Dr Michael Brooke

My conservation work is connected to my position as Curator of Birds in the University Museum of Zoology and ranges from the strictly practical to more theoretical research which nevertheless aims to provide information of direct use to conservation planning. This spectrum is reflected in the work of recent research students who have studied, inter alia, declining ring ousels in Britain, climate-induced shifts in the geographical ranges of North American birds, and what causes the apparent male adult sex ratio bias among threatened bird species.

Islands

Through connections with the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, I am involved with ongoing programmes to remove troublesome alien species from oceanic islands, for example in the Pitcairn Islands of the tropical Pacific and the Cape Verdes off West Africa. A companion desk study, undertaken collaboratively with the RSPB, investigated how, at a global level, such eradication programmes might be prioritised in terms of their conservation worth to birds. There may be scope for expanding this work to integrate other taxa.

While the know-how for ridding islands of invasives is improving fast, the information on how rapidly species of conservation concern recover after an eradication is poor. Can we develop a better understanding of the circumstances in which that recovery is given a kick-start by immigration, as opposed to enhanced reproductive success? The Falkland Islands, where some 60 islands have now benefitted from rat eradication, is an archipelago where such a project might be undertaken. Recently I paid a reconnaissance visit to the Islands with the practical assistance of the newly-established South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute.

Since 2002, I have led a small team monitoring the population dynamics of the Critically Endangered Raso Lark of the Cape Verdes, a species displaying a marked male sex ratio bias. The species has increased remarkably in numbers 2004-2011, from about 65 individuals to 1500. It now seems likely that the population can only decline which may offer enhanced opportunities for investigating selection on the morphology which shows an unusual degree of sexual size dimorphism.

Seabirds

Seabirds continue to throw up taxonomic problems. Slightly perversely, these may be due to the extreme philopatry of some species and the considerable post-Pleistocene range lability of others. Resolution of the taxonomic uncertainty will help ensure conservation resources are wisely targeted. One seabird of great interest, because of its extraordinary range expansion, is the Northern Fulmar. Our contemporary studies provided little support for the traditional 'out-of-Iceland' scenario for the expansion. We are currently exploring whether the picture painted by 100-year old museum specimens is similar.

Bird plumage

While some aspects of bird plumage are clearly related to sexual selection, we lack any general predictive framework for bird coloration. I would therefore welcome any projects designed to investigate more ecological explanations of bird colours. One recent research student studied the widespread occurrence of black-brown sexual dimorphism among passerine birds.

Key publications:

Clay, T. A., & Brooke, M. de L. Trans-equatorial migration links oceanic frontal habitats across the Pacific Ocean: year-round movements and foraging activity of a small gadfly petrel. (2024). Marine Biology, 171, Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-023-04373-3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-023-04373-3

T.A. Clay, P. Hodum, E. Hagen, M. de L. Brooke Adjustment of foraging trips and flight behaviour to own and partner mass and wind conditions by a far-ranging seabird. (2023). Anim. Behav., 198 (2023), pp. 165-179, 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.02.007 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.02.007

JJ Negro, J Doña, M Carmen Blázquez, A Rodríguez, JE Herbert-Read & M de L Brooke. Contrasting stripes are a widespread feature of group living in birds, mammals and fishes. (2020). Proc. R. Soc. B.287: 20202021. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2021 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2021

M Stervander, EG Dierickx, J Thorley, M de L Brooke & H Westerdahl. High MHC gene copy number maintains diversity despite homozygosity in a Critically Endangered single-island endemic bird, but no evidence of MHC-based mate choice. (2020). Mol. Ecol. 29: 3578-3592. doi.org/10.1111/mec.15471 https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15471

EG Dierickx, SYW Sin, HPJ van Veelen, M de L Brooke, Y Liu, SV Edwards & SH Martin. Neo-sex chromosomes and demography shape genetic diversity in the Critically Endangered Raso Lark. (2020). Proc. Roy. Soc. B 287: 20192613.dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2613 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2613

EG Dierickx, RA Robinson & MdeL Brooke. Survival of a long-lived single island endemic, the Raso lark Alauda razae, in relation to fluctuating population and rainfall. (2019). Sci Rep 9, 19557 doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55782-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55782-8

M Brooke.Far from Land: the mysterious lives of seabirds. (2018). Princeton University Press, New Jersey. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691151428/far-from-land

TA Clay, RA Phillips, A. Manica, HA. Jackson & M de L Brooke. Escaping the oligotrophic gyre? The year-round movements, foraging behaviour and habitat preferences of Murphy’s petrels. (2017). Mar Ecol Prog Ser, 579: 139–155. doi.org/10.3354/meps12244 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12244

M de L Brooke, E Bonnaud, BJ Dilley, E. Flint, ND Holmes, HP Jones, P Provost, G. Rocamora, PG Ryan, C Surman & RT Buxton. Seabird population changes following mammal eradications on islands. (2017). Anim Conserv, 21: 3-12. doi:10.1111/acv.12344 https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12344 

W Amos, HJ Nichols, T Churchyard & MdeL Brooke. Rat eradication comes within a whisker! A case study of a failed project from the South Pacific. (2016). R. Soc. Open Sci. 3: 160110. dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160110 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160110