Oran Donohue
SEA DISC
11/25/12
Short-Tailed Albatross Role in Ecosystem
The Short-Tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) is best distinguished from other
albatrosses by its large, bubblegum-pink bill, golden crested head, and its amazingly
majestic white, black, and yellow feathers. With a monumental wingspan of over 13 feet
and weighing up to 25 pounds, the Short-Tailed Albatross is the largest albatross in the
North Pacific (Short-tailed Albatross, 2011). Short-Tailed Albatrosses are so beautiful in
the air that superstitious sailors believed they were the reincarnated spirits of dead sailors
who were searching the oceans for their lost friends. (Steiner, 1998) The Short-Tailed
Albatross has an essential importance to the health of the ecosystem and are dependent
upon a healthy marine environment.
The Short-Tailed Albatross influences, and are influenced by, commercially
valuable fish populations, and by widespread populations of upper level-trophic
predators (apex predators) like sharks and whales. This Albatross helps to keep the
ecosystem at a natural equilibrium state by consuming the large populations of surface
fish in their environment and by occupying their specific niche. These amazing birds can
also assist in the dispersal of seeds to new environments when they migrate to different
terrestrial locations to breed or feed. The transportation of seeds from the birds can help
to increase biodiversity in areas that the bird migrates to and help the plants reproduce
and flourish. Their eggs also provide food for the native rodents, reptiles, and small
mammals living in the areas that the Albatrosses breed. This, in part, is a good
contributor for greater species diversity in the bird’s ecosystem because it would provide
a stable food source for the other native animals. Black, or ship rats (Rattus rattus) were
introduced to the habitat of the Short-Tailed Albatross in Torishima at some point during
human occupation. The effect of these rats on short-tailed albatross is unknown, but rats
are known to feed on chicks and eggs of other seabird species. (Short-Tailed Albatross
Recovery Plan. 2008) The birds are an important resource for people who rely on marine
waters for subsistence harvests and provide for cultural and aesthetic value. However, it
is astounding how quickly their presence can be taken away from us when we infringe
too greatly upon their environment or overhunt a specific species. (Seabirds, 2012) 18871902, over a 15-year period, over 5 million Short-Tailed Albatrosses were killed and
clubbed to death for oil and feathers, became known as “the last great massacre.”
(Steiner, 1998)
The role of the Short-Tailed Albatross has changed in the ecosystem because they
no longer exist in great numbers in the wild or in their natural state. Other animals like
crustaceans, shrimp, squid, and small fish that are eaten by the Short-Tailed Albatross, or
that rely on the bird for food, must find their needs elsewhere. The balance of the
ecosystem is being thrown off because the Short-Tailed Albatross has a specific niche,
and since almost all of them are dead, this is a massive problem. All species are part of a
food web, whether they are predators, prey or even competition. When a member of the
food web goes extinct, it indirectly alters the livelihood of the survivors; the Short-Tailed
Albatross is an important species that helps regulate other species in different trophic
levels and needs to be saved. The bird is also a great indicator species because they are
indicators of species richness and endemism patterns. Changes in bird populations can
also provide a useful indication of broader environmental change, even though the
declining of the Short-Tailed Albatross is almost completely because of human actions.
When a species presence in the ecosystem is lessened or completely obliterated, the
ecosystem is much more vulnerable to the introduction of non-native species. If an
invasive species occupies the niche that the Short-Tailed Albatross used to have, the new
non-native species could ignite a detrimental chain reaction causing extinctions,
crowding out biodiversity, altering ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling, and
even changing the evolutionary trajectories of native species. These events can and will
unfold if the Short-Tailed Albatross is left to die out, like so many species before them.
(Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus, 2001)
The Short-Tailed Albatross make nests to house their young in volcanic ash or
grassy terraces on rugged, isolated, windswept islands. The bird’s range is in the Western
North Pacific and islands south of Japan where they can spend months at a time
migrating from place to place. Because they are a migratory bird, young birds may stay at
sea for as long as five years before first returning to land. (Short-tailed Albatross
Phoebastria albatrus, 2001)
Short-Tailed Albatrosses are large, attractive, and appealing, making them an
exemplar species for the conservation of coastal and shore-side land. They tend to settle
their young on land near shore; they have small broods and generally maintain lifelong
relations with each other. They have loyal characteristics and come back to the same
place every year to lay their eggs, most likely with the same mate. Both males & females
sit on the egg alternatively and quest for food during the periods of incubation that lasts
for 65 days. The Albatrosses are K-strategists because they put a great deal of effort into
raising their young. The parents raise the babies for 4-5 months, until the baby learns to
fly, and then they let their child venture into the world alone. (Short Tailed Albatross:
Facts, Characteristics, Habitat and More, 2012) Many baby Short-Tailed Albatrosses die
or become poisoned because their parents mistakenly feed them plastics and other human
waste. When the two birds fall in love and get ready to mate, they favor shelf-edges off
cliffs and areas with strong vertical mixing for the beginning of their family life, because
Short-Tailed Albatrosses are considered to be shelf-edge specialists. So when costal
development is present, the Albatrosses lose their nurseries. Why do these Albatrosses
live on such strange coastal conditions? They have limited diving ability and are largely
relegated to foraging at the sea surface, apposed to flying farther away from the coast and
having to dive in deeper water. (Piatt, 2006) They are similar to us humans in the way
that they can only bob and snorkel at the surface of the water, and cannot breathe or dive
very far under.
The specific diet of the Short-Tailed Albatross is poorly known, but includes
various squid species, flying fish, and crustaceans. The Short-Tailed Albatross lives in a
marine continental shelf biome, this is because the continental shelf-edge and other areas
of upwelling or vertical mixing bring prey closer to the surface where the Short-Tailed
Albatross can grab a meal and take it back to its baby (Piatt, 2006). Many seabirds and
marine mammals also find sustenance in this biome (Woodward, 2012). When feeding,
the Albatross glide along the ocean surface like a celestial being and seize prey with their
bills. When they hunt, they don’t know the difference between fishing bait and a live fish,
so they are constantly snagged on long-line fishing vessels and drown, die, or become
seriously injured. They control the population of the smaller fish in the environment and
are also provide food for top consumers in the environment like tiger sharks, seals, and
whales. (Short-Tailed Albatross 2008) They are therefore a keystone species, because
other organisms benefit from them just living in the environment. The extinction of the
Short-Tailed Albatross would instill a chain reaction in which many other species living
in the same environment would be greatly affected.