20% Of Scotland's Seabird Population Gone In Eight Years, 9% Of UK Total Populations - Scotsman

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LACK of food due to climate change has been blamed for a 19 per cent drop in Scotland's seabird population over the past eight years. Experts say the decline, which is much greater than the 9 per cent drop for the UK as a whole, highlights a deeply worrying trend.

The stark picture is revealed in a report from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), together with the latest figures for 2000 to 2008 from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

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The major cause of the problem is almost certainly a shortage of small fish, such as sand eels, which are likely being affected by rising sea temperatures, they said. It means fewer adult birds are surviving from one year to the next, and not enough chicks are being produced to replace them.

Among species affected were black-legged kittiwake and Arctic skuas, which have fallen by 55 per cent and 71 per cent since the mid-1980s. Arctic terns declined by 26 per cent over the same period. On Copinsay in Orkney, there has been a 70 per cent decline in razorbills, a 57 per cent drop in Kittiwakes and 25 per cent fall in guillemot numbers since 2000.

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http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Climate-blamed-as-one-in.5359811.jp