Mayumi L Arimitsu, Ph.D.
Forage fish, seabirds, predator-prey interactions, glacier-marine ecosystems, marine heatwaves, climate change
I lead research to identify factors influencing the status and trends of rare or threatened species on DOI lands, to understand the effects of glacier dynamics on coastal fjord ecosystems, and to document impacts of novel ocean climate patterns on the functioning of marine food webs. As the Pelagic Lead for the Gulf Watch Alaska long-term monitoring program I coordinate research integration across sampling programs for forage fish, marine birds, humpback whale, and killer whales.
Professional Experience
2009 - Present Research Ecologist, USGS Alaska Science Center, Juneau
2007 - 2009 SCEP, USGS Alaska Science Center, Juneau
2001 - 2007 Fishery Biologist USGS Alaska Science Center
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. 2016 University of Alaska Fairbanks, Juneau, Alaska Fisheries
M.Sc. 2009 University of Alaska Fairbanks, Juneau, Alaska Fisheries
B.Sc. 1998 U.C. Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California Biology
Affiliations and Memberships*
Pacific Seabird Group
Kittlitz's Murrelet Technical Committee
American Fisheries Society
Honors and Awards
2022 American Fisheries Society invited keynote speaker
2019 Sitka Whalefest invited speaker
2009 and 2010, Best student presentation, North Pacific Research Board
2007 USGS Star Award for Exceptional Performance
2005 USFWS Award of Appreciation, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
Science and Products
Monitoring long-term changes in forage fish distribution, abundance and body condition
Extreme reduction in nutritional value of a key forage fish during the Pacific marine heatwave of 2014–2016
Seasonal distribution of Dall's porpoise in Prince William Sound, Alaska
Biogeography of pelagic food webs in the North Pacific
Avian predator buffers against variability in marine habitats with flexible foraging behavior
Tracing biogeochemical subsidies from glacier runoff into Alaska's coastal marine food webs
Best practices for assessing forage fish fisheries-seabird resource competition
Puffins reveal contrasting relationships between forage fish and ocean climate in the North Pacific
Influence of glacier runoff on ecosystem structure in Gulf of Alaska fjords
Icefield-to-ocean linkages across the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest ecosystem
Evidence for the assimilation of ancient glacier organic carbon in a proglacial stream food web
Structure of marine predator and prey communities along environmental gradients in a glaciated fjord
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
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- Publications
Filter Total Items: 51
Monitoring long-term changes in forage fish distribution, abundance and body condition
We collected data on forage fish abundance, distribution and body condition in Prince William Sound, Alaska during summers in 2012 through 2016. This included acoustic – trawl surveys, aerial-acoustic surveys, opportunistic sampling where we encountered forage aggregations, and concurrent measurements of forage fish habitat. Acoustic indices of density suggest low abundance of age-0 walleye pollocAuthorsMayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. PiattExtreme reduction in nutritional value of a key forage fish during the Pacific marine heatwave of 2014–2016
Pacific sand lance Ammodytes personatus are a key forage fish in the North Pacific for many species of salmon, groundfish, seabirds, and marine mammals and have historically been important to predators in relatively warm years. However, extreme declines in the nutritional value of sand lance in Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA, during 2012-2016 indicate that energy transfer from lower trophic levAuthorsVanessa R. von Biela, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. Piatt, Brielle Heflin, Sarah K. Schoen, Jannelle Trowbridge, Chelsea ClawsonSeasonal distribution of Dall's porpoise in Prince William Sound, Alaska
Dall's porpoise, Phocoenoides dalli, are a conspicuous predator in the Prince William Sound ecosystem, yet there has been little effort directed towards monitoring this species since the 1980s, prior to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. We used vessel-based surveys to examine the seasonal distribution of Dall's porpoise in the waters of Prince William Sound during eight years from 2007 to 2015. Over theAuthorsJ.R. Moran, M.B. O'Dell, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Jan M Straley, D.M.S. DicksonBiogeography of pelagic food webs in the North Pacific
The tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) is a generalist seabird that breeds throughout the North Pacific and eats more than 75 different prey species. Using puffins as samplers, we characterized the geographic variability in pelagic food webs across the subarctic North Pacific from the composition of ~10,000 tufted puffin meals (~56,000 prey items) collected at 35 colonies in the Gulf of Alaska (GAuthorsJohn F. Piatt, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, William J. Sydeman, Sarah Ann Thompson, Heather Renner, Stephani Zador, David C. Douglas, Scott A. Hatch, Arthur B. Kettle, Jeffrey C. WilliamsAvian predator buffers against variability in marine habitats with flexible foraging behavior
How well seabirds compensate for variability in prey abundance and composition near their breeding colonies influences their distribution and reproductive success. We used tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) as forage fish samplers to study marine food webs from the western Aleutian Islands (53°N, 173°E) to Kodiak Island (57°N, 153°W), Alaska, during August 2012–2014. Around each colony we obtainAuthorsSarah K. Schoen, John F. Piatt, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Brielle Heflin, Erica N. Madison, Gary S. Drew, Martin Renner, Nora A. Rojek, David C. Douglas, Anthony R. DeGangeTracing biogeochemical subsidies from glacier runoff into Alaska's coastal marine food webs
Nearly half of the freshwater discharge into the Gulf of Alaska originates from landscapes draining glacier runoff, but the influence of the influx of riverine organic matter on the trophodynamics of coastal marine food webs is not well understood. We quantified the ecological impact of riverine organic matter subsidies to glacier-marine habitats by developing a multi-trophic level Bayesian three-AuthorsMayumi L. Arimitsu, Keith A. Hobson, D'Arcy N. Webber, John F. Piatt, Eran W. Hood, Jason B. FellmanBest practices for assessing forage fish fisheries-seabird resource competition
Worldwide, in recent years capture fisheries targeting lower-trophic level forage fish and euphausiid crustaceans have been substantial (∼20 million metric tons [MT] annually). Landings of forage species are projected to increase in the future, and this harvest may affect marine ecosystems and predator-prey interactions by removal or redistribution of biomass central to pelagic food webs. In partiAuthorsWilliam J. Sydeman, Sarah Ann Thompson, Tycho Anker-Nilssen, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Ashley Bennison, Sophie Bertrand, Philipp Boersch-Supan, Charlotte Boyd, Nicole C. Bransome, Robert J.M. Crawford, Francis Daunt, Robert W. Furness, Dimas Gianuca, Amanda Gladics, Laura Koehn, Jennifer W. Lang, Elizabeth Loggerwell, Taryn L. Morris, Elizabeth M. Phillips, Jennifer Provencher, André E.. Punt, Claire Saraux, Lynne Shannon, Richard B. Sherley, Alejandro Simeone, Ross M. Wanless, Sarah Wanless, Stephani ZadorPuffins reveal contrasting relationships between forage fish and ocean climate in the North Pacific
Long-term studies of predator food habits (i.e., ‘predator-based sampling’) are useful for identifying patterns of spatial and temporal variability of forage nekton in marine ecosystems. We investigated temporal changes in forage fish availability and relationships to ocean climate by analyzing diet composition of three puffin species (horned puffin Fratercula corniculata, tufted puffin FraterculaAuthorsWilliam J. Sydeman, John F. Piatt, Sarah Ann Thompson, Marisol Garcia-Reyes, Scott A. Hatch, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Leslie Slater, Jeffrey C. Williams, Nora A. Rojek, Stephani G. Zador, Heather M. RennerInfluence of glacier runoff on ecosystem structure in Gulf of Alaska fjords
To better understand the influence of glacier runoff on fjord ecosystems, we sampled oceanographic conditions, nutrients, zooplankton, forage fish and seabirds within 4 fjords in coastal areas of the Gulf Alaska. We used generalized additive models and geostatistics to identify the range of glacier runoff influence into coastal waters within fjords of varying estuarine influence and topographic coAuthorsMayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. Piatt, Franz J. MueterIcefield-to-ocean linkages across the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest ecosystem
Rates of glacier mass loss in the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) are among the highest on Earth, and changes in glacier volume and extent will affect the flow regime and chemistry of coastal rivers, as well as the nearshore marine ecosystem of the Gulf of Alaska. Here we synthesize physical, chemical and biological linkages that characterize the northern PCTR ecosystem, withAuthorsShad O'Neel, Eran Hood, Allison L. Bidlack, Sean W. Fleming, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Anthony Arendt, Evan W. Burgess, Christopher J. Sergeant, Anne E. Beaudreau, Kristin Timm, Gregory D. Hayward, Joel H. Reynolds, Sanjay PyareEvidence for the assimilation of ancient glacier organic carbon in a proglacial stream food web
We used natural abundance δ13C, δ15N, and Δ14C to compare trophic linkages between potential carbon sources (leaf litter, epilithic biofilm, and particulate organic matter) and consumers (aquatic macroinvertebrates and fish) in a nonglacial stream and two reaches of the heavily glaciated Herbert River. We tested the hypothesis that proglacial stream food webs are sustained by organic carbon releasAuthorsJason Fellman, Eran Hood, Peter A. Raymond, J.H. Hudson, Maura Bozeman, Mayumi L. ArimitsuStructure of marine predator and prey communities along environmental gradients in a glaciated fjord
Spatial patterns of marine predator communities are influenced to varying degrees by prey distribution and environmental gradients. We examined physical and biological attributes of an estuarine fjord with strong glacier influence to determine the factors that most influence the structure of predator and prey communities. Our results suggest that some species, such as walleye pollock (Theragra chaAuthorsMartin Renner, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. PiattNon-USGS Publications**
Arimitsu, M. L. 2016. The influence of glaciers on coastal marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Alaska. Dissertation, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 154 p.Arimitsu, M. L. 2009. Environmental gradients and prey availability relative to glacial features in Kittlitz's murrelet foraging habitat. M.Sc. Thesis, University of Alaska Fairbanks.**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
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*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government