Eric J Woehler

• Ph D, U California, Irvine
• Research Scientist at Australasian Seabird Group (BirdLife Australia)

Tasmania (including offshore islands) has the largest breeding population of little penguins ( Eudyptula minor ) in Australia, but coastal development around nesting areas has led to habitat loss, often resulting in smaller, fragmented colonies. Colonies have also been subject to predation by introduced domestic species. This study assessed whether...

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are periods of anomalously warm water associated with changes in ocean structure, based on the horizontal advection of water masses and atmospheric exchange of heat. The longest MHWs persist for many months and dramatic effects on marine life have been reported from around the world. As top-order predators, seabirds are part...

An ecological risk assessment, based on life‐history and behavioural attributes of 273 bird taxa, was used to identify which of those taxa are at high risk from negative interactions with offshore wind farms in Australia. The marine area of Australia was divided by state/territory boundaries perpendicular to the coast into eight regions, with Weste...

Coastlines, including estuaries, mudflats, and beaches, are particularly susceptible to plastic pollution, which can accumulate from both marine and terrestrial sources. While numerous studies have confirmed the presence of microplastics (1-5 mm) along coastlines, few have focused on very small particles (<1 μm) or quantified exposure within the or...

Many long-term studies have reported changes in seabird abundance and distribution in response to climate change and various anthropogenic activities. However, a greater understanding of how species are responding to change over large spatial and temporal scales are required—particularly at high latitudes such as the Southern Ocean. We examined bla...

Plastic is an omnipresent pollutant in marine ecosystems and is widely documented to be ingested among seabird species. Procellariiformes are particularly vulnerable to plastic ingestion, which can cause internal damage, starvation, and occasionally mortality. In this study, 34 fledgling Fairy Prions (Pachyptila turtur) recovered during a wreck eve...

Population estimates are widely used to underpin conservation decisions. However, determining accurate population estimates for migratory species is especially challenging, since they are often widespread and it is rarely possible to survey them throughout their full distribution. In the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), this problem is compou...

Extreme weather events are increasing in frequency, causing disruption to global ecosystems. Large-scale events, such as marine heatwaves, can impact the abundance of prey species, which consequently influences the behaviour of top-level predators such as seabirds. The short-tailed shearwater Ardenna tenuirostris is a trans-hemispheric migrant with...

There is an absence of quantitative criteria and definitions for unusual or anomalous mortality events involving birds, often referred to as “wrecks”. These events most commonly involve seabirds, although terrestrial bird wrecks have also been documented. Typically, the peer-reviewed literature investigating wreck events lacks the details necessary...

Biotic responses to large-scale climate processes are scale-dependant and can influence population trajectories of highly migratory species such as short-tailed shearwaters Ardenna tenuirostris. In this study, we quantified changes in climate, measured through large-scale climate indices (i.e. Northern Pacific Index, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, El...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This post survey report details the data collected within the Coral Sea Australian Marine Park onboard the RV Investigator (IN2019_V04) between the 7th of August and the 3rd of September 2019 associated with the primary voyage Hotspot dynamics in the Coral Sea- connections between the Australian plate and deep Earth’ (Whittaker 20...

Temperate Australian saltmarshes, including those in the southern island state of Tasmania, are considered to be a threatened ecological community under Australian federal legislation. There is a need to improve our understanding of the ecological components, functional relationships and threatening processes of Tasmanian coastal saltmarshes and di...

The largest anthropogenic extinction events during the Holocene occurred on Pacific islands, where thousands of bird populations were lost. Although ancient DNA approaches have become widely used to monitor the genetic variability of species through time, few studies have been conducted to identify the potential cryptic loss of genetic and species...

ABSTRACT: Climate variability affects physical oceanographic systems and environmental conditions at multiple spatial and temporal scales. These changes can influence biological and ecological processes, from primary productivity to higher trophic levels. Short-tailed shearwaters Ardenna tenuirostris are transhemispheric migratory procellariiform s...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This post survey report details the data collected within the Coral Sea Australian Marine Park onboard the RV Investigator (IN2019_V04) between the 7th of August and the 3rd of September 2019 associated with the primary voyage Hotspot dynamics in the Coral Sea- connections between the Australian plate and deep Earth’ (Whittaker 20...

We observed an adult Silver Gull Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae with an abnormal left leg on the foreshore adjacent to fishing port facilities at Triabunna, Tasmania. The bird had a near complete third foot projecting inward and laterally at 90° from the tibiotarsus-tarsometatarsus joint. The third foot had three extensively-webbed toes and a hall...

This post survey report details the data collected within the Coral Sea Australian Marine Park onboard the RV Investigator (IN2019_V04) between the 7th of August and the 3rd of September 2019 associated with the primary voyage Hotspot dynamics in the Coral Sea connections between the Australian plate and deep Earth’ (Whittaker 2020). The data and p...

Elucidating the factors underlying the origin and maintenance of genetic variation among populations is crucial for our understanding of their ecology and evolution, and also to help identify conservation priorities. While intrinsic movement has been hypothesized as the major determinant of population genetic structuring in abundant vagile species,...

Penguins face a wide range of threats. Most observed population changes have been negative and have happened over the last 60 years. Today, populations of 11 penguin species are decreasing. Here we present a review that synthesizes details of threats faced by the world’s 18 species of penguins. We discuss alterations to their environment at both br...

Shearwaters and petrels (hereafter petrels) are highly adapted seabirds that occur across all the world’s oceans. Petrels are a threatened seabird group comprising 124 species. They have bet-hedging life histories typified by extended chick rearing periods, low fecundity, high adult survival, strong philopatry, monogamy and long-term mate fidelity...

Top carnivores have suffered widespread global declines, with well-documented effects on mesopredators and herbivores. We know less about how carnivores affect ecosystems through scavenging. Tasmania's top carnivore, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), has suffered severe disease-induced population declines, providing a natural experiment o...

Migratory species can travel tens of thousands of kilometers each year, spending different parts of their annual cycle in geographically distinct locations. Understanding the drivers of population change is vital for conserving migratory species, yet the challenge of collecting data over entire geographic ranges has hindered attempts to identify th...

Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time se...

Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time se...

Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community led open-source database of biodiversity time se...

Significance Ecological processes at regional geographic scales can be connected to those in far distant locations by teleconnections, or interactions between species and systems far removed from one another. Macrosystem ecology views such interactions as elements of much larger ecosystems than either component. We have identified a remarkable exam...

Increasing evidence suggests foraging segregation as a key mechanism promoting genetic divergence within seabird species. However, testing for a relationship between population genetic structure and foraging movements among seabird colonies can be challenging. Telemetry studies suggest that Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes that breed at Lo...

From its beginnings in the 1960s, shorebird monitoring in Australia has grown into a national effort generating high-quality information about a large group of migratory and non-migratory waterbirds. Robust information on trends, combined with detailed demographic monitoring and studies of bird movements, has revealed drastic declines, particularly...

Penguins are the most threatened group of seabirds after albatrosses. Despite being regularly captured in fishing gear, the threat to penguins, as a group, has not yet been assessed. We reviewed both published and grey literature to identify the fishing gear types that penguins are most frequently recorded in, the most impacted species and, for the...

A recent field observation of a colour-banded Australian Pied Oystercatcher Haematopus longirostris in its 33rd year is remarkable, not only for its age, but also for the resilience of its bands. This bird was banded as a pullus and thus its exact age is known. The chronology of the sightings of this and a second, even older, oystercatcher is discu...

Migratory animals are threatened by human-induced global change. However, little is known about how stopover habitat, essential for refuelling during migration, affects the population dynamics of migratory species. Using 20 years of continent-wide citizen science data, we assess population trends of ten shorebird taxa that refuel on Yellow Sea tida...

The Environmental Mapping for Emergency Response at Sea Project (Mapeamento Ambiental para a Resposta à Emergência no Mar – MAREM, in Portuguese) resulted from a collaborative agreement between the Brazilian Institute of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (IBP) and the Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency (IBAMA). In order to provide support for plannin...

Migratory animals are threatened by human-induced global change. However, little is known about how stopover habitat, essential for refuelling during migration, affects the population dynamics of migratory species. Using 20 years of continent-wide citizen science data, we assess population trends of ten shorebird taxa that refuel on Yellow Sea tida...

Migratory animals are threatened by human-induced global change. However, little is known about how stopover habitat, essential for refuelling during migration, affects the population dynamics of migratory species. Using 20 years of continent-wide citizen science data, we assess population trends of ten shorebird taxa that refuel on Yellow Sea tida...

Supplementary Figures, Supplementary Tables and Supplementary Note

Knowledge of the dispersal capacity of species is crucial to assess their extinction risk, and to establish appropriate monitoring and management strategies. The Providence petrel (Pterodroma solandri) presently breeds only at Lord Howe Island (~32,000 breeding pairs) and Phillip Island-7 km south of Norfolk Island (~20 breeding pairs). A much larg...

Seabirds occurring south of the Antarctic Polar Front are composed of three groups: ice-obligate, ice-tolerant and ice-avoiding species. The ice-obligate species are, with rare exception, associated with sea ice, year round, or at least waters previously ice-covered during winter; if sea ice fails to form, as is increasingly the case in the Antarct...

Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis numbers in south-east Tasmania have fluctuated by an order of magnitude during the last 50 years. Current numbers (2010 - 2015) of between 500 and 1000 are at the lower end of the range, which peaked at nearly 4000 between 1981 and 1983. Superimposed on an overall long-term decrease are medium-term fluctuations...

Decreases in shorebird populations are increasingly evident worldwide, especially in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway (EAAF). To arrest these declines, it is important to understand the scale of both the problem and the solutions. We analysed an expansive Australian citizen-science dataset, spanning the period 1973 to 2014, to explore factors rel...

Beaches are connections between marine and terrestrial environments, and as they are highly dynamic, they demand adaptation and flexibility by inhabitant species. Along Tasmania's beaches and coastline, resident shorebirds have acclimatised and become year-around stationary territory holders. This life strategy requires an environment and territory...

The ongoing decrease in the extent and health of saltmarsh wetlands from direct human impacts, which is exacerbated by climate change and sea level rise, has recently seen Subtropical and Temperate Coastal Saltmarsh listed as a ‘threatened ecological community’ (category: vulnerable) under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Co...

Seabirds and other land-breeding marine predators are considered to be useful and practical indicators of the state of marine ecosystems because of their dependence on marine prey and the accessibility of their populations at breeding colonies. Historical counts of breeding populations of these higher-order marine predators are one of few data sour...

Blood parasites are potential threats to the health of penguins and to their conservation and management. Little penguins Eudyptula minor are native to Australia and New Zealand, and are susceptible to piroplasmids (Babesia), hemosporidians (Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, Plasmodium) and kinetoplastids (Trypanosoma). We studied a total of 263 wild li...

A B S T R A C T Blood parasites are potential threats to the health of penguins and to their conservation and management. Little penguins Eudyptula minor are native to Australia and New Zealand, and are susceptible to piroplasmids (Babesia), hemosporidians (Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, Plasmodium) and kinetoplastids (Trypanosoma). We studied a tota...

A beach-washed carcass of a southern right whale dolphin (Lissodelphis peronii) in December 2013 was the ninth confirmed stranding record from Tasmania. Details of the carcass are presented, and all previous records from Tasmania tabulated for the first time. A seasonal pattern in records may be present, with the majority of records being from wint...

Four broad categories of human activities that presently threaten Antarctic wildlife in the Antarctic were identified: (1) tourism and non-governmental activities, (2) scientific research, (3) commercial fisheries and (4) whaling. Two further broad categories of threats that originate from multiple forms of human activities are: (1) shipping-relate...

Climate and competition influence seabird population size yet are rarely considered simultaneously. Here, we consider the influence of climate on nominal abundance trends, and test for evidence of interspecific competition based on 31 yr of count data from 3 co-occurring gull species in southeastern Tasmania. The silver gull Chroicocephalus novaeho...

Satellite telemetry data are a key source of animal distribution information for marine ecosystem management and conservation activities. We used two decades of telemetry data from the East Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean. Habitat utilization models for the spring/summer period were developed for six highly abundant, wide-ranging meso- and t...

The increasing rate of incidents involving vessels in the Southern Ocean (including vessels sinking) has highlighted the potential for substantial fuel spills into the Antarctic environment. An increasing number of tourist and fishing vessels, often without ice strengthened hulls, are penetrating farther into, and staying longer in, Antarctic water...

Antarctica was the last continent to be discovered and colonized by people, and this has resulted in generally sparse meteorological, oceanographic and biological data for the Antarctic and much of the Southern Ocean. Within the Antarctic region, here defined to include all regions south of the Antarctic Polar Front, much of the land-based biologic...

Current evidence of phenological responses to recent climate change is substantially biased towards northern hemisphere temperate regions. Given regional differences in climate change, shifts in phenology will not be uniform across the globe, and conclusions drawn from temperate systems in the northern hemisphere might not be applicable to other re...

Seabirds are one of the most threatened groups of birds globally and, overall, their conservation status is deteriorating rapidly. Southern hemisphere countries are over-represented in the number of species of conservation concern yet long-term phenological data on seabirds in the southern hemisphere is limited. A better understanding of the implic...

Seabird surveys in January – March 2006 of a poorly known area of the Southern Ocean adjacent to the East Antarctic coast identified six seabird communities, several of which were comparable to seabird communities identified both in adjacent sectors of the Antarctic, and elsewhere in the Southern Ocean. These results support previous proposals that...

The increasing rate of incidents involving vessels in the Southern Ocean (including vessels sinking) has highlighted the potential for substantial fuel spills into the Antarctic environment. An increasing number of tourist and fishing vessels, often without ice strengthened hulls, are penetrating farther into, and staying longer in, Antarctic water...

Oil pollution is a significant conservation concern. We examined data from six institutions along the coast of South America: Emergency Relief Team of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Fundación Mundo Marino, Centro de Recuperação de Animais Marinhos, Natura Patagonia, Associação R3 Animal, and Mar del Plata Aquarium and data from resighti...

We review the history of how research directed towards marine ornithology has led to an appreciation of seabirds as highly specialized marine organisms. Beginning with R. C. Murphy (Pacific), V. C. Wynne-Edwards (Atlantic), and associates in the early 1900s, the research approach grew from an emphasis on seabird single-species ecology to an appreci...

Although there is growing evidence of climate warming, for many regions the broader effects of climate variation on marine top predators remains unknown owing to the difficulty in obtaining, for synthesis, long-term and short-term datasets on multiple species. In the Australian region, climatic and oceanographic variability and change have been sho...

Waters off the western Antarctic Peninsula (i.e., the eastern Bellingshausen Sea) are unusually complex owing to the convergence of several major fronts. Determining the relative influence of fronts on occurrence patterns of top-trophic species in that area, therefore, has been challenging. In one of the few ocean-wide seabird data syntheses, in th...

Knowledge of the trophic functioning of Southern Ocean ecosystems is critical to their understanding and management. Marine ecosystem models, often used to explore the potential impacts of human disturbance and climate change, and for fisheries stock assessments, generally rely on suitable data to underpin the parameterization of taxon attributes a...

Knowledge of the trophic functioning of Southern Ocean ecosystems is critical to their understanding and management. Marine ecosystem models, often used to explore the potential impacts of human disturbance and climate change, and for fisheries stock assessments, generally rely on suitable data to underpin the parameterization of taxon attributes a...

Six species of penguins breed on the Antarctic continent, the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Shetland and South Orkney Islands. Their breeding populations within the Antarctic Peninsula, and the South Orkney and South Shetland Is., and estimates of global populations are given. Typical breeding seasons are also presented, but it must be noted that...

We are among the scientists objecting to the eco-certification of Ross Sea Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni), as described by E. Stokstad in his News Focus story "Behind the eco-label, a debate over Antarctic toothfish" (24 September, p. 1596). The public perceives a certification by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to mean an environm...

Eckener Point (64° 26′S; 61° 36′W) lies on the northeast side of the entrance to Charlotte Bay and southeast of Murray Island, on the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula (Fig. 1). Data from a 1987 census (Woehler 1993) show 40 breeding pairs of chinstrap penguins Pygoscelis antarctica at the site. An unpublished report of 180 nests of bl...

Sooty (Puffinus griseus) and short-tailed (P. tenuirostris) shearwaters are abundant seabirds that range widely across global oceans. Understanding the foraging ecology of these species in the Southern Ocean is important for monitoring and ecosystem conservation and management. Tracking data from sooty and short-tailed shearwaters from three region...