Conservation and wildlife
Significant drop in number of seabirds in Iceland 
(Iceland Review Online, 4 October 2010) -- Brunnich’s guillemot has decreased by 44 percent in Iceland since the mid-1980s. Fulmar and guillemot have decreased by 30 percent in the same period, razorbill by 18 percent and kittiwake by 16 percent. The Icelandic seabird stocks account for about a quarter of all seabirds in the North Atlantic and therefore have an undisputed importance internationally, visir.is reports. Professor emeritus Arnthór Gardarsson discussed in a lecture last week how five of the most common seabird stocks in Iceland have changed in the last two decades, both in regard to their size and geographical distribution. The changes are different between places and species. Razorbill has, for example, decreased at Hornstrandir [link to map] in the northern West Fjords but increased on Grímsey island [link to map], off Iceland’s northern coast. The presence of kittiwake is decreasing in many different locations, especially in southeast Iceland where its number has dropped by 80 percent. An overview study of the Icelandic seabird stocks is currently being completed by a research team working on behalf of the University of Iceland, the Icelandic Institute of Natural History and the Icelandic Marine Research Institute. Click here to read more [from Iceland Review] about the condition of seabird stocks in Iceland and here to read about the status of the puffin.
Posted 4 October 2010; 11:57:02 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Circumpolar News, Conservation and Wildlife, Flora and Fauna, Iceland, October 2010
email to: agra...@yukoncollege.yk.ca
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