DISTRIBUTION, POPULATION STATUS AND TRENDS OF KITTLITZ'S MURRELET BRACHYRAMPHUS BREVIROSTRIS IN LOWER COOK INLET AND KACHEMAK BAY, ALASKA.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- KULETZ, KATHERINE J.; SPECKMAN, SUZANN G.; PIATT, JOHN F.; LABUNSKI, ELIZABETH A.
- Source
- Marine Ornithology. 2011, Vol. 39 Issue 1, p85-95. 11p.
- Subject
- *KITTLITZ'S murrelet
*ZOOGEOGRAPHY
*HABITATS
*CLIMATE change
- Language
- ISSN
- 1018-3337
The article discusses a study of the summer distribution and abundance of the Kittlitz's Murrelet Brachyramphus brevirostris in Lower Cook Inlet (LCI) and Kachemak Bay, Alaska from 1993 to 1999. The bathymetric contours of LCI served as the bases of the nearshore stratum in the 1996-1999 surveys. Estimates of population size, densities and trends of Kittlitz's and Marbled murrelets in the LCI Core area included unidentified murrelets. The so-called high-use hotspots for the species were the southeastern side of LCI and inner Kachemak Bay. The role of the alteration of glacially associated habitats due to climate change in the decline of Kittlitz's Murrelet population is noted.