Hierarchical influences of prey distribution on patterns of prey capture by a marine predator

1. Prey distribution acts at multiple spatial scales to influence foraging success by predators. The overall distribution of prey may shape foraging ranges, the distance between patches may influence the ability of predators to detect and move between profitable areas, and individual patch characteristics may affect prey capture efficiency.
2. In this study, we assessed relationship between spatially-explicit patterns of prey capture by a central place forager, the little penguin (using GPS tracking and accelerometry), and the distribution of aggregations of potential forage fish prey (using boat-based active acoustics) in eastern Australia. We used complementary resource selection functions to estimate the distribution of both prey captures and aggregations across the study area, based on a suite of habitat characteristics.
3. We found that 99 % of prey captures by penguins occurred in the top 20 m of the water column. The estimated distribution of prey captures across the study area...