Skip Navigation

ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 1997 54(4):593-599; doi:10.1006/jmsc.1997.0244
© 1997 by ICES/CIEM International Council for the Exploration of the Sea/Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ribic, C. A.
Right arrow Articles by Ainley, D. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Ribic, C. A.
Right arrow Articles by Ainley, D. G.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

The relationships of seabird assemblages to physical habitat features in Pacific equatorial waters during spring 1984–1991

Christine A. Ribic and D. G. Ainley

USGS BRD, Department of Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin 226 Russell Labs, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1598, USA
H. T. Harvey & Associates 906 Elizabeth St. PO Box 1180, Alviso, CA 95002, USA.

Correspondence to C. A. Ribic: tel: +6082636556; fax: +6082626099; email: caribic{at}facstaff.wisc.edu

The association of seabird species groups with physical habitat was investigated in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, far from any breeding colonies. This avoided birds that commute between colony and feeding habitat, behaviour that confuses associations with specific water types and current systems. Seabirds were counted on duplicate tracks in the eastern tropical Pacific each spring from 1984–1991. On each cruise, seabird habitat was measured on the basis of six factors and focused on three species groups: (A) black-winged petrel and white-winged petrel, (B) Juan Fernandez petrel, wedge-tailed shearwater, and sooty tern, and (C) Leach's storm-petrel and wedge-rumped storm-petrel. Group A was associated with the South Equatorial Current, particularly in cooler waters (median of 26.4°C); both petrel species followed this assemblage association with current. Group B was associated with areas characterized by deep thermoclines (median of 60 m) and low salinities (median of 34.33). Within Group B, two of the three species' responses were consistent with the group pattern; Juan Fernandez petrel differed by occurring more often where thermocline slopes were steep (median of 9.8 deg C m–1). Group C was not associated with any physical habitat variable. This was due to species in the group being associated with different habitats: Leach's storm-petrel with the tropical and equatorial surface water masses and wedge-rumped storm-petrel with waters having shallower thermocline depths (median of 22 m). Overall, two of the three assemblages appeared to be associated with physical habitat during spring with consistency among the species in the group. An association with thermocline depth may indicate that productivity was an important predictor of assemblage presence.

Keywords: assemblages, habitat choice, physical features, seabirds


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.