Abbott’s Booby measures approximately 80 cm from beak to tail; has off-white plumage; black panda-like eye patches; black wings, flank and tail marks; and black outer ends to its blue webbed feet. Males have pale grey bills, tipped black; while females have black-tipped pink bills.
Abbott's Booby |
Papasula abbotti
Status: Endangered on the EPBC Act list
Government evidence of impact of climate change:
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Australian Government, Conservation Advice, Papasula abbotti
Climate change Severe storm events Populations of species on Christmas Island are small and highly vulnerable to the impacts associated with broad scale threats such as climate change.
The Christmas Island National Park Climate Change Strategy (Director of National Parks 2011) predicts a number of effects of climate change on the island including a decrease in the frequency of storms and an increase in the intensity of extreme weather events.
Prey depletion Climate change related impacts; such as increases in sea surface temperature; may adversely affect marine food chains (Director of National Parks 2011).
Another consequence of the environmental effects associated with climate change is a range shift in marine species; with most species studied moving in a poleward direction (Sorte et al. 2010).
These threats include habitat clearing; climate change and activities that result in the introduction of invasive species into habitat.
Short term objectives addressed Threats mitigated I; II; III; IV Description The impacts of climate change on and around Christmas Island are predicted to include an increase in sea temperatures and more intense but less frequent storm events.
Adaptation options that will enhance the ability of seabirds to cope with climate change related impacts have been examined for other species (Hobday et al. 2014 and Alderman and Hobday 2017).
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