Seabirds as monitors of the intertidal habitat
Researcher(s): Nina O’Hanlon
Supervisor(s): Ruedi Nager
Department: Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, MVLS
Institution: University of Glasgow
Brief Description:
This projects aims to use seabirds to monitor the health of shallow coastal habitats across Northern Ireland and south-west Scotland through developing a monitoring tool which can be used to inform policy, management and conservation decisions.
As part of this objective the project intends to investigate:
- habitat differences between locations where seabird are and are not present
- whether seabirds associated with shallow coastal waters are predominantly feeding within the intertidal habitat, and if not which other habitats/food resources are they utilising
- what stresses are influencing the presence or absence of seabirds at a particular location (i.e. agricultural runoff, predation, human disturbance, contaminants)
- differences in species composition and/or abundance in locations with and without aquaculture
Funding Source(s): INTERREG IV
Project Status: Current
Start Date: 11/06/2012
End Date: 11/06/2015
Outputs: A monitoring tool will be developed to provide information on the health and status of shallow coastal habitats.
Nina O'Hanlon's Research Profile Page
