Seabird abundance, distribution and fine-scale variation in San Juan Channel - Fall 2015
Presentation Abstract
Seabirds are an important part of marine ecosystems. They act as apex predators and are indicators for overall ecosystem health. Recent studies have suggested an overall decline in seabird populations in the Salish Sea. For the past ten fall seasons, PEF apprentices have monitored seabird abundance and community composition in the San Juan Channel to assess overall population status. Consistent with other years, strip transects were performed weekly in a 21.5 km corridor along the channel. This season, no exceptional change in abundance or community composition was found. Most within season variation can be attributed to migratory patterns, but some key residential species have dramatic fluctuations that may be attributed to tidal influence. PEF apprentices have continued to investigate the relationship between tidal phase and seabird abundance in the southern San Juan Channel using a smaller (3.9 km) transect corridor on an hourly scale. When isolating peak current speed at flood tide, decreases in seabird abundance as current speed increased were found, a contrast to previous studies. A surge in abundance occurs 50 minutes after fast flood suggesting ideal feeding conditions are not directly correlated with current speed and could be delayed due to bathymetric features. Further studies could be done to isolate the next part of the tidal cycle.
Session Title
The Biological and Physical Factors Driving Marine Bird Population Dynamics in the Salish Sea
Conference Track
Species and Food Webs
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Poster
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Sea birds--Washington (State)--San Juan Channel--Geographical distribution
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); San Juan Channel (Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Seabird abundance, distribution and fine-scale variation in San Juan Channel - Fall 2015
2016SSEC
Seabirds are an important part of marine ecosystems. They act as apex predators and are indicators for overall ecosystem health. Recent studies have suggested an overall decline in seabird populations in the Salish Sea. For the past ten fall seasons, PEF apprentices have monitored seabird abundance and community composition in the San Juan Channel to assess overall population status. Consistent with other years, strip transects were performed weekly in a 21.5 km corridor along the channel. This season, no exceptional change in abundance or community composition was found. Most within season variation can be attributed to migratory patterns, but some key residential species have dramatic fluctuations that may be attributed to tidal influence. PEF apprentices have continued to investigate the relationship between tidal phase and seabird abundance in the southern San Juan Channel using a smaller (3.9 km) transect corridor on an hourly scale. When isolating peak current speed at flood tide, decreases in seabird abundance as current speed increased were found, a contrast to previous studies. A surge in abundance occurs 50 minutes after fast flood suggesting ideal feeding conditions are not directly correlated with current speed and could be delayed due to bathymetric features. Further studies could be done to isolate the next part of the tidal cycle.
