"Weather breaks up" British media: climate change increases albatross 'divorce rate'

On November 25, the website of the British "Daily Mail" published an article entitled "Climate Change Prompts Albatrosses to 'Disperse'", the full text of which is excerpted as follows:

As water temperatures warm, males are forced to forage farther away, and climate change is pushing up the scattering rate of albatrosses with extremely strict single-mate habits.

This is the conclusion of the study by researchers at the University of Lisbon. They spent 15 years studying the black-browed albatrosses of the Falkland Islands.

Typically, only 3.7 percent of such albatrosses break up with their chosen mates — a breakup that occurs after failed reproduction.

However, when the water temperature rises, the percentage of the group will rise to 8%, and even if the offspring were successfully hatched in the previous breeding season, the albatross partner will break up.

The researchers have proposed two possible explanations for the possibility that warming seawater could push up the rate of albatross dispersal.

First, in warmer years, the male is forced to forage longer and fly farther, unable to return to the mating ground in time, so the female continues to look for her next mate.

Or, harsh environments and food scarcity may have raised stress hormone levels in the birds, causing even successfully paired birds to look at each other unfavorably.

After this happens, the female albatross may decide to try a different partner the following year, mistakenly believing that it will be easier to breed offspring.

The researchers wrote in the paper: "In many gregarious single-mate species, separation is a strategy used to correct suboptimal partnerships and is measured against the performance of the previous reproduction." ”

"The environmental impact affects the reproduction rate and survival of the population, and thus indirectly affects the dispersion rate through changes in the statistical ratio of the population number."

"However, there is still a lack of understanding as to whether environmental changes directly affect the increase in the rate of dispersion of a given population."

Since 2003, researchers have collected data on populations of black-browed albatrosses that breed offspring on New Island in the Falkland Islands, with an estimated total of about 15,500 pairs of albatrosses.

The team specifically studied five disconnected sub-clusters, recorded the annual meeting of mating birds nesting in each cluster, and identified non-mating birds entering the same area.

The team confirmed that after mating failure, the albatross mate was more likely to break up, and the birds decided to pick a new partner for the next breeding season.

Specifically, if the eggs fail to hatch successfully, the female albatross — often the active breakup party — is 5.4 times more likely to break up with her partner than the male.

However, the team also found that without taking into account previous mating results, the dispersal rate of albatrosses also increased in years with abnormal sea surface temperatures, to 8% of all mating mates.

The researchers caution: "Therefore, the environmentally-induced breakup may represent the consequences of an overlooked global change." ”

The researchers also warn that current climate change may also affect other species that would normally pick long-term mates.

The team concluded: "We believe that studying the issue of break-ups from a secular perspective may lead to a deeper understanding of the impact of the environment on the interbreeding of other single-mate birds and mammals." (Compiler/Zheng Guoyi)

Source: Reference News Network