Tagging of Pacific Predators

About: Tagging of Pacific Predators is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4 publications have been published within this topic receiving 967 citations.

Tracking apex marine predator movements in a dynamic ocean

Abstract: Pelagic marine predators face unprecedented challenges and uncertain futures. Overexploitation and climate variability impact the abundance and distribution of top predators in ocean ecosystems. Improved understanding of ecological patterns, evolutionary constraints and ecosystem function is critical for preventing extinctions, loss of biodiversity and disruption of ecosystem services. Recent advances in electronic tagging techniques have provided the capacity to observe the movements and long-distance migrations of animals in relation to ocean processes across a range of ecological scales. Tagging of Pacific Predators, a field programme of the Census of Marine Life, deployed 4,306 tags on 23 species in the North Pacific Ocean, resulting in a tracking data set of unprecedented scale and species diversity that covers 265,386 tracking days from 2000 to 2009. Here we report migration pathways, link ocean features to multispecies hotspots and illustrate niche partitioning within and among congener guilds. Our results indicate that the California Current large marine ecosystem and the North Pacific transition zone attract and retain a diverse assemblage of marine vertebrates. Within the California Current large marine ecosystem, several predator guilds seasonally undertake north-south migrations that may be driven by oceanic processes, species-specific thermal tolerances and shifts in prey distributions. We identify critical habitats across multinational boundaries and show that top predators exploit their environment in predictable ways, providing the foundation for spatial management of large marine ecosystems.

A synthesis of marine predator migrations, distribution, species overlap, and use of Pacific Ocean Exclusive Economic Zones

Abstract: Many marine predator populations are commercially important and are threatened by human activities. As a result, many of these populations are heavily depleted, declining, or are recovering from past depletion. Recovery and management of threatened and exploited marine predators are complicated by life histories that 1) span international waters, 2) are dynamic in space and time, and 3) are hidden from direct observation. My goal with this dissertation was to attain a synthetic understanding of the implications of marine predator migratory life histories on the spatio-temporal dynamics of distribution, species overlap, and residency in Exclusive Economic Zones of countries. I analyzed an electronic tracking dataset provided by the Tagging of Pacific Predators program that contained location data for pinnipeds, seabirds, sharks, tuna, turtles, and whales. This dataset included 257,133 daily locations recorded from 1,679 individuals representing 18 species of pelagic predators electronically tracked in the Pacific Ocean during an eight-year period. Many marine predators are broadly recognized as exceptional migrants but there has been little integration of traditional migratory theory with the study of their movements. In chapter one, I examined whether theoretical nonlinear models of migration developed for ungulates and based upon a fundamental statistic of random walk theory (net squared displacement) provide a useful framework for quantifying and predicting marine predator migratory behavior. I found that migration models fit species as ecologically dissimilar as moose and Pacific bluefin tuna suggesting that a unified approach to quantifying migration across taxa and biomes may be possible. The potential utility of marine protected areas (MPAs) for pelagic conservation is debated, especially for wide-ranging species with large, dynamic area requirements. In chapter two I used kernel density analysis to determine the spatial and temporal extents of the distributions and core habitats of marine predators and quantified patterns of species overlap that could help guide management strategies. I found that spatial management measures may not need to be prohibitively large to include major core habitats of wide-ranging species---at least in reference to the size distribution of large extant MPAs. However, to account for seasonal variability in distribution, spatial measures may need to be dynamic, numerous, and/or embedded within strategic multi-scale zoning strategies. Seals, sharks, tuna, and turtles had high probabilities of overlap with black-footed albatross and sooty shearwaters. Spatial conservation efforts targeted at seabirds could help focus ecosystem management in this vast pelagic realm. Integrated international efforts are required to effectively manage threatened and exploited populations of wide-ranging species. In chapter three I used generalized additive mixed-effects models to investigate non-linear daily trends in the probability of occurrence in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and in the high seas, and to account for the effects of tagging location, tagging date, track duration, and autocorrelated time-series data. Ninety-four percent of Pacific Ocean EEZs were visited. Land-breeding populations were estimated to spend 14-33% of their annual cycles within the waters of their breeding EEZs, and 53 to 76% of the year in the high seas. In contrast, most fish and shark populations were estimated to spend less than a quarter of their annual cycle in international waters. My results describe the suite of countries with shared management responsibility throughout the year for each species, and detail when this responsibility commences and concludes.

Wind, waves, and wing loading: Their relative importance to the at-sea distribution and movements of North and Central Pacific albatrosses

Abstract: Among the varied adaptations for avian flight, the morphological traits allowing large-bodied albatrosses to capitalize on wind and wave energy for efficient long-distance flight are unparalleled. Consequently, the biogeographic distribution of most albatrosses is limited to the windiest oceanic regions on earth; however, exceptions exist. Species breeding in the North and Central Pacific Ocean (Phoebastria spp.) inhabit regions of lower wind speed and wave height than southern hemisphere genera, and have large intrageneric variation in body size and aerodynamic performance. Here, we test the hypothesis that regional wind and wave regimes explain observed differences in Phoebastria albatross morphology and we compare their aerodynamic performance to representatives from the other three genera of this globally distributed avian family. In the North and Central Pacific, two species (short-tailed P. albatrus and waved P. irrorata) are markedly larger, yet have the smallest breeding ranges near highly productive coastal upwelling systems. Short-tailed albatrosses, however, have 60% higher wing loading (weight per area of lift) compared to waved albatrosses. Indeed, calculated aerodynamic performance of waved albatrosses, the only tropical albatross species, is more similar to those of their smaller congeners (black-footed P. nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis), which have relatively low wing loading and much larger foraging ranges that include central oceanic gyres of relatively low productivity. Globally, the aerodynamic performance of short-tailed and waved albatrosses are most anomalous for their body sizes, yet consistent with wind regimes within their breeding season foraging ranges. Our results are the first to integrate global wind and wave patterns with albatross aerodynamics, thereby identifying morphological specialization that may explain limited breeding ranges of two endangered albatross species. These results are further relevant to understanding past and potentially predicting future distributional limits of albatrosses globally, particularly with respect to climate change effects on basin-scale and regional wind fields. Citation: Suryan RM, Anderson DJ, Shaffer SA, Roby DD, Tremblay Y, et al. (2008) Wind, Waves, and Wing Loading: Morphological Specialization May Limit Range Expansion of Endangered Albatrosses. PLoS ONE 3(12): e4016. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004016 Editor: Stuart Humphries, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom Received September 12, 2008; Accepted November 13, 2008; Published December 24, 2008 This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. Funding: Financial support was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ministry of Environment, Japan, the North Pacific Research Board, U.S. National Science Foundation (awards DEB 98-06606 and DEB 0235818), and through the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) program, which is funded by the National Ocean Partnership Program (N00014-02-1-1012), the Office of Naval Research (N00014-00-1-0880 & N00014-03-1-0651) and the Alfred P. Sloan, David and Lucille Packard, and Gordon and Betty Moore foundations. R. Suryan was supported, in part, by the Cooperative Institute for Marine Resource Studies, Oregon State University, through a NOAA Fisheries Oceanography Fellowship. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, or decision to publish. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: rob.suryan@oregonstate.edu

Use of Electronic Tag Data and Associated Analytical Tools to Identify and Predict Habitat Utilization of Marine Predators

Abstract: : The key to assessing the risk of naval activities (such as sound exposure) on marine animals is an understanding of where animals occur and what factors motivate these movements. The rapid advancement of electronic tracking and remote sensing technologies has enabled researchers to link pelagic predator movements and oceanic processes. This information is critical for understanding the distribution and residence time of vertebrates within an ocean area and for managing interactions with anthropogenic activities. Marine predators interact with a dynamic ocean that changes on time scales ranging from minutes to millennia. Knowledge of these movement interactions is incomplete, but critical to understanding the dynamic distributions, managing anthropogenic disturbances, and predicting responses to climate change. This project utilizes the largest database of existing marine vertebrate tracking and behavior data to build upon the significant advances in tag technology, data analyses, and management accomplished under the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) program. This is accomplished by establishing a behavioral baseline to assess the potential costs of displacement in terms of reduced foraging success. The project also involves a synthesis of electronic tracking and remote sensing data, focusing on a cross-taxa examination of marine predator distribution and movement patterns to identify hotspots, foraging patterns, and movement corridors in the California Current. The specific objectives of this project are as follows: (1) identify and map focal feeding, breeding, and migration routes; (2) model spatio-temporal oceanographic habitat utilization and predict regions of animal occupancy and use based on oceanographic features; and (3) utilize this model framework to assess the impact of displacement from primary feeding areas due to disturbances (such as acoustic disturbances).