Seabirds as Indicators of Change in Marine Ecosystems

An International Symposium on “Seabirds as Indicators of Change in Marine Ecosystems” was held as part of the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group (PSG), which occurred February 16-18, 2006, in Girdwood, Alaska.

The Pacific Seabird Group The Pacific Seabird Group (PSG) is a society of professional seabird researchers and managers dedicated to the study and conservation of seabirds. The principle goals of PSG are (1) to increase the quality and quantity of seabird research through facilitating exchange of information and (2) to identify and assess the importance of threats to seabird populations and provide government agencies and others with expert advice on managing the threats and populations.

An International Symposium on “Seabirds as Indicators of Change in Marine Ecosystems”

The purpose of the symposium was to critically examine specific questions about how seabirds indicate conditions in marine ecosystems. We drew upon the expertise of invited speakers from around the globe, and from PSG members attending the meeting who also contributed to the symposium. The symposium took place over all three days of the PSG meeting, and included several keynote speakers and a hosted lunch on the first day. There was a workshop for invited participants on the last day. We identified three broad themes in using seabirds as indicators of marine ecosystems: (1) Indicators of forage fish and plankton ecology, (2) Indicators of marine habitat quality, and, (3) Indicators of cyclic climate change and global warming. In addressing these themes, we asked participants to critically evaluate the role of one or more species of seabirds as indicators.

This symposium was supported by the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB), and represents one step in their efforts to develop an integrated marine research strategy for Alaska. Our goal was to develop an agenda for research on marine birds and to identify specific research strategies that would contribute to the mission of the NPRB, “to build a clear understanding of North Pacific ecosystems that enables effective management and sustainable use of marine resources” (see Final Report below).

Background material on using seabirds as indicators (including a bibliography and history, see below), as well as the talks and posters presented at the symposium helped guide us as we developed a research strategy.  Finally, we published many symposium papers in a special theme section of the peer-reviewed journal Marine Ecology Progress Series (MEPS). These papers are available free of charge, under an open access policy at MEPS. Individual papers or the entire published theme section are available for downloading from the journal’s web site (see below).

Seabirds as Indicators of Marine Ecosystems: An Integrated NPRB Science Plan for Alaska. Final Report NPRB Project 516 August 2006
Brief History of Seabirds as Indicators [PDF file 698k].
SAI Symposium Invited Speakers Abstracts [PDF file 73k] [Word document 99k]
 Bibliography for Seabirds as Indicators [PDF file 250k] [Word document 506 k] [Procite database 329k]

MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES Dec. 2007, Volume 352, p. 199-309
Seabirds as indicators of marine ecosystems [Entire Theme Section]

CONTENTS

 Introduction
by Piatt JF, Sydeman WJ, Wiese F
 Seabirds as environmental indicators: the advantages of combining data sets
by Frederiksen M, Mavor RA, Wanless S
 Interrogating seabirds: binary dietary responses of northern gannets Sula bassana indicate changing food web and oceanographic conditions
by Montevecchi WA
 Seabirds as indicators of marine food supplies: Cairns revisited
by Piatt JF, Harding AMA, Shultz M, Speckman SG, Van Pelt TI, Drew GS, Kettle AB
 Seabirds as indicators of food web structure and ecosystem variability: qualitative and quantitative diet analyses using fatty acids
by Iverson SJ, Springer AM, Kitaysky AS
 Stress hormones link food availability and population processes in seabirds
by Kitaysky AS, Piatt JF, Wingfield JC
 Spatial patterns of recruitment in a demersal fish as revealed by seabird diet 
by Robinette DP, Howar J, Sydeman WJ, Nur N
 Seabird behavior as an indicator of food supplies: sensitivity across the breeding season     
by Harding AMA, Piatt JF, Schmutz JA
 Beached birds and physical forcing in the California Current System
by Parrish JK, Bond N, Nevins H, Mantua N, Loeffel R, Peterson WT, Harvey JT
 Hot oceanography: planktivorous seabirds reveal ecosystem responses to warming of the Bering Sea
by Springer AM, Byrd GV, Iverson SJ
 Aquatic bird disease and mortality as an indicator of changing ecosystem health
by Newman SH, Chmura A, Converse K, Kilpatrick AM, Patel N, Lammers E, Daszak P