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Reproductive Performance, Foraging Effort, And Diet Of An Apex Predator, The Common Murre, At One Of The Largest Nesting Colonies In The California Current System, Stephanie Rianne Schneider
Reproductive Performance, Foraging Effort, And Diet Of An Apex Predator, The Common Murre, At One Of The Largest Nesting Colonies In The California Current System, Stephanie Rianne Schneider
Master's Theses
Common Murre (Uria aalge) are the most abundant avian apex predator nesting in the California Current System (CCS) and nesting is the most energetically demanding phase of their lifecycle. The preyscape within flight distance of their nesting colony determines whether murres produce young, how hard they must work to do so, and what prey types are available to them. This study characterized the reproductive performance, foraging effort, and prey composition of murres nesting at a previously unstudied and large nesting colony in the CCS, Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge, over an 11-year period (2007 - 2017) intended to capture a …
Life History Characteristics Of The Starry Skate, Raja Stellulata, From California Waters, Kelsey James
Life History Characteristics Of The Starry Skate, Raja Stellulata, From California Waters, Kelsey James
Master's Theses
The order Rajiformes, or skates, is a morphologically conservative group that exhibits a wide range of life history characteristics. This inter-species variability warrants species-specific research. This study investigates the age, growth, reproduction, and habitat of the Starry Skate, Raja stellulata, which is endemic to the U.S. West Coast. Age and growth parameters were determined using two preparation techniques: gross sectioning and histological sectioning. The assumption that gross sections deposit one band pair a year was indirectly validated with centrum edge analysis and marginal increment ratio. It was not indirectly validated with histological sections. Age estimates from gross sections ranged from …