Metadata detail: Seabird Utilisation Distributions

Identification

Title

Seabird Utilisation Distributions

Abstract

From 2010 to 2015, the RSPB and partners undertook a series of large-scale seabird tracking studies across the UK during the late incubation / early chick rearing period of the breeding season using cutting-edge GPS tracking technology. For four of the species tracked, there was sufficient data coverage to map their UK-wide at sea distributions using habitat selection models. These four species were European shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis, black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, common guillemot Uria aalge, and razorbill Alca torda. Habitat selection models were based upon all GPS locations and therefore included coverage of all behaviours (e.g. foraging, commuting, resting etc.). This dataset uses the UK distribution maps of these four species to identify important areas of high seabird density at sea, based on hotspot mapping techniques.

Utilisation distributions are 2-dimensional probability distributions that represent the time spent in a specific area and thus the probability of encountering an animal in that location during a future observation period. UK-level utilisation distributions (UD) for European shag, Razorbill, Black-legged Kittiwake and Common Guillemot. UDs are provided in a sequence of 5% contours for each species starting at the 5% utilisation distribution and ending at the 95% utilisation distributions. Within the ecological literature the 95% UD is often used to define the 95% home range of a species and the 50% UD is used to define the 50% core range of a species.

Attribution statement

RSBP. Creative Commons 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.

Data source

RSPB

Licence