Comparison of warm and cold years on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf and some implications for the ecosystem

Stabeno, Phyllis J.; Kachel, Nancy B.; Moore, Sue E.; Napp, Jeffrey M.; Sigler, Michael F.; Yamaguchi, Atsushi; Zerbini, Alexandre N.

doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2012.02.020

Cited by 299 publications

(335 citation statements)

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“…Piscivorous birds on the Pribilofs have been shown to experience greater food limitation during cold years (Kitaysky, Unpubl data;Benowitz-Fredericks et al, 2008; this study; Satterthwaite et al, 2012), and a recent analysis of the relationship between environmental variables, productivity and CORT levels of seabirds suggests a potential decline of both Pribilof colonies if current cold conditions persist in the North Pacific (Satterthwaite et al, 2012). Although there were relatively cold conditions for the Bering Sea in 2009 (Stabeno et al, 2012) and murres breeding on both Pribilof Islands were more foodlimited (higher CORT and lower co-attendance compared to Bogoslof), St. Paul birds were able to attain a similar level of energy balance as birds on St. George. However, this might not always be the case, for example if foraging conditions on the shelf deteriorate further, the additional distance to the productive continental shelf-break may be cost-prohibitive for murres to reproduce successfully on St. Paul Island.…”

Section: Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The closer proximity of St. George to the continental shelf-break may buffer birds from changes in food availability on the shelf, whereas birds on St. Paul may be more vulnerable to climate effects on food resources in the shelf regions (Byrd et al, 2008a(Byrd et al, , 2008b. There is accumulating evidence for changes in biological communities associated with ecosystem shifts in the Bering Sea (Grebmeier et al, 2006), and it has been suggested that the prolonged regimes observed during the last decades may be detrimental to populations of seabirds and northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) breeding at the Pribilof Islands (Stabeno et al, 2012). Piscivorous birds on the Pribilofs have been shown to experience greater food limitation during cold years (Kitaysky, Unpubl data;Benowitz-Fredericks et al, 2008; this study; Satterthwaite et al, 2012), and a recent analysis of the relationship between environmental variables, productivity and CORT levels of seabirds suggests a potential decline of both Pribilof colonies if current cold conditions persist in the North Pacific (Satterthwaite et al, 2012).…”

Section: Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Key forage fish species, such as the juvenile walleye pollock (Sinclair et al, 2008), are less abundant on the continental shelf during cold years because they either disperse or travel deeper to avoid cold waters (Hollowed et al, 2012). We studied birds in 2009, which was characterized by cold oceanographic conditions (Stabeno et al, 2012), providing a good opportunity to examine the importance of accessibility to the shelf-edge for Pribilof birds during years when food availability on the shelf is poor.…”

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Does location really matter? An inter-colony comparison of seabirds breeding at varying distances from productive oceanographic features in the Bering Sea

Harding

Paredes

Suryan

et al. 2013

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

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a b s t r a c tCentral place foragers, such as breeding seabirds, need to commute between their nests and foraging grounds, thus close proximity of the breeding colony to productive oceanographic features might be beneficial for seabird reproduction. We tested this hypothesis by investigating the at-sea foraging and breeding behavior of thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) nesting at three colonies (Bogoslof, St. Paul, and St. George Islands) in the Bering Sea located at different distances from the productive continental shelf-break. We found that distances to feeding areas differed only during night trips among colonies. St. Paul murres foraged entirely on the shelf, whereas St. George murres commuted to the continental shelf-break at night and foraged on the shelf during the day. Bogoslof murres foraged in oceanic waters in close proximity to the colony. Murres breeding at the both Pribilof colonies spent less time attending nests and had higher levels of stress hormone corticosterone compared to murres breeding at Bogoslof, although chick-provisioning rates and fledging success were similar among the three colonies. Lower nest attendance and higher corticosterone suggest lower food availability in the Pribilof domain compared to the Bogoslof region. Murres breeding at the Pribilofs used different foraging strategies to buffer effects of food shortages on their reproduction: flight costs associated with longer distance night trips at St. George were presumably balanced by benefits of higher density and/or more lipid rich prey in the continental shelf-break regions, whereas the additional distance of St. Paul from the continental shelf-break may have outweighed any energetic gain. Murres exhibited a remarkable degree of plasticity of foraging strategies in response to changes in their food availability, but the breeding success of murres did not reflect either food limitations or the colony proximity to productive oceanographic features.

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Section: Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does location really matter? An inter-colony comparison of seabirds breeding at varying distances from productive oceanographic features in the Bering Sea

Harding

Paredes

Suryan

et al. 2013

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

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“…The seasonal advance, retreat and extent of sea ice in the Bering Sea strongly influences the physical properties and the biological communities of the region (Sigler et al, 2010;Stabeno et al, 2012a;Goes et al, 2014). In fact, the areal extent and rate of retreat of sea ice can determine the conditions that will develop over the Bering Sea shelf in the following summer, such as the formation of the cold pool associated with the winter water over the middle shelf (Zhang et al, 2012;Stabeno et al, 2012b). The cold pool or a region with bottom waters with temperatures < 2 • C is tied to stratification which begins in April/May.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absorption and fluorescence properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter of the eastern Bering Sea in the summer with special reference to the influence of a cold pool

et al. 2014

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Abstract. The absorption and fluorescence properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) are reported for the inner shelf, slope waters and outer shelf regions of the eastern Bering Sea during the summer of 2008, when a warm, thermally stratified surface mixed layer lay over a cold pool (< 2 • C) that occupied the entire middle shelf. CDOM absorption at 355 nm (a g 355) and its spectral slope (S) in conjunction with excitationemission matrix (EEM) fluorescence and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) revealed large variability in the characteristics of CDOM in different regions of the Bering Sea. PARAFAC analysis aided in the identification of three humic-like (components one, two and five) and two proteinlike (a tyrosine-like component three, and a tryptophanlike component four) components. In the extensive shelf region, average absorption coefficients at 355 nm (a g 355, m −1 ) and DOC concentrations (µM) were highest in the inner shelf (0.342 ± 0.11 m −1 , 92.67 ± 14.60 µM) and lower in the middle (0.226 ± 0.05 m −1 , 78.38 ± 10.64 µM) and outer (0.185 ± 0.05 m −1 , 79.24 ± 18.01 µM) shelves, respectively. DOC concentrations, however were not significantly different, suggesting CDOM sources and sinks to be uncoupled from DOC. Mean spectral slopes S were elevated in the middle shelf (24.38 ± 2.25 µm −1 ) especially in the surface waters (26.87 ± 2.39 µm −1 ) indicating high rates of photodegradation in the highly stratified surface mixed layer, which intensified northwards in the northern middle shelf likely contributing to greater light penetration and to phytoplankton blooms at deeper depths. The fluorescent humic-like components one, two, and five were most elevated in the inner shelf most likely from riverine inputs. Along the productive "green belt" in the outer shelf/slope region, absorption and fluorescence properties indicated the presence of fresh and degraded autochthonous DOM. Near the Unimak Pass region of the Aleutian Islands, low DOC and a g 355 (mean 66.99 ± 7.94 µM; 0.182 ± 0.05 m −1 ) and a high S (mean 25.95 ± 1.58 µm −1 ) suggested substantial photobleaching of the Alaska Coastal Water, but high intensities of humic-like and protein-like fluorescence suggested sources of fluorescent DOM from coastal runoff and glacier meltwaters during the summer. The spectral slope S vs. a g 355 relationship revealed terrestrial and oceanic end members along with intermediate water masses that were modeled using nonlinear regression equations that could allow water mass differentiation based on CDOM optical properties. Spectral slope S was negatively correlated (r 2 = 0.79) with apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) for waters extending from the middle shelf into the deep Bering Sea indicating increasing microbial alteration of CDOM with depth. Although our data show that the CDOM photochemical environment of the Bering Sea is complex, our current information on its optical properties will aid in better understanding of the biogeochemical role of CDOM in carbon budgets in relation to the annual sea ic...

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“…Snow crab distributions have been shown to contract northward after years of warmer bottom temperatures (e.g., 1975-1979Orensanz et al, 2004), and to shift back to the south (Turnock and Rugolo 4 ) after a series of more recent colder-than-average years (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010) and more extensive cold pools (Stabeno et al, 2012). The tagged MM males in this study were, therefore, at liberty during a relatively cold period.…”

Section: Carapace Width (Mm) Minimum Depth (M) During Migrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal migrations of morphometrically mature male snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the eastern Bering Sea in relation to mating dynamics

Nichol¹,

Somerton²

2015

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Comparison of warm and cold years on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf and some implications for the ecosystem

Cited by 299 publications

References 43 publications

Does location really matter? An inter-colony comparison of seabirds breeding at varying distances from productive oceanographic features in the Bering Sea

Does location really matter? An inter-colony comparison of seabirds breeding at varying distances from productive oceanographic features in the Bering Sea

Absorption and fluorescence properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter of the eastern Bering Sea in the summer with special reference to the influence of a cold pool

Seasonal migrations of morphometrically mature male snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the eastern Bering Sea in relation to mating dynamics

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