Distribution and abundance, diets, and breeding performance of marine mammals and seabirds reflect local marine environments. A number of studies from the western and eastern North Pacific indicate interannual to interdecadal changes in these environment. In particular, low-frequency climate changes sometimes result in profound effects on marine ecosystems, yet the influence of these factors on seabirds and mammals has not been adequately quantified. In the North Atlantic, their breeding performance and population dynamics has been related to changes in the NAO. Papers that examine synchrony in responses by these taxa to interannual to interdecadal climate variability in the North Pacific are solicited. Studies describing and testing mechanisms of environmental forcing from physics to prey, on seabirds and marine mammals are of particular interest. With sufficient interest by the participants, an appropriate primary journal will be approached to publish the papers presented at the workshop.
Invited Speakers: Julie Thayer (PRBO Conservation
Science, U.S.A.), Arthur Miller (Institution Scripps Institution
of Oceanography, University of California, U.S.A..), Sarah Wanless
(Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, U.K.), Shin-ichi Ito (Tohoku
National Fisheries Research Institute, FRA, Japan) and Sei-Ichi
Saitoh (Hokkaido University, Japan).