Western Gull Foraging Behavior as an Ecosystem State Indicator in Coastal California
With accelerating climate variability and change, novel approaches are needed to warn managers of changing ecosystem state and to identify appropriate management actions. One strategy is using indicator species—like seabirds as ecosystem sentinels—to monitor changes in marine environments. Here, we...
Published in: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.790559 https://doaj.org/article/79a3474dd52041ff9b79a24b02c882b4 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:79a3474dd52041ff9b79a24b02c882b4 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:79a3474dd52041ff9b79a24b02c882b4 2023-05-15T16:35:59+02:00 Western Gull Foraging Behavior as an Ecosystem State Indicator in Coastal California Megan A. Cimino Scott A. Shaffer Heather Welch Jarrod A. Santora Pete Warzybok Jaime Jahncke Isaac Schroeder Elliott L. Hazen Steven J. Bograd 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.790559 https://doaj.org/article/79a3474dd52041ff9b79a24b02c882b4 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.790559/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.790559 https://doaj.org/article/79a3474dd52041ff9b79a24b02c882b4 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2022) ecosystem indicator predator-prey foraging ecology humpback whale biologging entanglement Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.790559 2022-12-31T07:37:23Z With accelerating climate variability and change, novel approaches are needed to warn managers of changing ecosystem state and to identify appropriate management actions. One strategy is using indicator species—like seabirds as ecosystem sentinels—to monitor changes in marine environments. Here, we explore the utility of western gulls (Larus occidentalis) breeding on Southeast Farallon Island as a proxy of ecosystem state in coastal California by investigating the interannual variability in gull foraging behavior from 2013 to 2019 in relation to upwelling conditions, prey abundances, and overlap with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) as gulls frequently feed in association with whales. Western gulls have a flexible diet and forage on land and at-sea. We combined gull GPS tracking data during the incubation phase, ecosystem survey data on multiple predator and prey species, and derived oceanographic upwelling products. When foraging at sea, gulls overlapped with cool upwelled waters. During 2015–2017, 25% more gull foraging trips visited land than in other years, where land trips were on average ∼8 h longer and 40% further than sea trips, which coincided with high compression of coastally upwelled waters (habitat compression) in 2015–2016. Gull foraging behavior was related to local prey abundances, where more foraging occurred near shore or on land when prey abundances were low. However, visual surveys indicated that ∼70% of humpback whale observations co-occurred with gulls, and the year with the most foraging on land (2017) corresponded to regionally low relative whale abundances, suggesting gull movement patterns could be an indicator of whale presence. Further, both whales and gulls forage near-shore under high upwelling habitat compression and low krill abundance. Hence, the deployment of year-round tags on gulls with the capability of near real-time data accessibility could provide important fine-scale metrics for conservation and management of the threatened yet recovering eastern Pacific humpback ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Pacific Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
ecosystem indicator predator-prey foraging ecology humpback whale biologging entanglement Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
ecosystem indicator predator-prey foraging ecology humpback whale biologging entanglement Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Megan A. Cimino Scott A. Shaffer Heather Welch Jarrod A. Santora Pete Warzybok Jaime Jahncke Isaac Schroeder Elliott L. Hazen Steven J. Bograd Western Gull Foraging Behavior as an Ecosystem State Indicator in Coastal California |
topic_facet |
ecosystem indicator predator-prey foraging ecology humpback whale biologging entanglement Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
With accelerating climate variability and change, novel approaches are needed to warn managers of changing ecosystem state and to identify appropriate management actions. One strategy is using indicator species—like seabirds as ecosystem sentinels—to monitor changes in marine environments. Here, we explore the utility of western gulls (Larus occidentalis) breeding on Southeast Farallon Island as a proxy of ecosystem state in coastal California by investigating the interannual variability in gull foraging behavior from 2013 to 2019 in relation to upwelling conditions, prey abundances, and overlap with humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) as gulls frequently feed in association with whales. Western gulls have a flexible diet and forage on land and at-sea. We combined gull GPS tracking data during the incubation phase, ecosystem survey data on multiple predator and prey species, and derived oceanographic upwelling products. When foraging at sea, gulls overlapped with cool upwelled waters. During 2015–2017, 25% more gull foraging trips visited land than in other years, where land trips were on average ∼8 h longer and 40% further than sea trips, which coincided with high compression of coastally upwelled waters (habitat compression) in 2015–2016. Gull foraging behavior was related to local prey abundances, where more foraging occurred near shore or on land when prey abundances were low. However, visual surveys indicated that ∼70% of humpback whale observations co-occurred with gulls, and the year with the most foraging on land (2017) corresponded to regionally low relative whale abundances, suggesting gull movement patterns could be an indicator of whale presence. Further, both whales and gulls forage near-shore under high upwelling habitat compression and low krill abundance. Hence, the deployment of year-round tags on gulls with the capability of near real-time data accessibility could provide important fine-scale metrics for conservation and management of the threatened yet recovering eastern Pacific humpback ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Megan A. Cimino Scott A. Shaffer Heather Welch Jarrod A. Santora Pete Warzybok Jaime Jahncke Isaac Schroeder Elliott L. Hazen Steven J. Bograd |
author_facet |
Megan A. Cimino Scott A. Shaffer Heather Welch Jarrod A. Santora Pete Warzybok Jaime Jahncke Isaac Schroeder Elliott L. Hazen Steven J. Bograd |
author_sort |
Megan A. Cimino |
title |
Western Gull Foraging Behavior as an Ecosystem State Indicator in Coastal California |
title_short |
Western Gull Foraging Behavior as an Ecosystem State Indicator in Coastal California |
title_full |
Western Gull Foraging Behavior as an Ecosystem State Indicator in Coastal California |
title_fullStr |
Western Gull Foraging Behavior as an Ecosystem State Indicator in Coastal California |
title_full_unstemmed |
Western Gull Foraging Behavior as an Ecosystem State Indicator in Coastal California |
title_sort |
western gull foraging behavior as an ecosystem state indicator in coastal california |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.790559 https://doaj.org/article/79a3474dd52041ff9b79a24b02c882b4 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.790559/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.790559 https://doaj.org/article/79a3474dd52041ff9b79a24b02c882b4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.790559 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
_version_ |
1766026299785084928 |