Dispersal and metapopulation dynamics of an oceanic seabird, the wandering albatross, and its consequences for its response to long-line fisheries

1. We measured for the first time in a pelagic seabird the dispersal rate of wandering albatrosses and show that while adults are highly philopatric to breeding sites the dispersal rate of young birds is not negligible, even at large distances. We show that the wandering albatross has metapopulation dynamics, i.e. migration events axe sufficient to influence the dynamics of populations at other islands. 2. The spatial dynamics of wandering albatross has important consequences when analysing and making projections of the effects that incidental by-catch related to long-line fishery activities at different spatial scales can have on the persistence of local populations of wandering albatross.