https://doi.org/10.82144/1f59cd45 https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/691 https://www.gbif.org/dataset/0c142cd0-6cce-4583-9e6c-0e2841ad7437 https://obis.org/dataset/e87af9fb-c8ab-4786-b1df-9ccec338d737 Sebastien Jaquemet Laboratoire ECOMAR, Universite de la Reunion Primary contact sebastien.jaquemet@univ-reunion.fr OBIS-SEAMAP Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University

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seamap-contact@duke.edu https://seamap.env.duke.edu distributor Sebastien Jaquemet Laboratoire ECOMAR, Universite de la Reunion Primary contact sebastien.jaquemet@univ-reunion.fr owner 2025-07-31 eng Original provider: Sebastien Jaquemet Dataset credits: Sebastien Jaquemet Abstract: We investigated the foraging habitats of the winter breeding community of tropical seabirds from Europa Island (Mozambique Channel) in September 2003. We focused our study on the dominant species of this austral community, the sooty tern (<i>Sterna fuscata</i>), the red-footed booby (<i>Sula sula</i>), and the frigatebirds, including the great (<i>Fregata minor</i>) and the lesser frigatebirds (<i>F. ariel</i>). We considered the at-sea distribution and abundance of these species in relation to chlorophyll concentration, sea surface temperatures, sea surface height anomalies, depth of the thermocline, distance to the colony, and presence of surface marine predators, flying fishes and other seabirds. Although the marine environment where seabirds foraged was oligotrophic, it presents the best feeding opportunities for seabirds for the area in winter.<br><br> Our study demonstrates that the winter-breeding seabird species of Europa Island tend to forage in productive waters in association with other marine predators when possible. Sooty terns and frigatebirds were widely distributed in the whole study area, whereas red-footed boobies were not found farther than 160 km from their colonies and were associated with relatively productive waters. Sooty terns and red-footed boobies were aggregated where flying fishes were abundant. The presence of other marine predators was associated with larger multispecies feeding flocks than when no association occurred. Sooty terns, which are numerically dominant at Europa and adopted network foraging, seem to be catalysts of feeding events, and represented a good target for the other foraging species, especially frigatebirds. However, when possible, frigatebirds favor association with flocks of red-footed boobies. Occurrence GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type.xml Observation GBIF Dataset Subtype Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_subtype.xml Marine Biology Visual sighting sea birds foraging Vessels Sightings N/A This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License. https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/691 Oceans,Europa Island,Mozambique Channel 38.9495 41.6518333 -19.726 -24.0111 2003-09-08 2003-09-22 Scientific names are based on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). species Daption capense Cape petrel genus Fregata Frigatebirds species Fregata minor Great frigatebird species Fregetta grallaria White-bellied storm petrel species Oceanodroma monorhis Swinhoe's storm petrel species Onychoprion fuscatus Sooty tern species Phaethon lepturus White-tailed tropicbird species Pterodroma mollis Soft-plumaged petrel species Puffinus carneipes Flesh-footed shearwater species Puffinus lherminieri Audubon's shearwater species Sula sula Red-footed booby We studied the at-sea distribution and abundance of the seabird species that breed during the austral winter on Europa Island in relation to physical and biological factors. We tested how the different species distributed themselves within their foraging range and whether specific locations aggregate foraging seabirds. We also examine the foraging strategies adopted by each species, particularly the importance of local enhancement on the feeding activity of the seabirds. notPlanned Sebastien Jaquemet Laboratoire ECOMAR, Universite de la Reunion Primary contact sebastien.jaquemet@univ-reunion.fr NA NA NA Sebastien Jaquemet owner NA zd_691 2025-07-31T14:35:23-04:00 dataset Jaquemet, S. 2020. Foraging habitats of the seabird community of Europa Island (Mozambique Channel). Version 1.5.0. Dataset published in OBIS-SEAMAP. https://doi.org/10.82144/1f59cd45. OBIS-SEAMAP Dataset Page UTF-8 Interactive map https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/691 FGDC Metadata UTF-8 XML https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/691/fgdc EML Metadata UTF-8 XML https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/691/eml OBIS-SEAMAP zd_691 zd_691 Jaquemet, S., M. Le Corre, F. Marsac, M. Potier and H. Weimerskirch. 2005. Foraging habitats of the seabird community of Europa Island (Mozambique Channel). Marine Biology: 147(3):573-582.