Wolfe, S. 2005. PhD Thesis Proposal summary. Linking seabird life history with oceanographic variability: a multi-population study of the Cassin’s Auklet. University of California – Santa Cruz.

I am interested in the relationships between oceanographic variability and seabird population dynamics and life history trade-offs. Coastal marine predators such as planktivorous seabirds that have large ranges, simple life histories, and direct trophic links to productivity provide model systems for exploring the ecological effects of oceanographic variability.  My work investigates the linkages between oceanographic variability, resource variability, demography, and life history trade-offs of a planktivorous marine predator, the seabird Cassin’s Auklet Ptychoramphus aleuticus, in populations that breed within three regions of the California Current System along the west coast of North America.  Specifically, I am examining how ocean climate variability and prey abundance affect the timing of breeding, fecundity, adult survival, and the trade-off between survival and fecundity of Cassin’s Auklets at colony sites at Triangle Island in British Columbia, SE Farallon Island in central California, and the San Benito Islands in northern Mexico from 2000-2005.  I am also looking at the influence of oceanographic variability on auklet cohort dynamics over time in the central California colony.  I would like to apply my findings to make predictions about how future oceanographic climate change may affect auklet population dynamics in different regions of the California Current System.  For this work, I have been collaborating with the Triangle Island Seabird Research and Monitoring Program and Point Reyes Bird Observatory who have been collecting long-term demographic data on Cassin's Auklets on Triangle Island and SE Farallon Island, respectively.




Shaye Wolf
Ph.D. Candidate
University of California, Santa Cruz
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
100 Shaffer Road
Santa Cruz, CA  95060
(831) 459-4581