Land cover change and management implications for the conservation of a seabird in an urban coastal zone under climate change

Summary Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) is one of the most ecologically important seabirds in New Zealand and depends strongly on terrestrial ecosystems for nesting, moulting and breeding. Wellington, New Zealand, is one of the world's most important biodiversity hot spots for this species, mo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological management & restoration 2018-05, Vol.19 (2), p.147-155
Main Authors: Rastandeh, Amin, Pedersen Zari, Maibritt, Brown, Daniel K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic birds
Biodiversity
Biodiversity hot spots
Breeding
Climate change
Climate effects
Coastal ecology
Coastal zone
Environmental changes
Environmental impact
Geographic information systems
Land cover
land cover change
Land use
Landscape
landscape management
Little Penguin
Management
Molting
Nesting
New Zealand
Remote sensing
Settlements
Species
Suburbs
Terrestrial ecosystems
Terrestrial environments
Threatened species
urban biodiversity
Urbanization
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Summary:Summary Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) is one of the most ecologically important seabirds in New Zealand and depends strongly on terrestrial ecosystems for nesting, moulting and breeding. Wellington, New Zealand, is one of the world's most important biodiversity hot spots for this species, mostly in confluence with human urban settlements. This species is currently suffering from the local impacts of climate change associated with urbanisation. Two suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand, that are used seasonally by Little Penguin as terrestrial habitat were selected as the study area to address two issues: (i) how local impacts of climate change may affect the population and habitat structure of species in urban coastal zones where land cover change occurs; and (ii) how landscape management practices may help to mitigate the impacts imposed by climate change on the species in such a context. Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems techniques were applied to quantify and measure the extent of the prehuman forests and current land cover classes in the study area to reveal the degree to which land cover has changed from predevelopment to the present time. The research shows that land cover change in the study area has been widespread and partly irreversible, particularly in areas covered by the class Built‐up Area. Results reveal that there are still spatial opportunities to safeguard this vulnerable species against the ill effects of climate change through landscape management practices.
ISSN:1442-7001
1442-8903
DOI:10.1111/emr.12302