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Adding the ocean to the study of seabirds: A brief history of at-sea seabird research

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 15:23 authored by Ainley, DG, Ribic, CA, Woehler, E
We review the history of how research directed towards marine ornithology has led to an appreciation of seabirds as highly specialized marine organisms. Beginning with R. C. Murphy (Pacific), V. C. Wynne-Edwards (Atlantic), and associates in the early 1900s, the research approach grew from an emphasis on seabird single-species ecology to an appreciation of interacting species assemblages and finally to seabirds being considered as important components of marine food webs. After a slow, drawn-out beginning, the initial main impetus for developing the field was a need to map seabird abundance and distribution tied to understanding impacts of continental shelf resource exploitation. Coalescing during the 1970s to 1980s to facilitate this line of research were 6 factors: (1) ability to identify birds at sea; (2) standardization of techniques to quantify abundance; (3) resources and techniques for mapping; (4) appreciation of how scale affects seabird relationships to hydrographic features and patchy prey; (5) development of computing power and appropriate statistics; and (6) seabird biologists becoming embedded in, as well as organizing, multidisciplinary marine research projects. Future advances in understanding the role of seabirds in marine food webs will be made by seabird biologists participating in multi - disciplinary projects using grid-like surveys relative to oceanographic features in combination with instrumentation that reveals the finer details of seabird foraging behaviors. © Inter-Research 2012.

History

Publication title

Marine Ecology Progress Series

Volume

451

Pagination

231-243

ISSN

0171-8630

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Inter-Research

Place of publication

Nordbunte 23, Oldendorf Luhe, Germany, D-21385

Rights statement

Copyright 2012 Inter-Research

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems

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