Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Effects of fisheries on ecosystems: just another top predator?
- 3 Physical forcing in the southwest Atlantic: ecosystem control
- 4 The use of biologically meaningful oceanographic indices to separate the effects of climate and fisheries on seabird breeding success
- 5 Linking predator foraging behaviour and diet with variability in continental shelf ecosystems: grey seals of eastern Canada
- 6 Distribution and foraging interactions of seabirds and marine mammals in the North Sea: multispecies foraging assemblages and habitat-specific feeding strategies
- 7 Spatial and temporal variation in the diets of polar bears across the Canadian Arctic: indicators of changes in prey populations and environment
- 8 Biophysical influences on seabird trophic assessments
- 9 Consequences of prey distribution for the foraging behaviour of top predators
- 10 Identifying drivers of change: did fisheries play a role in the spread of North Atlantic fulmars?
- 11 Monitoring predator–prey interactions using multiple predator species: the South Georgia experience
- 12 Impacts of oceanography on the foraging dynamics of seabirds in the North Sea
- 13 Foraging energetics of North Sea birds confronted with fluctuating prey availability
- 14 How many fish should we leave in the sea for seabirds and marine mammals?
- 15 Does the prohibition of industrial fishing for sandeels have any impact on local gadoid populations?
- 16 Use of gannets to monitor prey availability in the northeast Atlantic Ocean: colony size, diet and foraging behaviour
- 17 Population dynamics of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba at South Georgia: sampling with predators provides new insights
- 18 The functional response of generalist predators and its implications for the monitoring of marine ecosystems
- 19 The method of multiple hypotheses and the decline of Steller sea lions in western Alaska
- 20 Modelling the behaviour of individuals and groups of animals foraging in heterogeneous environments
- 21 The Scenario Barents Sea study: a case of minimal realistic modelling to compare management strategies for marine ecosystems
- 22 Setting management goals using information from predators
- 23 Marine reserves and higher predators
- 24 Marine management: can objectives be set for marine top predators?
- Index
- References
4 - The use of biologically meaningful oceanographic indices to separate the effects of climate and fisheries on seabird breeding success
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 July 2009
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Effects of fisheries on ecosystems: just another top predator?
- 3 Physical forcing in the southwest Atlantic: ecosystem control
- 4 The use of biologically meaningful oceanographic indices to separate the effects of climate and fisheries on seabird breeding success
- 5 Linking predator foraging behaviour and diet with variability in continental shelf ecosystems: grey seals of eastern Canada
- 6 Distribution and foraging interactions of seabirds and marine mammals in the North Sea: multispecies foraging assemblages and habitat-specific feeding strategies
- 7 Spatial and temporal variation in the diets of polar bears across the Canadian Arctic: indicators of changes in prey populations and environment
- 8 Biophysical influences on seabird trophic assessments
- 9 Consequences of prey distribution for the foraging behaviour of top predators
- 10 Identifying drivers of change: did fisheries play a role in the spread of North Atlantic fulmars?
- 11 Monitoring predator–prey interactions using multiple predator species: the South Georgia experience
- 12 Impacts of oceanography on the foraging dynamics of seabirds in the North Sea
- 13 Foraging energetics of North Sea birds confronted with fluctuating prey availability
- 14 How many fish should we leave in the sea for seabirds and marine mammals?
- 15 Does the prohibition of industrial fishing for sandeels have any impact on local gadoid populations?
- 16 Use of gannets to monitor prey availability in the northeast Atlantic Ocean: colony size, diet and foraging behaviour
- 17 Population dynamics of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba at South Georgia: sampling with predators provides new insights
- 18 The functional response of generalist predators and its implications for the monitoring of marine ecosystems
- 19 The method of multiple hypotheses and the decline of Steller sea lions in western Alaska
- 20 Modelling the behaviour of individuals and groups of animals foraging in heterogeneous environments
- 21 The Scenario Barents Sea study: a case of minimal realistic modelling to compare management strategies for marine ecosystems
- 22 Setting management goals using information from predators
- 23 Marine reserves and higher predators
- 24 Marine management: can objectives be set for marine top predators?
- Index
- References
Summary
An important issue when considering seabird breeding success is what factors affect prey availability. If availability reflects absolute prey abundance, different species preying on the same prey population should show synchronized variation in breeding success. If, on the other hand, species-specific foraging techniques coupled with prevailing oceanographic conditions result in differential access to prey, then, breeding success is likely to vary asynchronously between species. Furthermore, for each species, long-term variation in breeding success should be predictable using appropriate oceanographic covariates. Currently, commercial fishing quotas are set on the assumption that prey abundance is the only important factor for multispecies management. Therefore, it is essential to understand prey availability in the context of both climate change and fishing pressure. This requires an integrated approach and in this chapter we demonstrate the potential of combining long-term demographic data from seabirds with output from a one-dimensional physical–biological model. Using data from the North Sea, we examine relationships between breeding performance and biologically meaningful indices of the physical environment during a period of years with and without an industrial fishery. We speculate how the contrasting responses shown by two seabird species might reflect differences in prey availability mediated by foraging technique.
Over the last 20 to 30 years, seabirds in the North Sea have shown considerable temporal variability in breeding success (Ratcliffe 2004).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Top Predators in Marine EcosystemsTheir Role in Monitoring and Management, pp. 46 - 62Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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