The missing link : pelagic prey field prediction for Southern Ocean predators ...

• Main Author: Green, DB
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: University Of Tasmania 2023
• Subjects: Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/23973123.v1; https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/The_missing_link_pelagic_prey_field_prediction_for_Southern_Ocean_predators/23973123/1

Bottom-up processes affecting the availability of prey play a fundamental role in driving the distribution of higher marine predators. Yet, adequate representation of environment – prey – predator linkages remains a major barrier to understanding marine predator responses to environmental change. A key limitation is the difficulty in obtaining synoptic prey observations at spatial and temporal scales relevant to foraging predators because the micronekton groups that dominate the prey of diving/higher predators are notoriously difficult to observe and sample. Simulated prey fields, derived from environmentally forced models are an emerging alternative approach for representing biomass and spatial dynamics of hard-to-observe mid-trophic prey. One such model, SEAPODYM (Spatial Ecosystem and Population Dynamics Model), has been used to skilfully represent the spatial dynamics and biomass of marine biota at multiple trophic levels. My thesis considers SEAPODYM’s utility in filling the mid-trophic prey gap between ...