Abstract:
This dataset contains breeding success data from known-age black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) fledged since austral summer 1977 at Bird Island, South Georgia. This dataset includes 2648 breeding attempts from 360 individuals at Bird Island between 1987 and 2024. Data on individual age is also included.
This work was funded as part of the Bird Island Long-term Monitoring Programme at BAS.
Keywords:
Bird Island, Thalassarche melanophris, black-browed albatrosses, breeding success
Phillips, R., Bennison, A., & Wood, A. (2026). Breeding success of known-age black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) at Bird Island, South Georgia, 1977 to 2024 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/e2d734d6-e632-427e-b302-a206f92ebd63
| Access Constraints: | This data is under embargo until the publication of an associated paper. |
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| Use Constraints: | This data is governed by the NERC data policy (http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/sites/data/policy/) and supplied under Open Government Licence v.3 (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/). |
| Creation Date: | 2026-03-24 |
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| Dataset Progress: | Complete |
| Dataset Language: | English |
| ISO Topic Categories: |
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| Parameters: |
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| Personnel: | |
| Name | UK Polar Data Centre |
| Role(s) | Metadata Author |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Prof Richard A Phillips |
| Role(s) | Investigator, Technical Contact |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Dr Ashley Bennison |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Dr Andrew G Wood |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Parent Dataset: | N/A |
| Reference: | Mohring, B., Potts, J.R., Wilson, A.J., Reale, D., Phillips, R.A., Weimerskirch, H., Barbraud, C., Bennison, A., Delord, K., Wood, A.G., Peroteau, S., Rouby, E., Ventura, F., Patrick, S.C., (accepted) Environmental variability shapes life-history trade-offs within and between populations of a long-lived seabird. Accepted in Ecology Letters (doi to come) Froy, H., Lewis, S., Nussey, D.H., Wood, A.G., Phillips, R.A. 2017. Contrasting drivers of reproductive ageing in albatrosses. J Anim Ecol. 86:1022-1032. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12712 Pardo, D., Forcada, J., Wood, A.G., Tuck, G.N., Ireland, L., Pradel, R., Croxall, J.P., Phillips, R.A., 2017. Additive effects of climate and fisheries drive ongoing declines in multiple albatross species. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 114. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1618819114 |
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| Quality: | Individuals breeding for the first time after the age of 20 years old were removed from the dataset, as they likely reflect ring-reading errors or chronic nonbreeders. This threshold led to the exclusion of 27 birds. | |
| Lineage/Methodology: | Annual monitoring of black-browed albatrosses at Bird Island began in (sub) colony H from austral summer 1975/76, (sub) colony J from austral summer 1995/96 and (sub) colony N from austral summer 2007/08, and continues to date. The data presented here are range until 2024. All breeding adults are ringed with a metal ring (stainless-steel or alloy) and a coloured plastic ring with a unique alphanumeric code. All breeding adults and non-breeders are identified on daily rounds in the early season, and all chicks ringed each year. Nests are visited at daily to weekly intervals, depending on the stage, to record breeding outcome (chick fledged or nest failed). See Froy et al. (2017) J Anim Ecol. 86:1022-1032 and Pardo et al. (2017) PNAS 114: E10829-E10837 for further details. Breeding success is recorded as follows; 0: failed breeding attempt, 1: successfully fledged chick | |
| Temporal Coverage: | |
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| Start Date | 1977-01-01 |
| End Date | 2024-12-31 |
| Spatial Coverage: | |
| Latitude | |
| Southernmost | -54.0115 |
| Northernmost | -54.0115 |
| Longitude | |
| Westernmost | -38.05 |
| Easternmost | -38.05 |
| Altitude | |
| Min Altitude | N/A |
| Max Altitude | N/A |
| Depth | |
| Min Depth | N/A |
| Max Depth | N/A |
| Location: | |
| Location | South Georgia Island |
| Detailed Location | Bird Island |
| Data Storage: | 2x .csv files |
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