Effects of Human Activities on Southern Giant Petrels and Skuas in the Antarctic Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.) vorgelegt dem Rat der Biologisch-Pharmazeutischen Fakultät der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena von Diplom-Biologin Simone Pfeiffer geboren am 30. Januar 1975 in Marienberg Jena, den 06.12.2004 Gutachter: 1.: ..Prof. Dr. Halle............................................................................. 2.: ..Prof. Dr. Becker.......................................................................... 3.: ..Prof. Dr. Wallschläger................................................................. Tag der Doktorprüfung: .18.04.2005.................................................. Tag der öffentlichen Verteidigung: .10.05.2005................................. CONTENTS List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures................................................................................................................................. iv 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Study objectives ........................................................................................................... 3 2 STUDY AREA AND SPECIES 2.1 Study Area ................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Human Activities .................................................................................................... 7 2.1.2 Relative Importance of Stressors............................................................................. 12 2.2 Southern Giant Petrels................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Skuas............................................................................................................................. 14 3 EFFECTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON BEHAVIOUR AND HEART RATE OF SOUTHERN GIANT PETRELS 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 15 3.2 Methods ........................................................................................................................ 15 3.2.1 Behaviour ............................................................................................................... 16 3.2.2 Heart Rate ............................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Results .......................................................................................................................... 19 3.3.1 Behaviour ............................................................................................................... 19 3.3.2 Heart Rate ............................................................................................................... 23 3.4 Discussion .................................................................................................................... 27 4 EFFECTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON BEHAVIOUR AND HEART RATE OF SKUAS 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 33 4.2 Methods ........................................................................................................................ 34 4.2.1 Behaviour ............................................................................................................... 34 4.2.2 Heart Rate ............................................................................................................... 34 4.3 Results .......................................................................................................................... 35 4.3.1 Behaviour ............................................................................................................... 35 4.3.2 Heart Rate ............................................................................................................... 38 4.4 Discussion .................................................................................................................... 45 5 EFFECTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON HORMONE LEVELS OF SOUTHERN GIANT PETRELS AND SKUAS 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 49 5.2 Methods ........................................................................................................................ 50 5.3 Results .......................................................................................................................... 51 5.3.1 Southern Giant Petrels ............................................................................................ 51 5.3.2 Skuas ...................................................................................................................... 53 5.4 Discussion .................................................................................................................... 57 i 6 EFFECTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON REPRODUCTIVE PARAMETERS 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 62 6.2 Methods ......................................................................................................................... 62 6.3 Southern Giant Petrels: Results and Discussion ........................................................... 63 6.4 Skuas: Results and Discussion ...................................................................................... 66 7 RISK ASSESSMENT AND SPECIES PROTECTION MEASURES 7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 70 7.2 Risk Assessment............................................................................................................. 70 7.2.1 Human Activities...................................................................................................... 70 7.2.2 Relative Importance of Stressors ............................................................................. 72 7.2.3 Planned Human Activities and Their Possible Consequences ................................ 74 7.3 Existing Protection Measures......................................................................................... 74 7.4 Recommended Minimum Distances ............................................................................. 75 7.4.1 Recommendations for Visits ................................................................................... 75 7.4.2 Recommendations for Air Traffic ........................................................................... 76 7.5 Recommendations for Zoning ....................................................................................... 77 7.6 Scientific and Management Activities ........................................................................... 78 8 ECOLOGICAL STUDIES TOWARD THE MANAGEMENT OF AN ANTARCTIC TOURIST LANDING SITE 8.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 79 8.2 Methods ......................................................................................................................... 80 8.3 Results ........................................................................................................................... 82 8.4 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 84 9 FINAL DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK 9.1 Final Discussion ............................................................................................................ 88 9.2. Outlook.......................................................................................................................... 94 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... 95 ZUSAMMENFASSUNG ........................................................................................................ 97 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 99 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. List of existing stations and field huts on the Fildes Peninsula ............................... 7 Table 2.2. Summary of flight activities around the Fildes Peninsula ....................................... 10 Table 2.3. List of received maximum sound levels of objects measured in bird breeding sites 11 Table 2.4. Assumed effects of stressors on parameters and characteristics of stressors ........... 13 Table 3.1. Behavioural categories for nesting study birds in the OBSERVER Programme .... 16 Table 3.2. Percent of SGP with behavioural change from ‘observe’ to ‘alert’ during stimuli .. 22 Table 3.3. Behavioural responses of incubating SGP on Ardley and Geologist Island ............ 22 Table 3.4. Summary of physiological and behavioural responses of SGP ............................... 32 Table 4.1. Territorial attendance means of BS and SPS breeding pairs ................................... 35 Table 4.2. Percent of BS and SPS with behavioural change from ‘observe’ to ‘alert’ ............. 37 Table 4.3. Chi-square tests