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Publications

Scott A. Shaffer

2010

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Shearwater Foraging In The Southern Ocean: The Roles Of Prey Availability And Winds, B Raymond, Scott A. Shaffer, S Sokolov, E Woehler, D P. Costa, L Einoder, M Hindell, G Hosie, M Pinkerton, P M. Sagar, D Scott, A Smith, D R. Thompson, C Vertigan, H Weimerskirch Jan 2010

Shearwater Foraging In The Southern Ocean: The Roles Of Prey Availability And Winds, B Raymond, Scott A. Shaffer, S Sokolov, E Woehler, D P. Costa, L Einoder, M Hindell, G Hosie, M Pinkerton, P M. Sagar, D Scott, A Smith, D R. Thompson, C Vertigan, H Weimerskirch

Scott A. Shaffer

Background Sooty (Puffinus griseus) and short-tailed (P. tenuirostris) shearwaters are abundant seabirds that range widely across global oceans. Understanding the foraging ecology of these species in the Southern Ocean is important for monitoring and ecosystem conservation and management. Methodology/Principal Findings Tracking data from sooty and short-tailed shearwaters from three regions of New Zealand and Australia were combined with at-sea observations of shearwaters in the Southern Ocean, physical oceanography, near-surface copepod distributions, pelagic trawl data, and synoptic near-surface winds. Shearwaters from all three regions foraged in the Polar Front zone, and showed particular overlap in the region around 140°E. Short-tailed shearwaters …


Niche Partitioning Among And Within Sympatric Tropical Seabirds Revealed By Stable Isotope Analysis, H S. Young, D J. Mccauley, R Dirzo, R D. Dunbar, Scott A. Shaffer Jan 2010

Niche Partitioning Among And Within Sympatric Tropical Seabirds Revealed By Stable Isotope Analysis, H S. Young, D J. Mccauley, R Dirzo, R D. Dunbar, Scott A. Shaffer

Scott A. Shaffer

The low productivity and unpredictable nature of resources in tropical waters would appear to make resource partitioning among predators difficult. Yet, stable isotope data from the present study suggest that substantial resource partitioning occurs among tropical seabird communities, both between and within species. In the present study, we compared δ13C and δ15N levels among 8 sympatric tropical seabird species. For a subset of these species, we also examined isotopic levels across years, breeding periods, and sexes. When breeding and non-breeding periods were both considered, we found that all species occupied distinct isotopic niches across at least one time period. Resource …