The Seabird Forest Toolkit: A Resource for Climate Adaptation Across Tropical Ocean Regions

Impacts of sea-level rise to atolls and low islands are expected to increase in severity with global warming; however, atolls and islands with indigenous vegetation supported by seabird colonies will fare better. The team has an opportunity to safeguard regionally important biodiversity and whole-system benefits from land-sea linkages associated with atolls and low oceanic islands by acting now to restore or enhance seabird-derived nutrient subsidies in these ecosystems. They will create a climate adaptation toolkit targeting managers of islands and nearshore systems where seabird-derived nutrient benefits are underrealized due to forest modification, a common scenario. The Seabird Forest Toolkit offers a transformative resource for the conservation community to accelerate the scale and increase the scope at which climate resilience is restored or enhanced in island and reef systems throughout the world’s tropical ocean regions.