Dr Fiona McDuie

Description of my research activities conducted at Heron Island Research Station.

Vol. 1, No. 4 - December 2013 issue article: 'Meet the researcher'.

The quarterly magazine published by Birdlife Australia.

Adaptation Research Network for Marine Biodiversity and Resources Research Support Grants for Honours and Masters students were initiated through its quest to facilitate and encourage student interest and engagement in, and highlight the importance of, marine climate change adaptation research. The grants of up to $7000 provided project support for students researching climate change adaptation of Australia’s marine biodiversity and resources. Outputs and outcomes must provide managers and policy makers with adaptation recommendations.

Research support grants abstract by successful first round applicant Fiona McDuie (School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University), providing a short overview of her proposed project:

Climate change has been shown to significantly affect seabird reproductive parameters at various locations throughout the world. Seabirds’ reliance on marine resources makes
them excellent predictors of the impacts that climate change has on oceanographic
processes and productivity. Wedge-tailed shearwaters are an ideal species for modelling
potential climate change impacts at upper trophic levels in the Great Barrier Reef and
a population breeding on Heron Island constitutes the largest seabird population of the Pacific Ocean. Behavioural and developmental divergences are exhibited by this population and it is not known if these differences are facultative or colony-specific adaptations maintained by natural selection. Therefore I am investigating the behavioural and developmental ability of Heron Island wedge-tailed shearwaters to cope with significant variations in background food availability known to be linked to climate driven variation in oceanography. This study will maximise our awareness of the affect climate change scenarios might have on this and potentially even other seabird colonies. We can then understand and predict the level of threat to various seabird populations and minimise those threats to areas or resources necessary to their survival. This study will lead directly to advising appropriate organisations on policy making decisions and management of this key seabird population. It will ensure effective conservation strategies are utilised to ultimately ensure their survival.