Common Murres at Duck Island, Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska. © Ann Harding
I have collaborated since 1995 with John Piatt at the Alaska Science Center on a large comparative project examining the behavioral and numerical response of breeding seabirds to varying food availability in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska. Field work is complete, and writing continues.
A key to understanding seabird population dynamics is to characterize the biological responses of seabirds to fluctuations in prey abundance, distribution and quality. This long-term study formed the basis of the Alaska Science Center Seabird Project http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/seabird_foragefish/index.html between 1995-2000, and was designed to measure the foraging (functional) and population (numerical) responses of six seabird species to fluctuating forage fish densities at three seabird colonies in lower Cook Inlet. This involved at-sea surveys (hydroacoustic, trawling, seining) for forage fish while measuring aspects of seabird breeding biology and behavior at adjacent colonies. Funded by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) Trustees under the Apex Predator Experiment (APEX) program, and by USGS (including Base and MMS-OCS funds). Collaboration with Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (ANMWR), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks (IMS-UAF) and several universities.
