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Massive Mortality of a Planktivorous Seabird in Response to a Marine Heatwave
Author(s) -
Jones Timothy,
Parrish Julia K.,
Peterson William T.,
Bjorkstedt Eric P.,
Bond Nicholas A.,
Ballance Lisa T.,
Bowes Victoria,
Hipfner J. Mark,
Burgess Hillary K.,
Dolliver Jane E.,
Lindquist Kirsten,
Lindsey Jacqueline,
Nevins Hannahrose M.,
Robertson Roxanne R.,
Roletto Jan,
Wilson Laurie,
Joyce Trevor,
Harvey James
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2017gl076164
Subject(s) - oceanography , energetics , seabird , zooplankton , foraging , abundance (ecology) , biomass (ecology) , population , environmental science , climate change , global warming , ecology , biology , geology , predation , demography , sociology
Abstract Climate change has exacerbated the occurrence of large‐scale sea surface temperature anomalies, or marine heatwaves (MHWs)—extreme phenomena often associated with mass mortality events of marine organisms. Using a combination of citizen science and federal data sets, we investigated the causal mechanisms of the 2014/2015 die‐off of Cassin's Auklets ( Ptychoramphus aleuticus ), a small zooplanktivorous seabird, during the NE Pacific MHW of 2013–2015. Carcass deposition followed an effective reduction in the energy content of mesozooplankton, coincident with the loss of cold‐water foraging habitat caused by the intrusion of the NE Pacific MHW into the nearshore environment. Models examining interannual variability in effort‐controlled carcass abundance (2001–2014) identified the biomass of lipid‐poor zooplankton as the dominant predictor of increased carcass abundance. In 2014, Cassin's Auklets dispersing from colonies in British Columbia likely congregated into a nearshore band of cooler upwelled water and ultimately died from starvation following the shift in zooplankton composition associated with onshore transport of the NE Pacific MHW. For Cassin's Auklets, already in decline due to ocean warming, large‐scale and persistent MHWs might represent a global population precipice.