Spatial Distribution and Temporal Patterns of Cassin's Auklet Foraging and Their Euphausiid Prey in a Variable Ocean Environment.

ABSTRACT: Krill (Euphausiids) play a vital ecosystem role in many of the world's most productive marine regions, providing an important trophic linkage. We introduce a robust modeling approach to link Cassin's auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) abundance and distribution to large-scale and local oceanic and atmospheric conditions and relate these patterns to similarly modeled distributions of an important prey resource, krill. We carried out at-sea strip transect bird surveys and hydroacoustic assessments of euphausiids (2004-2013). Data informed separate, spatially-explicit predictive models of Cassin's auklet abundance (zero-inflated negative binomial regression) and krill biomass (two-part model) based on these surveys. We established the type of prey responsible for acoustic backscatter by conduct

SUBMITTER: Manugian S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4668006 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature