October 24, 2014
An article describing new research led by Jarrod Santora was recently published in the journal Ecological Applications. In this study, Santora et al. show that abundance of lower trophic level prey species such as krill and anchovy covary with oceanic conditions on the continental shelf. In turn, variability in seabird breeding success indicates the importance and availability of multiple forage taxa within shelf and oceanic regions. Demographic responses (such as seabird breeding success) related to prey availability revealed spatially variable associations, which are indicative of the dynamic nature of "predator-habitat" relationships.
