John Piatt, Ph.D.
Seabirds, marine food webs and impact of climate change on marine ecosystems
My research has been conducted mostly in the north Pacific and Atlantic oceans, with a focus on studies of seabird biology at colonies and ecological factors that influence seabird populations and distribution at sea. Research topics also include feeding ecology of seabirds (especially Auks), forage fish (such as capelin and sand lance), groundfish, marine mammals, food webs, oceanography, marine ecosystems; and threats to seabirds from climate change, heatwaves, overfishing, net bycatch, and oil spills.
Professional Experience
1987-Present Sr Scientist, USGS Alaska Science Center, AK
1982-1987 Res. Assoc., Nfld. Inst. for Cold Ocean Sci., MUN, NL
1978-1981 Fish. Obs./Wildl. Biol., DFO Canada/MacLaren Marex, NL
1974-1977 Res. Asst., Chemistry & Biochemistry Departments, MUN, NL
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. 1987 Marine Biology, Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland (MUN), Canada
B.Sc. (Honours) 1977 Biochemistry, MUN, Canada
Affiliations and Memberships*
Member (2021): Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., Am. Ornith. Soc., Pac. Seabird Grp., Am. Fish. Soc.
Editorial, Boards, Panels and Offices
Editor, Marine Ecology Progress Series (2007-2021)
Assoc. Editor, The Auk (2006-2013)
Chairman (1993-1994), Pacific Seabird Group (Research and Conservation)
Board or Science Panel service to North Pacific Research Board (2004-2011), Sound Experience (2014-2018), CA Fish & Game Commission (2003-2006), NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center (2000-2002)
Board or Science Panel service to Steller Sea Lion Recovery Team Advisory Panel (1999-2001), Cook Inlet Keepers (1996-2003), Alaska Sea Life Center (1995-1999)
Affiliate Professor – U. Washington (UW, 2004-2020); Oregon State U. (OSU, 2011-2015), MUN (1992-1996)
Visiting Scholar – UW (1997-1998)
Invited Scholar - Norwegian Inst. Nature Res., Norway (1991)
Supervisor for 3 PhD, 13 MSc students at 9 univ. in the UK (Glasgow, Durham), Canada (MUN, U.Vic), & the U.S. (UW, U.Alaska, UCSC, OSU)
Ext. examiner for 6 PhD. & 2 MSc theses (CAN, US, AUS)
Honors and Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award (2016), Pacific Seabird Group
US DOI, Secretary, Award for Exceptional Service (1990)
US DOI, Secretary, Award for Extraordinary Contributions (2011)
USGS, Director, Certificate of Appreciation (2011)
USGS, Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Contributions (2006)
USGS, Special Act Service Award (1997)
USFS, Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Service (1997)
USGS Quality (Step) Awards (2) for Exceptional Performance
USGS/NBS/FWS Performance/Star Awards (24 during 1987-2020) for Outstanding Achievement
USFWS, Regional Director, Special Action Award (1990)
Science and Products
Stress hormones link food availability and population processes in seabirds
Seabird behavior as an indicator of food supplies: Sensitivity across the breeding season
Seabirds as indicators of marine food supplies: Cairns revisited
Seabirds as indicators of marine ecosystems: Introduction: A modern role for seabirds as indicators
Testing the junk-food hypothesis on marine birds: Effects of prey type on growth and development
Balancing predation and egg harvest in a colonial seabird: A simulation model
Assessing the nutritional stress hypothesis: Relative influence of diet quantity and quality on seabird productivity
A mechanistic link between chick diet and decline in seabirds?
Predictable hotspots and foraging habitat of the endangered short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) in the North Pacific: Implications for conservation
Biology and conservation of Xantus's Murrelet: Discovery, taxonomy and distribution
Oceanographic conditions structure forage fishes into lipid-rich and lipid-poor communities in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, USA
Prey consumption and energy transfer by marine birds in the Gulf of Alaska
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 197
Stress hormones link food availability and population processes in seabirds
Catastrophic population declines in marine top predators in the northern Pacific have been hypothesized to result from nutritional stress affecting reproduction and survival of individuals. However, empirical evidence for food-related stress in wild animals is frequently lacking or inconclusive. We used a field endocrinology approach to measure stress, identify its causes, and examine a link betweAuthorsA.S. Kitaysky, John F. Piatt, J.C. WingfieldSeabird behavior as an indicator of food supplies: Sensitivity across the breeding season
We used empirical data on the time allocation of common murres Uria aalge in relation to measures of local prey density to examine whether adults provisioning chicks are more sensitive to changes in prey density than birds that are incubating eggs. We hypothesized that seasonal differences in food requirements of incubating and chick-rearing parents would affect the form of the relationship betweeAuthorsA.M.A. Harding, John F. Piatt, Joel A. SchmutzSeabirds as indicators of marine food supplies: Cairns revisited
In his seminal paper about using seabirds as indicators of marine food supplies, Cairns (1987, Biol Oceanogr 5:261–271) predicted that (1) parameters of seabird biology and behavior would vary in curvilinear fashion with changes in food supply, (2) the threshold of prey density over which birds responded would be different for each parameter, and (3) different seabird species would respond differeAuthorsJohn F. Piatt, Ann M.A. Harding, Michael T. Shultz, Suzann G. Speckman, Thomas I. van Pelt, Gary S. Drew, Arthur B. KettleSeabirds as indicators of marine ecosystems: Introduction: A modern role for seabirds as indicators
A key requirement for implementing ecosystem-based management is to obtain timely information on significant fluctuations in the ecosystem (Botsford et al. 1997). However, obtaining all necessary information about physical and biological changes at appropriate temporal and spatial scales is a daunting task. Intuitively, one might assume that physical data are more important for the interpretationAuthorsJohn F. Piatt, William J. Sydeman, Francis WieseTesting the junk-food hypothesis on marine birds: Effects of prey type on growth and development
The junk-food hypothesis attributes declines in productivity of marine birds and mammals to changes in the species of prey they consume and corresponding differences in nutritional quality of those prey. To test this hypothesis nestling Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) and Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) were raised in captivity under controlled conditions to determine whether the tAuthorsMarc D. Romano, John F. Piatt, D.D. RobyBalancing predation and egg harvest in a colonial seabird: A simulation model
We developed an individual-based model to study the effects of different regimes of harvesting eggs and natural predation on reproductive success in a colony of the glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens) in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. The model incorporates the sequence of egg laying, relaying, and incubation to hatching for individual nests and calculates hatching success, incubation lenAuthorsStephani Zador, John F. Piatt, A. E. PuntAssessing the nutritional stress hypothesis: Relative influence of diet quantity and quality on seabird productivity
Food availability comprises a complex interaction of factors that integrates abundance, taxonomic composition, accessibility, and quality of the prey base. The relationship between food availability and reproductive performance can be assessed via the nutritional stress (NSH) and junk-food (JFH) hypotheses. With respect to reproductive success, NSH posits that a deficiency in any of the aforementiAuthorsPatrick G.R. Jodice, Daniel D. Roby, K.R. Turco, Robert M. Suryan, David B. Irons, John F. Piatt, Michael T. Shultz, David G. Roseneau, Arthur B. Kettle, Jill A. AnthonyA mechanistic link between chick diet and decline in seabirds?
A climatic regime shift during the mid-1970s in the North Pacific resulted in decreased availability of lipidrich fish to seabirds and was followed by a dramatic decline in number of kittiwakes breeding on the Pribilof Islands. Although production of chicks in the mid-1970s was adequate to sustain kittiwake populations in the early 1980s, the disappearance of birds from breeding colonies apparentlAuthorsA.S. Kitaysky, E.V. Kitaiskaia, John F. Piatt, J.C. WingfieldPredictable hotspots and foraging habitat of the endangered short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) in the North Pacific: Implications for conservation
The short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) is a rare and endangered seabird that ranges widely over the northern North Pacific. Populations are slowly recovering but birds face several threats at sea, in particular the incidental capture of birds in long-line fisheries. Conservation efforts are hampered by a lack of information about the at-sea distribution of this species, especially knowlAuthorsJohn F. Piatt, J. Wetzel, K. Bell, A.R. DeGange, G.R. Balogh, G.S. Drew, T. Geernaert, C. Ladd, G.V. ByrdBiology and conservation of Xantus's Murrelet: Discovery, taxonomy and distribution
The biology of Xantus's Murrelets Synthliboramphus hypoleucus is similar in many respects to better-studied Ancient Murrelets S. antiquus, especially regarding morphology and the species' precocial mode of post-hatching development. It nests mainly in rock crevices but also under shrubs on islands in southern California, United States, and northwestern Baja California, Mexico (27oN to 34oN). The sAuthorsHarry R. Carter, Spencer G. Sealy, Esther E. Burkett, John F. PiattOceanographic conditions structure forage fishes into lipid-rich and lipid-poor communities in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, USA
Forage fishes were sampled with a mid-water trawl in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, USA, from late July to early August 1996 to 1999. We sampled 3 oceanographically distinct areas of lower Cook Inlet: waters adjacent to Chisik Island, in Kachemak Bay, and near the Barren Islands. In 163 tows using a mid-water trawl, 229 437 fishes with fork length < 200 mm were captured. More than 39 species were captAuthorsAlisa A. Abookire, John F. PiattPrey consumption and energy transfer by marine birds in the Gulf of Alaska
We investigated prey consumption by marine birds and their contribution to cross-shelf fluxes in the northern Gulf of Alaska. We utilized data from the North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database for modeling energy demand and prey consumption. We found that prey consumption by marine birds was much greater over the continental shelf than it was over the basin. Over the shelf, subsurface-foraging marinAuthorsG.L. Hunt, G.S. Drew, J. Jahncke, John F. Piatt - News
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