Foraging Strategies of Laysan Albatross Inferred from Stable Isotopes: Implications for Association with Fisheries.

ABSTRACT: Fatal entanglement in fishing gear is the leading cause of population decline for albatross globally, a consequence of attraction to bait and fishery discards of commercial fishing operations. We investigated foraging strategies of Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis), as inferred from nitrogen and carbon isotope values of primary feathers, to determine breeding-related, seasonal, and historic factors that may affect the likelihood of association with Alaskan or Hawaiian longline fisheries. Feather samples were collected from live birds monitored for breeding status and breeding success on Midway Atoll in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, birds salvaged as fisheries-bycatch, and birds added to museum collections before 1924. During the chick-rearing season (sampled April-May), means

SUBMITTER: Edwards AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4521920 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature