Covariation between North Pacific climate and auklet demographic parameters at three western Aleutian islands during Ian L. Jones Biology Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland Due to their low trophic level, planktivorous seabirds demography might rapidly reflect changes in ocean productivity and zooplankton abundance Objective Measure auklet survival, productivity and chick diet at three western Aleutian Islands to look for effects of changing climate and oceanography, inferred from covariance across species, islands and years Auklets (Auks, Alcidae Aethiini genus Aethia) Long-lived planktivorous monogamous colonial seabirds Least Auklet Crested Auklet Whiskered Auklet Smallest Eats copepods Migratory, disperses widely in winter Largest Eats euphausiids Migratory, localized in winter Intermediate Mixed diet Resident Aleutians only Predictions If auklet demography is regulated by very large scale climate processes then Survival, productivity, diet should correlate among: auklet species different island colony sites and with climate covariates Scale effects Survival - largest scale - measured on an annual basis, birds widely dispersed in North Pacific Productivity - more local scale, reflects conditions near colony site, during breeding season only Chick diet - during chick rearing (July) only product of a collaboration Co-investigators Vernon Byrd, Jeff Williams, Art Sowls -Alaska Maritime NWR Alex Bond, Heather Major - grad students Fieldworkers G. Beyersdorf, K. Brenneman, J. Citta, T. Clarke, L. Cowen, A. Durand, E. Drew, B. Drummond, J. Fisher, G. Fraser, M. Grinnell, M. Hipfner, S. Hootman, A. Hunt, N. Jones, T. Joyce, P. Kappes, H. Knechtel, N. Konyukhov, S. Lantz, G. Loh, S. Lorenz, H. Major, J. Marais, G. McClelland, L. Meehan, M. Murphy, A. Nunez de la Mora, M. Ortwerth, A. Palmer, L. Parker, J. Pennell, M. Renner, H. Renner, D. Roby, N. Rojek, L. Scharf, K. Shea, E. Sommer, G. Spencer, J. Sutton, I. Stevenson, G. Thomson, A. Veit, N. Winter, J. Wade, V. Zubakin et al. Discussions John Piatt, Dan Roby, Sasha Kitaysky et al. Three study islands (19) (8) (12) 400 nm Buldir Kiska Kasatochi Pitfalls Land-based predators (rats and gulls) Arduous capture-mark-recapture Replication not Climate covariates NPI: sea level pressure over 30N-65N, 160E-140W ALPI: area with pressure