Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Evaluating habitat, prey, and mesopredator associations in a community of marine birds

Journal Article · · ICES Journal of Marine Science
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [3];
  1. Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
  2. Department of Biology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
  3. Biodiversity Research Institute, Portland, ME, USA
+ Show Author Affiliations
Abstract

Offshore wind energy development on the US Atlantic Continental Shelf has brought attention to the need for marine spatial planning efforts to reduce potential conflict between wind turbines and marine animals, including seabirds. We evaluated the effects of marine mammals, fishes, and habitat characteristics on the distribution and relative abundance of marine birds off the coast of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. From May 2012 to 2014, we collected line transect data from 14 shipboard surveys, and novel high-resolution digital videography data from 14 aerial surveys. We compiled five habitat covariates: three static (distance to shore, sea floor slope, and sediment grain size), and two dynamic (sea surface temperature, salinity). We additionally analysed two seabird community covariates: the density of observed marine mammals and detected fish. Using zero-altered models, we tested our hypothesis that plunge-diving seabird species would show positive associations with marine mammals. Our results provide statistical evidence that, alongside competition, facilitative interactions occur among pelagic communities, where subsurface predators improve the detectability and accessibility of prey to surface-feeding seabirds. This study highlights the importance of quantifying community and ecological influences on avian abundance, particularly in predicting the potential exposure of marine birds and mammals to offshore development.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0005362
OSTI ID:
1511507
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1540601
Journal Information:
ICES Journal of Marine Science, Journal Name: ICES Journal of Marine Science Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 75; ISSN 1054-3139
Publisher:
Oxford University PressCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

References (45)

Temporal and spatial pattern of common tern (Sterna hirundo) foraging in the Wadden Sea journal March 1993
Underwater and above-water search patterns of an Arctic seabird: reduced searching at small spatiotemporal scales journal July 2009
Inclusion of facilitation into ecological theory journal March 2003
Seabird movement reveals the ecological footprint of fishing vessels journal June 2014
A spatially explicit optimal foraging model of Black-legged Kittiwake behavior based on prey density, travel distances, and colony size journal June 2007
Interplay between top-down, bottom-up, and wasp-waist control in marine ecosystems journal February 2006
Top-down and bottom-up factors affecting seabird population trends in the California current system (1985–2006) journal March 2010
The ups and downs of trophic control in continental shelf ecosystems journal May 2007
Inferring biotic interactions from proxies journal June 2015
Evidence of intra-specific competition for food in a pelagic seabird journal August 2001
Local enhancement in a seabird: reaction distances and foraging consequence of predator aggregations journal January 2014
Spatial variability of seabird distribution associated with environmental factors: a case study of marine Important Bird Areas in the Azores journal November 2008
How to capture fish in a school? Effect of successive predator attacks on seabird feeding success journal November 2015
The visual fields of Common Guillemots Uria aalge and Atlantic Puffins Fratercula arctica : foraging, vigilance and collision vulnerability journal August 2015
Aerial surveys of seabirds: the advent of digital methods journal May 2012
Associations between seabirds and cetaceans: a review journal December 1982
Facilitative interactions among the pelagic community of temperate migratory terns, tunas and dolphins journal June 2014
Marine Taxa Track Local Climate Velocities journal September 2013
Foraging specificity and prey utilization: evaluating social and memory-based strategies in seabirds journal January 2015
Seabird affinities for Gulf Stream frontal eddies: Responses of mobile marine consumers to episodic upwelling journal May 1986
Offshore Observations of Eastern Red Bats (Lasiurus borealis) in the Mid-Atlantic United States Using Multiple Survey Methods journal December 2013
Bird-Borne Video-Cameras Show That Seabird Movement Patterns Relate to Previously Unrevealed Proximate Environment, Not Prey journal February 2014
Mutualism, Facilitation, and the Structure of Ecological Communities journal January 2001
Regression Models for Count Data in R journal January 2008
Prey Resources, Competition, and Geographic Structure of Kittiwake Colonies in Prince William Sound journal March 2003
Black-Browed Albatrosses Foraging on Antarctic Krill: Density-Dependence Through Local Enhancement? journal December 2003
Search Strategies of a Pursuit-Diving Marine bird and the Persistence of prey Patches journal August 2003
Scale-dependent response diversity of seabirds to prey in the North Sea journal January 2011
Predicting the offshore distribution and abundance of marine birds with a hierarchical community distance sampling model journal September 2016
Seabird Interactions with Dolphins and Tuna in the Eastern Tropical Pacific journal August 1986
Bluefish Mediation of Foraging Competition between Roseate and Common Terns journal October 1990
Co-Occurrence of Cetaceans and Seabirds in the Northeast Atlantic journal January 1995
Geometry of Visual Recruitment by Seabirds to Ephemeral Foraging Flocks journal January 1992
Group Foraging in Patchy Environments: The Importance of Coarse-Level Local Enhancement journal April 1992
Associations between seabirds and subsurface predators around Oahu, Hawaii journal November 2008
Binary dietary responses of northern gannets Sula bassana indicate changing food web and oceanographic conditions journal December 2007
Flexible foraging tactics by a large opportunistic seabird preying on forage- and large pelagic fishes journal June 2009
Association of predators and prey at frontal features in the California Current: competition, facilitation, and co-occurrence journal September 2009
Influence of prey behaviour and other predators on the foraging activities of a marine avian predator in a Low Arctic ecosystem journal April 2010
Foraging of seabirds on pelagic fishes: implications for management of pelagic marine protected areas journal May 2013
Relationship among prey availability, habitat, and the foraging behavior, distribution, and abundance of common terns Sterna hirundo and roseate terns S. dougallii journal June 2014
Four sympatrically nesting auks show clear resource segregation in their foraging environment journal May 2017
Distributional patterns of a marine bird and its prey: habitat selection based on prey and conspecific behaviour journal January 2003
Nearest neighbors as foraging cues: information transfer in a patchy environment journal January 2004
Climate and changing winter distribution of alcids in the Northwest Atlantic journal April 2015

Similar Records

Related Subjects