Abstract: Timing of breeding, an important driver of fitness in many populations, is widely studied in the context of global change, yet despite considerable efforts to identify environmental drivers of seabird nesting phenology, for most populations we lack evidence of strong drivers. Here we adopt an alternative approach, examining the degree to which different populations positively covary in their annual phenology to infer whether phenological responses to environmental drivers are likely to be (a) shared across species at a range of spatial scales, (b) shared across populations of a species or (c) idiosyncratic to populations. We combined 51 long-term datasets on breeding phenology spanning 50 years from nine seabird species across 29 North Atlantic sites and examined the extent to which different populations share early versus late breeding seasons depending on a hierarchy of spatial scales comprising breeding site, small-scale region, large-scale region and the whole North Atlantic. In about a third of cases, we found laying dates of populations of different species sharing the same breeding site or small-scale breeding region were positively correlated, which is consistent with the hypothesis that they share phenological responses to the same environmental conditions. In comparison, we found no evidence for positive phenological covariation among populations across species aggregated at larger spatial scales. In general, we found little evidence for positive phenological covariation between populations of a single species, and in many instances the inter-year variation specific to a population was substantial, consistent with each population responding idiosyncratically to local environmental conditions. Black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla was the exception, with populations exhibiting positive covariation in laying dates that decayed with the distance between breeding sites, suggesting that populations may be responding to a similar driver. Our approach sheds light on the potential factors that may drive phenology in our study species, thus furthering our understanding of the scales at which different seabirds interact with interannual variation in their environment. We also identify additional systems and phenological questions to which our inferential approach could be applied.

Abstract: Time and energy are the two most important currencies in animal bioenergetics. How much time animals spend engaged in different activities with specific energetic costs ultimately defines their likelihood of surviving and successfully reproducing. However, it is extremely difficult to determine the energetic costs of independent activities for free-ranging animals. In this study, we developed a new method to calculate activity-specific metabolic rates, and applied it to female fur seals. We attached biologgers (that recorded GPS locations, depth profiles, and triaxial acceleration) to 12 northern (Callorhinus ursinus) and 13 Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella), and used a hierarchical decision tree algorithm to determine time allocation between diving, transiting, resting, and performing slow movements at the surface (grooming, etc.). We concomitantly measured the total energy expenditure using the doubly-labelled water method. We used a general least-square model to establish the relationship between time–activity budgets and the total energy spent by each individual during their foraging trip to predict activity-specific metabolic rates. Results show that both species allocated similar time to diving ( 29%), transiting to and from their foraging grounds ( 26–30%), and resting ( 8–11%). However, Antarctic fur seals spent significantly more time grooming and moving slowly at the surface than northern fur seals (36% vs. 29%). Diving was the most expensive activity ( 30 MJ/day if done non-stop for 24 hr), followed by transiting at the surface ( 21 MJ/day). Interestingly, metabolic rates were similar between species while on land or while slowly moving at the surface ( 13 MJ/day). Overall, the average field metabolic rate was 20 MJ/day (for all activities combined). The method we developed to calculate activity-specific metabolic rates can be applied to terrestrial and marine species to determine the energetic costs of daily activities, as well as to predict the energetic consequences for animals forced to change their time allocations in response to environmental shifts.

Abstract: Tides are proved to have a significant effect on the ocean and climate. Previous modelling research either adds a tidal mixing parameterisation or an explicit tidal forcing to the ocean models. However, no research compares the two approaches in the same framework. Here we implement both schemes in a general ocean circulation model and assess both methods by comparing the results. The aspects for comparison involve hydrography, sea ice, meridional overturning circulation (MOC), vertical diffusivity, barotropic streamfunction and energy diagnostics. We conclude that although the mesh resolution is poor in resolving internal tides in most mid-latitude and shelf-break areas, explicit tidal forcing still shows stronger tidal mixing at the Kuril–Aleutian Ridge and the Indonesian Archipelago than the tidal mixing parameterisation. Beyond that, the explicit tidal forcing method leads to a stronger upper cell of the Atlantic MOC by enhancing the Pacific MOC and the Indonesian Throughflow. Meanwhile, the tidal mixing parameterisation leads to a stronger lower cell of the Atlantic MOC due to the tidal mixing in deep oceans. Both methods maintain the Antarctic Circumpolar Current at a higher level than the control run by increasing the meridional density gradient. We also show several phenomena that are not considered in the tidal mixing parameterisation, for example, the changing of energy budgets in the ocean system, the bottom drag induced mixing on the continental shelves and the sea ice transport by tidal motions. Due to the limit of computational capacity, an internal-tide-resolving simulation is not feasible for climate studies. However, a high-resolution short-term tidal simulation is still required to improve parameters and parameterisation schemes in climate studies.

Abstract: Tide gauge measurements provide data for routine tidal predictions in ports as well as for extreme events such as storm surges and tsunamis. Along with satellite altimeter measurements, tide gauges also provide measurements used for sea-level rise estimates. This is particularly important for impact assessment in low-lying coastlines of south Asia as well as islands such as the Maldives in the Indian Ocean.

Abstract: Tick-borne flaviviruses and Borrelia spp. are globally spread pathogens of zoonotic potential that are maintained by a transmission cycle at the interface between ticks and vertebrate hosts, mainly wild animals. Aside data on pathogen burden in ticks, information on the status of various hosts relative to infection is important to acquire. We reviewed how those infections have been studied in wildlife host species in the field to discuss how collected data provided relevant epidemiological information and to identify needs for further studies. The literature was screened for observational studies on pathogen or antibody detection for tick-borne Borrelia spp. and flaviviruses in wildlife host animals. Overall, Borrelia spp. were more studied (73% of case studies, representing 297 host species) than flaviviruses (27% of case studies, representing 114 host species). Studies on both Borrelia spp. and flaviviruses focused mainly on the same species, namely bank vole and yellow-necked mouse. Most studies were order-specific and cross-sectional, reporting prevalence at various locations, but with little insight into the underlying epidemiological dynamics. Host species with potential to act as reservoir hosts of these pathogens were neglected, notably birds. We highlight the necessity of collecting both demographics and infection data in wildlife studies, and to consider communities of species, to better estimate zoonotic risk potential in the One Health context.