1984/08/17 by Ralph W. Schreiber, Elizabeth A. Schreiber · 218 citations
Environmental Science · #Climate variability and models #Avian ecology and behavior #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Seabird #Upwelling #Oceanography #Population #Abiotic component #Pelagic zone #Atoll #Pacific ocean #El Niño Southern Oscillation #Geography #Geology #Ecology #Climatology #Biology #Predation #Reef
paper · doi:10.1126/science.225.4663.713
published in Science 225(4663), 713-716 (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
openalex publication_date 1984/08/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The breeding chronology and reproductive attempts of the seabird community on Christmas Island in the central Pacific Ocean (2 degrees N, 157 degrees 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.