Movement Ecology and Risk Assessment of Atlantic Seabirds

气候和人类的影响构成了重大的环境挑战。对于海洋生态系统，了解顶级捕食者如何利用海洋栖息地来更好地评估对生物多样性和生态系统恢复力的影响至关重要。这项拟议的研究将新开发的微型动物追踪和活动装置应用于大西洋海鸟，以研究它们如何应对环境的可变性、扰动和变化。调查的目标是在不同的空间（和时间）尺度上的行为生态学——a)父母海鸟在迁徙和返回固定繁殖地时的觅食行为，b)没有繁殖限制的自由漫游海鸟在海洋盆地的迁徙和冬季栖息地的使用。跟踪研究与基于容器和群体的猎物分布和饮食以及生理指标的研究相结合。具体研究调查了与能量需求和猎物条件变化有关的亲代觅食灵活性，以及幼鱼和成鱼的迁徙运动和越冬区域及其对种群连通性的影响。1992年加拿大东部鳕鱼渔场的关闭是一项前所未有的海洋盆地试验，可以定量评价大量清除刺网和减少渔捞弃物对随后海鸟种群轨迹的影响。对气候和人为影响的总体风险评估提供了方案整合。我的研究目标是利用科学知识来促进积极的保护实践和可持续性。

Climatic and human influences pose major environmental challenges. For marine ecosystems, it is critical that we understand how top predators use ocean habitat to better assess impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. The proposed research applies newly developed miniature animal-borne tracking and activity devices on Atlantic seabirds to investigate how they cope with environmental variability, perturbation and change. Investigations target behavioral ecology at divergent spatial (and temporal) scales - a) foraging behavior by parental seabirds constrained to move from and return to a fixed breeding site, and b) ocean-basin migrations and winter habitat use by free-roaming seabirds without breeding constraints. Tracking research is integrated with vessel- and colony-based studies of prey distributions and diets and with physiological indices. Specific studies investigate parental foraging flexibility in relation to changing energy demands and prey conditions, and the migratory movements and wintering areas of juveniles and adults and their implications for population connectivity. The closure of the eastern Canadian cod fishery in 1992 is used as an unprecedented ocean-basin experiment that will allow quantitative evaluation of the effects of massive gillnet removals and fishing discard reductions on subsequent seabird population trajectories. An overarching risk assessment of climatic and anthropogenic influences provides program integration. My research goal is to use scientific knowledge to promote proactive conservation practice and sustainability.