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Reproductive Constraints Influence Habitat Accessibility, Segregation, And Preference Of Sympatric Albatross Species, Michelle Kappes, Scott Shaffer, Yann Tremblay, David Foley, Daniel Palacios, Steven Bograd, Daniel Costa

Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences

The spatiotemporal distribution of animals is dependent on a suite of factors, including the distribution of resources, interactions within and between species, physiological limitations, and requirements for reproduction, dispersal, or migration. During breeding, reproductive constraints play a major role in the distribution and behavior of central place foragers, such as pelagic seabirds. We examined the foraging behavior and marine habitat selection of Laysan (Phoebastria immutabilis) and black-footed (P. nigripes) albatrosses throughout their eight month breeding cycle at Tern Island, Northwest Hawaiian Islands to evaluate how variable constraints of breeding influenced habitat availability and foraging decisions. We used satellite tracking and …