Norman Ratcliffe

Seabird Ecologist

Norman Ratcliffe

Contact

Norman Ratcliffe

Biography

I was born in Alton Staffordshire, in 1968, and even as a toddler had a fascination with wildlife: I spent most of my childhood birdwatching and pond dipping. I studied Zoology for my degree in Manchester, before becoming a PhD student at Glasgow supervised by Bob Furness, where I studied population ecology of great skuas in Shetland. I then spent a short spell collecting and analysing seabird transect data for JNCC in Aberdeen before becoming RSPBs’ seabird biologist for the following 13 years. Whilst there I conducted research to help inform RSPBs policy and management regarding seabirds, particularly demographic studies throughout the Atlantic region (including the Azores, Cape Verde, Tristan da Cunha and Greenland).  I worked two consecutive winters lecturing on cruise ships in the Antarctic for Quark Expeditions, visiting most of the South Shetlands, northern Antarctic Peninsula and the north coast of South Georgia. I began work for BAS in 2008 and have developed a diverse portfolio of research on penguins, shags and auks.

Research interests

My key research interests are in seabird population and foraging ecology and how these are influenced by oceanographic processes, fisheries interactions, competition and predation. My main goal is to deliver excellent research that has significant applied benefits in terms of informing conservation policy and management, including that relating to climate change, marine protected areas, invasive species and fisheries.
I currently study the foraging and population ecology of high latitude diving seabirds at British Antarctic Survey, focusing on penguins, shags and auks. The work mainly involves collecting data using hi-tech tracking equipment which are subjected to advanced statistical modelling methods to elucidate migration patterns and foraging strategies. Current projects include:
1. Niche partitioning among penguins in the South Atlantic
2. Niche partitioning among breeding Alcids in Arctic Norway
3. Individual specialisation in diving behaviour and diet in blue-eyed shags
4. Relationships between foraging behaviour, habitat use and diet in gentoo penguins.
5. Winter movements of king penguins
6. Development of marine protected areas for macaroni penguins around the UK and French OTs
7. Macaroni penguin demography

Collaborations

I currently have collaborations with the Universities of Glasgow, Exeter, Liverpool, Reading, Cape Town, Nelson Mandela (South Africa), Coimbra (Portugal) and the research institute CNRS (France). I also have links to government departments and NGOs, including RSPB, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Falklands Conservation, Tristan Conservation, Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and CCAMLR.

See a list of my publications on Google Scholar:

http://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&view_op=list_works&gmla=AJsN-F4-oPqENxQD_VMc_ctHrwGAKgx1Sc4hbme8kKfdrhaxZKqPoZzNfkdRdBJ3VSuv02fq8C7T8rzhKWMUIho7bBt12y2dlA&user=qUBQ_tAZKUYC

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

2019

Clewlow, Harriet L., Takahashi, Akinori, Watanabe, Shinichi, Votier, Stephen C., Downie, Rod, Ratcliffe, Norman. (2019) Niche partitioning of sympatric penguins by leapfrog foraging is resilient to climate change. Journal of Animal Ecology, 88. 223-235. 10.1111/1365-2656.12919

Dias, M.P., Warwick-Evans, Victoria, Carneiro, A.P.B., Harris, C., Lascelles, B.G., Clewlow, Harriet L., Manco, F., Ratcliffe, Norman, Trathan, Phil N.. (2019) Using habitat models to identify marine important bird and biodiversity areas for Chinstrap Penguins Pygoscelis antarcticus in the South Orkney Islands. Polar Biology, 42. 17-25. 10.1007/s00300-018-2404-4

Seward, Adam, Ratcliffe, Norman, Newton, Stephen, Caldow, Richard, Piec, Daniel, Morrison, Paul, Cadwallender, Tom, Davies, Wesley, Bolton, Mark. (2019) Metapopulation dynamics of roseate terns: Sources, sinks and implications for conservation management decisions. Journal of Animal Ecology, 88. 138-153. 10.1111/1365-2656.12904

2018

Warwick-Evans, Victoria, Ratcliffe, Norman, Lowther, Andrew D., Manco, Fabrizio, Ireland, Louise, Clewlow, Harriet L., Trathan, Phil N.. (2018) Using habitat models for chinstrap penguins Pygoscelis antarctica to advise krill fisheries management during the penguin breeding season. Diversity and Distributions, 24. 1756-1771. 10.1111/ddi.12817

Oppel, Steffen, Bolton, Mark, Carneiro, Anna P.B., Dias, Maria P., Green, Jonathan A., Masello, Juan F., Phillips, Richard A., Owen, Ellie, Quillfeldt, Petra, Beard, Annalea, Bertrand, Sophie, Blackburn, Jez, Boersma, P. Dee, Borges, Alder, Broderick, Annette C., Catry, Paulo, Cleasby, Ian, Clingham, Elizabeth, Creuwels, Jeroen, Crofts, Sarah, Cuthbert, Richard J., Dallmeijer, Hanneke, Davies, Delia, Davies, Rachel, Dilley, Ben J., Dinis, Herculano Andrade, Dossa, Justine, Dunn, Michael J., Efe, Marcio A., Fayet, Annette L., Figueiredo, Leila, Frederico, Adelcides Pereira, Gjerdrum, Carina, Godley, Brendan J., Granadeiro, José Pedro, Guilford, Tim, Hamer, Keith C., Hazin, Carolina, Hedd, April, Henry, Leeann, Hernández-Montero, Marcos, Hinke, Jefferson, Kokubun, Nobuo, Leat, Eliza, McFarlane Tranquilla, Laura, Metzger, Benjamin, Militao, Teresa, Monstrond, Gilson, Mullié, Wim, Padget, Oliver, Pearmain, Elizabeth, Pollet, Ingrid L., Puetz, Klemens, Quintana, Flavio, Ratcliffe, Norman, Ronconi, Robert A., Ryan, Peter G., Saldanha, Sarah, Shoji, Akiko, Sim, Jolene, Small, Cleo, Soanes, Louise, Takahashi, Akinori, Trathan, Phil, Trivelpiece, Wayne, Veen, Jan, Wakefield, Ewan, Weber, Nicola, Weber, Sam, Zango, Laura, Daunt, Francis, Ito, Motohiro, Harris, Michael P., Newell, Mark A., Wanless, Sarah, González-Solís, Jacob, Croxall, John. (2018) Spatial scales of marine conservation management for breeding seabirds. Marine Policy, 98. 37-46. 10.1016/j.marpol.2018.08.024

Xavier, Jose C., Velez, N., Trathan, Phil N., Cherel, Y., De Broyer, C., Cánovas, F., Seco, J., Ratcliffe, Norman, Tarling, Geraint A.. (2018) Seasonal prey switching in non-breeding gentoo penguins related to a wintertime environmental anomaly around South Georgia. Polar Biology, 41. 2323-2335. 10.1007/s00300-018-2372-8

Xavier, Jose, Cherel, Yves, Medeiros, Renata, Velez, Nadja, Dewar, Meagan, Ratcliffe, Norman, Carreiro, Ana R, Trathan, Phil N.. (2018) Conventional and molecular analysis of the diet of gentoo penguins: contributions to assess scats for non-invasive penguin diet monitoring. Polar Biology, 41. 2275-2287. 10.1007/s00300-018-2364-8

Dias, Maria P., Carneiro, Ana Paula Bertoldi, Warwick-Evans, Victoria, Harris, Colin, Lorenz, Katharina, Lascelles, Ben, Clewlow, Harriet L., Dunn, Michael J., Hinke, Jefferson T., Kim, Jeong-Hoon, Kokubun, Nobuo, Manco, Fabrizio, Ratcliffe, Norman, Santos, Mercedes, Takahashi, Akinori, Trivelpiece, Wayne, Trathan, Philip N.. (2018) Identification of marine important bird and biodiversity areas for penguins around the South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands. Ecology and Evolution, 8. 10520-10529. 10.1002/ece3.4519

Perkins, Allan, Ratcliffe, Norman, Suddaby, Dave, Ribbands, Brian, Smith, Claire, Ellis, Pete, Meek, Eric, Bolton, Mark. (2018) Combined bottom-up and top-down pressures drive catastrophic population declines of Arctic skuas in Scotland. Journal of Animal Ecology, 87. 1573-1586. 10.1111/1365-2656.12890

Pütz, Klemens, Harris, Sabrina, Ratcliffe, Norman, Rey, Andrea Raya, Poncet, Sally, Lüthi, Bernhard. (2018) Plasticity in the foraging behavior of male Southern Rockhopper Penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) during incubation in the Falkland/Malvinas Islands. Polar Biology, 41. 1801-1814. 10.1007/s00300-018-2320-7

Staniland, Iain, Ratcliffe, Norman, Trathan, Phil, Forcada, Jaume. (2018) Long term movements and activity patterns of an Antarctic marine apex predator: the Leopard Seal. PLOS One, 13. 10.1371/journal.pone.0197767

Ratcliffe, Norman, Adlard, Stacey, Stowasser, Gabriele, McGill, Rona. (2018) Dietary divergence is associated with increased intra-specific competition in a marine predator. Scientific Reports, 8. 10 pp. 10.1038/s41598-018-25318-7

2017

Horswill, Cat, Trathan, Philip N., Ratcliffe, Norman. (2017) Linking extreme interannual changes in prey availability to foraging behaviour and breeding investment in a marine predator, the macaroni penguin. PLOS ONE, 12. 12 pp. 10.1371/journal.pone.0184114

Nicoll, Malcolm A. C., Nevoux, Marie, Jones, Carl G., Ratcliffe, Norman, Ruhomaun, Kevin, Tatayah, Vikash, Norris, Ken. (2017) Contrasting effects of tropical cyclones on the annual survival of a pelagic seabird in the Indian Ocean. Global Change Biology, 23. 550-565. doi:10.1111/gcb.13324

2016

Horswill, C., Ratcliffe, N., Green, J.A., Phillips, R.A., Trathan, P.N., Matthiopoulos, J.. (2016) Unravelling the relative roles of top-down and bottom-up forces driving population change in an oceanic predator. Ecology, 97. 1919-1928. doi:10.1002/ecy.1452

Horswill, C., Matthiopoulos, J., Ratcliffe, N., Green, J.A., Trathan, P.N., McGill, R.A.R., Phillips, R.A., O’Connell, T.C.. (2016) Drivers of intrapopulation variation in resource use in a generalist predator, the macaroni penguin. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 548. 233-247. doi:10.3354/meps11626

2015

Ratcliffe, Norman, Hill, Simeon L., Staniland, Iain J., Brown, Ruth, Adlard, Stacey, Horswill, Catharine, Trathan, Phil N.. (2015) Do krill fisheries compete with macaroni penguins? Spatial overlap in prey consumption and catches during winter. Diversity and Distributions, 21. 1339-1348. 10.1111/ddi.12366

Pedro, Sara, Xavier, Jose C., Tavares, Sílvia, Trathan, Phil N., Ratcliffe, Norman, Paiva, Vitor H., Medeiros, Renata, Pereira, Eduarda, Pardal, Miguel A.. (2015) Feathers as a tool to assess mercury contamination in gentoo penguins: Variations at the individual level. PLOS ONE, 10. 8 pp. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0137622

Pedro, Sara, Xavier, Jose C., Tavares, Sílvia, Trathan, Phil N., Ratcliffe, Norman, Paiva, Vitor H., Medeiros, Renata, Vieira, Rui P., Ceia, Filipe R., Pereira, Eduarda, Pardal, Miguel A.. (2015) Mercury accumulation in gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua: spatial, temporal and sexual intraspecific variations. Polar Biology, 38. 1335-1343. doi:10.1007/s00300-015-1697-9

Ratcliffe, Norman, Guihen, Damien, Robst, Jeremy, Crofts, Sarah, Stanworth, Andrew, Enderlein, Peter. (2015) A protocol for the aerial survey of penguin colonies using UAVs. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, 3. 95-101. 10.1139/juvs-2015-0006

Baylis, Alastair M. M., Orben, Rachel A., Pistorius, Pierre, Brickle, Paul, Staniland, Iain, Ratcliffe, Norman. (2015) Winter foraging site fidelity of king penguins breeding at the Falkland Islands. Marine Biology, 162. 99-110. 10.1007/s00227-014-2561-0

2014

Horswill, Catharine, Matthiopoulos, Jason, Green, Jonathan A., Meredith, Michael P., Forcada, Jaume, Peat, Helen, Preston, Mark, Trathan, Phil N., Ratcliffe, Norman. (2014) Survival in macaroni penguins and the relative importance of different drivers: individual traits, predation pressure and environmental variability. Journal of Animal Ecology, 83. 1057-1067. 10.1111/1365-2656.12229

Oppel, Steffen, Hilton, Geoff, Ratcliffe, Norman, Fenton, Calvin, Daley, James, Gray, Gerard, Vickery, Juliet, Gibbons, David. (2014) Assessing population viability while accounting for demographic and environmental uncertainty. Ecology, 95. 1809-1818. doi:10.1890/13-0733.1

Ratcliffe, Norman, Crofts, Sarah, Brown, Ruth, Baylis, Alistair M.M., Adlard, Stacey, Horswill, Catharine, Venables, Hugh, Taylor, Phil, Trathan, Philip N., Staniland, Iain J.. (2014) Love thy neighbour or opposites attract? Patterns of spatial segregation and association among crested penguin populations during winter. Journal of Biogeography, 41. 1183-1192. 10.1111/jbi.12279

Ratcliffe, Norman, Takahashi, Akinori, Oulton, Colin, Fukuda, Michio, Fry, Bridget, Crofts, Sarah, Brown, Ruth, Adlard, Stacey, Dunn, Michael J., Trathan, Philip N.. (2014) A leg-band for mounting geolocator tags on penguins. Marine Ornithology, 42. 23-26.

2013

Ratcliffe, Norman, Takahashi, Akinori, O'Sullivan, Claire, Adlard, Stacey, Trathan, Philip N., Harris, Michael P., Wanless, Sarah. (2013) The roles of sex, mass and individual specialisation in partitioning foraging-depth niches of a pursuit-diving predator. PLoS ONE, 8. 7 pp. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0079107

Baylis, A. M. M., Wolfaardt, A. C., Crofts, S., Pistorius, P. A., Ratcliffe, N.. (2013) Increasing trend in the number of Southern Rockhopper Penguins (Eudyptes c. chrysocome) breeding at the Falkland Islands. Polar Biology, 36. 1007-1018. doi:10.1007/s00300-013-1324-6

Lynch, Heather J., Ratcliffe, Norman, Passmore, Jennifer, Foster, Emma, Trathan, Philip N.. (2013) Sensitivity analysis identifies high influence sites for estimates of penguin krill consumption on the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctic Science, 25. 19-23. doi:10.1017/S0954102012000600

2012

Ratcliffe, N., Trathan, P.. (2012) A review of the diet and at-sea distribution of penguins breeding within the CAMLR Convention Area. CCAMLR Science, 19. 75-114.

Trathan, Phil, Ratcliffe, Norman, Masden, E.A.. (2012) Ecological drivers of change at South Georgia: the krill surplus, or climate variability. Ecography, 35. 983-993. 10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07330.x

Fretwell, Peter T., LaRue, Michelle A., Morin, Paul, Kooyman, Gerald L., Wienecke, Barbara, Ratcliffe, Norman, Fox, Adrian J., Fleming, Andrew H., Porter, Claire, Trathan, Phil N.. (2012) An Emperor Penguin population estimate: The first global, synoptic survey of a species from space. Plos One, 7. 11 pp. 10.1371/journal.pone.0033751

Wanless, R. M., Ratcliffe, N., Angel, A., Bowie, B. C., Cita, K., Hilton, G. M., Kritzinger, P., Ryan, P. G., Slabber, M.. (2012) Predation of Atlantic Petrel chicks by house mice on Gough Island. Animal Conservation , 15. 472-479. 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00534.x

2010

Ratcliffe, Norman, Bell, Mike, Pelembe, Tara, Boyle, Dave, White, Raymond Benjamin Richard, Godley, Brendan, Stevenson, Jim, Sanders, Sarah. (2010) The eradication of feral cats from Ascension Island and its subsequent recolonization by seabirds. Oryx, 44. 20-29. 10.1017/S003060530999069X

2004

Votier, Stephen C., Bearhop, Stuart, Ratcliffe, Norman, Phillips, Richard A., Furness, Robert W.. (2004) Predation by great skuas at a large Shetland seabird colony. Journal of Applied Ecology, 41. 1117-1128. 10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00974.x