Seabird reproduction, time budget, and diet at Castle Rock NWR

High trophic-level marine predators, including seabirds, are widely recognized as indicators of ecosystem change and have great ecological, economic, and cultural value. Seabirds are uniquely observable marine predators that are constrained to the oceans surface and nesting on land. Seabird reproduction, foraging effort, and diet have been widely adopted as rapid indicators of change in marine ecosystems. Each of these vary in response to alterations in marine productivity and resulting changes in prey communities. Nesting seabirds may directly and indirectly benefit from MPAs because of increased food availability and changes in prey populations. Baseline characterization of seabird reproduction and diet will allow for the detection of future changes in marine ecosystems, including changes resulting from MPAs. To create a baseline characterization of seabirds nesting in the North Coast Study Region (NCSR), we determined the reproductive success, time allocated to foraging, and diet of the most abundant seabird nesting in the NCSR in 2014. This data was combined with data previously collected over a seven-year period (2007-2013) to characterize the current status and temporal variability in productivity, diet, and foraging effort of murres in the NCSR, so that future changes can be judged. These data provide information on short-term (rapid) changes in seabird prey diversity and availability.

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