Authors: Anna C. Nisi, John F. Benson, Richard King, Christopher C. WilmersJournal: Ecological ApplicationsDOI: 10.1002/eap.2822 Rigorous understanding of how environmental conditions impact population dynamics is essential for species conservation, especially in mixed-use landscapes where source–sink dynamics may be at play…
Congratulations to Dr. Sue Moore on joining the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission! The U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Sue Moore, President Biden’s nominee for Commissioner of the Marine Mammal Commission, on December 22nd, 2022. Sue was sworn in by Commission Chair, Dr. Frances Gulland, on January 5th, 2023.
Authors: Leena Riekkola, Owen R. Liu, Blake E. Feist, Karin A. Forney, Briana Abrahms, Elliott L. Hazen, Jameal F. SamhouriJournal: Biological ConservationDOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109880 Recovering marine animal populations and climate-driven shifts in their distributions are colliding with growing ocean use by humans…
Managing ecosystem services sustainably requires understanding both nature and how people respond to change. This study examined how fishers reacted to a major marine heatwave that affected the valuable Dungeness crab fishery on the U.S. West Coast. Using detailed tracking data from over 500 fishing vessels, researchers found that fishers adapted by traveling to new areas and by fishing for
Scientists have found clear evidence that climate change is affecting marine mammals in U.S. waters, although few studies show direct impacts on population size or survival rates. Many of these effects were expected, but some sudden and unexpected changes have also occurred. Climate change often has stronger impacts when combined with natural ecological relationships, like predator–prey interactions, or with human
Long-term climate trends and short-term extreme events can affect animals in different ways, but scientists do not always know how these effects work together. This study used a “press–pulse” framework to separate the impacts of ongoing climate change from sudden extreme events on Magellanic penguins. Researchers analyzed 38 years of data from 53,959 penguins and found that long-term changes and
Authors: Eric L. Wagner, Caroline D. Cappello, P. Dee BoersmaJournal: Animal BehaviourDOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.08.002 Divorce among serially monogamous birds can lead to increased reproductive success if an individual obtains a higher-quality mate or nest site, or it can lead to lower reproductive success due to lack of pair experience or reduced breeding opportunities…
Marine predators like blue whales must find prey that is unevenly spread across the ocean, which makes feeding challenging. Scientists know animals make movement choices at different scales, but it is unclear how these choices affect how well they feed. This study combined satellite data with detailed tracking data from blue whales to see how small-scale ocean features affect where
Authors: Briana Abrahms, Kasim Rafiq, Neil R. Jordan, and J. W. McNuttJournal: Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesDOI:10.1073/pnas.2121667119 Understanding the degree to which animals are shifting their phenology to track optimal conditions as the climate changes is essential to predicting ecological responses to global change…
Full Title: Site fidelity increases reproductive success by increasing foraging efficiency in a marine predator Authors: Ginger A Rebstock, Briana Abrams, P. Dee BoersmaJournal: Behavioral EcologyDOI: 10.1093/beheco/arac052 Seabirds must find food efficiently in the dynamic ocean environment to succeed at raising chicks. In theory, site familiarity, gained by prior experience in a place, should increase foraging efficiency when prey is
From the abstract: “We discuss potential impacts of observed and inferred prey shifts on gray whale nutrition in the context of an ongoing unusual gray whale mortality event. To conclude, we use the conceptual Arctic Marine Pulses (AMP) model to frame hypotheses that may guide future research on whales in the Pacific Arctic marine ecosystem.” Authors: Sue E. Moore, Janet
Authors: William K. Oestreich, Briana Abrahms, Megan F. McKenna, Jeremy A. Goldbogen, Larry B. Crowder, John P. RyanJournal: British Ecological SocietyDOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14013 Matching the timing of life-history transitions with ecosystem phenology is critical for the survival of many species, especially those undertaking long-distance migrations…
Authors: Jerod A Merkle, Briana Abrahms, Jonathan B Armstrong, Hall Sawyer, Daniel P Costa, Anna D ChalfounJournal: Frontiers in Ecology and the EnvironmentDOI: 10.1002/fee.2456 Site fidelity, or the behavior of returning to previously visited locations, has been observed across taxa and ecosystems…
Authors: Katie Holt and Dee BoersmaJournal: Ornithological ApplicationsDOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duab052 Abstract excerpt: Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe, leading to an increase in direct, adverse thermoregulatory impacts on wildlife. Here, we document an unprecedented, single-day, heat-related mortality event of Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) at Punta Tombo, Chubut Province, Argentina, one of the largest breeding colonies for this species.
Animals that live in groups can affect their populations and ecosystems in complicated ways, so scientists need good methods to measure how many groups there are, how big they are, and how many individuals live in them. Traditional spatial capture–recapture (SCR) methods can estimate either group density or individual density, but they often give biased results for group-living species because
