Brunnich en Arctic
Extreme climatic events such as El Niño have strong effects on Antarctic Ocean wildlife, effecting changes in the distribution and abundance of the primary producers that reverberate to the top of the food chain. Monitoring effects on top predators could therefore provide information on the density and distribution of a range of prey, especially if their foraging behaviour and population dynamics are good indicators of the population dynamics of lower trophic levels. The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) is a good candidate for being an indicator species in the Antarctic Ocean: it is a top predator with a circumpolar distribution, and can dive up to 300 m to forage, coming in contact with various prey types. My research consists of examining how the consequences of climatic extremes on the food web affect the breeding success and foraging behaviour of king penguins. I will use 20 years of foraging and breeding data to investigate 1) whether the foraging behaviour of king penguins (diving depth, foraging location) changes during extreme climatic events, and 2) whether reduced prey availability during these events affect the population dynamics of the bird. I predict that king penguins will have to dive deeper and further south in extreme climatic years, as the increase in sea surface temperature will push prey in the colder and deeper southern waters. Furthermore, low prey densities will cause a decrease in breeding success, leading to long-term population decline for the penguin. My research will determine the mechanisms between extreme climatic events, wildlife distribution and fitness, which will help in the design of protected areas that consider the spatial responses of predator-prey relationships to these events.

Publications

1- Tracking Cairns: Biologging Improves the Use of Seabirds as Sentinels of the Sea
Brisson-Curadeau, Emile, Allison Patterson, Shannon Whelan, Thomas Lazarus, Kyle H. Elliott
2017 Frontiers in Marine Science

2- Seabird species vary in behavioural response to drone census
Brisson-Curadeau, Émile, David Bird, Chantelle Burke, David A. Fifield, Paul Pace, Richard B. Sherley, Kyle H. Elliott
2017 Scientific Reports

3- Factors influencing fall departure phenology in migratory birds that bred in northeastern North America
Brisson-Curadeau, Émile, Kyle H Elliott, Pascal Côté
2019 The Auk

4- The formation of foraging aggregations in a highly social seabird, the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia), at small and large scales
Brisson-Curadeau, Émile, H. Grant Gilchrist, Akinori Takahashi, Pierre Dutilleul, Kyle H. Elliott
2018 Marine Biology

5- Prey capture and selection throughout the breeding season in a deep‐diving generalist seabird, the thick‐billed murre
Brisson‐Curadeau, Émile, Kyle H. Elliott
2019 Journal of Avian Biology