INSEAD Annual Report 2023-20143 test - Flipbook - Page 15
Projects
Marine Science 2023
Western Indian Ocean
Chagos Archipelago
Lead investigators: Dr. Malcolm Nicoll,
Zoological Society of London,
Dr. Matthieu le Corre, Université de la Réunion
Lead investigator: Dr. Steve Votier,
Heriot Watt University
The Western Indian Ocean supports in the region
of 19 million seabirds of 30 species across 54
individual sites, and is one of the most important
aggregations of tropical seabirds in the world.
Different seabird colonies are connected through the
movements of individual birds between sometimes
remote oceanic islands. This project assesses how
connected six, ecologically contrasting, seabird
species are within the Western Indian Ocean
by establishing the rate of gene flow between
colonies. This will identify discrete ‘conservation or
management units’ which are themselves made up of
one or more connected colonies.
The team are also exploring what encourages
the birds to move to other islands. It is doing this
by tracking bird movements using satellite tags
and identifying areas that are foraging hot-spots
for breeding red-footed boobies (Sula sula) and
wedge-tailed shearwaters (Ardenna pacifica). From
these data the researchers can propose what the
underlying environmental drivers are that are helping
to create these hotspots. This then guides how, and
where, seabirds can be protected in the region.
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The Chagos Archipelago is the most isolated
seabird breeding community in the Indian Ocean
with approximately 700,000 seabirds of 18 different
species. However, we currently know nothing about
the connectivity among seabird colonies within the
archipelago, nor if, and how, they link with the wider
Western Indian Ocean.
This multidisciplinary research project focusses
on red-footed boobies (Sula sula) and wedgetailed shearwaters (Ardenna pacifica). It combines
observations of seabird movement and ecology
together with data obtained from echosounders of
the birds’ fish prey, oceanography and terrestrial
habitat maps to determine what drives the movement
of these seabird species on land and at sea.
Importantly, it seeks to determine whether immature
seabirds have a role in connecting colonies.
Researchers are using the Chagos Archipelago as a
model system to answer questions about fine-scale
movement and dispersal of seabirds, which can
then be applied to other seabirds around the Indian
Ocean region.
