A systematic review of the research trends in seabird behavioral flexibility

BIAGGIOTTI BARCHIESE MARÍA CANDELARIA; BIONDI LAURA MARINA; GARCÍA GERMÁN OSCAR

Marine Ornithology

Pacific Seabird Group

Año: 2023

1018-3337

There has been an increase in interest in the study of behavioral flexibility for its role in how organisms face disturbances and changes in the environment they inhabit. However, there is not much research on this topic for seabirds, whose conservation status is affected by multiple issues related to changes in their environment. The goal of this paper was to analyze research on seabird behavioral flexibility and to identify knowledge gaps. A systematic review was conducted, using academic search engines and including articles published from 1986 to 2022. In the 143 articles that were analyzed, the following were identified: publication date, family and species being studied, annual cycle period, research context and focus, behavioral flexibility components studied, and related environmental issues. The results show that the study of the seabird issue has increased, especially for the Spheniscidae, Alcidae, and Laridae families. Most were field studies during the reproductive period in a parental care context, mainly focusing on studying behavioral diversity and personality. In the studies that focused on behavioral flexibility mechanisms, the most studied components were neophobia and exploration, whereas in the mixed–approach studies, the study of boldness prevailed. The environmental issue that was examined the most in the analyzed behavioral studies was global climate change. This review shows that, even if the studies on seabird behavioral flexibility have increased in the last decade, few of them focus on the link among specific behavioral flexibility components, the conservation status, and the environmental issues pertaining to the place where the species live.