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Science 17 August 1984:
Vol. 225. no. 4663, pp. 713 - 716
DOI: 10.1126/science.225.4663.713
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Articles

Central Pacific Seabirds and the El Niño Southern Oscillation: 1982 to 1983 Perspectives

RALPH W. SCHREIBER 1 and ELIZABETH ANNE SCHREIBER 1

1 Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, California 90007

The breeding chronology and reproductive attempts of the seabird community on Christmas Island in the central Pacific Ocean (2°N, 157°W) were interrupted by the 1982-1983 El Niño Southern Oscillation. The resultant reproductive failure and disappearance of the entire seabird community of this equatorial atoll represents the most dramatic interruption on record of a seabird community located distant from coastal upwelling. Our data indicate the effect that the abiotic and biotic aspects of a global atmospheric-oceanic anomaly have on marine birds. The 1982-1983 El Niño Southern Oscillation provides an example of selective pressures and a natural experiment in the study of vertebrate population dynamics.

Submitted on December 20, 1983
Accepted on April 2, 1984


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