The black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) is a long-lived colonial seabird that is classified as globally "Vulnerable" due to marked population decline since the 1980s. Our study uses an integrated population model to quantify immigration dynamics in a declining population of kittiwakes. We then use a transient life table response experiment to show that the contribution of immigration to population dynamics has changed as the population declined. Our results highlight the importance of considering dispersal dynamics as populations decline to identify shifts that may lead to sudden changes in population viability. (photo credit Samuel Langlois Lopez).

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