Аннотация:The Barents Sea, a shelf sea in the European Arctic, is home to a substantial part of the worlds' seabirds and one of the most productive ecosystems worldwide. Seabirds living in this area are exposed to numerous pressures including climate warming, shifting species distributions, invasive species, pollution, and the development and expansion of human activities. All have the potential of severely impacting seabird populations. Here we synthesise the knowledge gained about the Barents Sea seabird community through 8 years of SEATRACK data collection, a program designed to provide representative knowledge on the seasonal distribution of North Atlantic seabird populations.
Using several datasets and modelling products developed during the program, we highlight the spatiotemporal dynamics of 11 seabird species within the Barents Sea (Atlantic puffin, black-legged kittiwake, Brünnich’s guillemot, common eider, common guillemot, European shag, glaucous gull, herring gull, lesser-black backed gull, little auk, and northern fulmar). Further, seasonally important areas, migration corridors and timings are identified across the seabird community, which highlights potential vulnerabilities to novel and increasing pressures for this species group. Overall, our study highlights the strength of these international collaborative efforts, which enable us to draw general conclusions about the seabird community as well as being valuable for a holistic, sustainable planning and management of this globally important marine area.