Seabird population and demographic monitoring in the UK: a review and recommendations for future sampling

Kittiwake, by Ben Darvill / BTO

Author(s): O’Hanlon, N.J., Harris, S.J., Thaxter, C.B., Boersch-Supan, P.H., Robinson, R.A., Balmer, D.E. & Burton, N.H.K.

Published: April 2024   Issue No.: 754

ISBN: 978-1-912642-49-6

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The Seabird Monitoring Programme, funded by the British Trust for Ornithology and Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), in association with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, aims to ensure that sample data on seabird breeding numbers and breeding productivity are collected both regionally and nationally, for 25 species of seabird that regularly breed in Britain and Ireland, to enable their conservation status to be assessed.
Current annual trend information delivered by the Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP) is imprecise, absent, or geographically limited for several UK breeding seabird species. It is therefore of high priority to review the current SMP sampling approach and develop a new sampling strategy. By doing this we can inform coordinated and targeted volunteer and professional monitoring to facilitate the collection of more representative data and, consequently, more robust evidence. This report constitutes that review.
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