Contact Information
Fisheries Academic Program138 Irving II
P.O. Box 7557220
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7220
Phone: (907) 474-2486
t.haynes@alaska.edu
Trevor HaynesPh.D. Student
Thesis Title
Habitat modeling and diet of yellow billed loons in the North Slope
Co-advised by Dr. Amanda Rosenberger (SFOS) and Dr. Mark Lindberg (IAB)
Affiliations
- Pacific Seabird Group
- American Fisheries Society
- Ornithological Societies of North America
- Northwest Scientific Association
- Marine Protected Areas Research Group
Specialties
- Fish and bird habitat modeling
- Predator-prey interactions
Research Overview
My interests are landscape-level predator prey relationships and the community and behavioral ecology of fish and bird species. My past and ongoing research has focused on the distributional linkage between prey fish and piscivorous birds.
My M.Sc. research through the University of Victoria, British Columbia, examined the habitat use of the Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus), a fish species that is an important link between secondary producers and top marine predators in the Pacific Northwest. My research contributed to creating a better understanding of habitat use of an endangered seabird, the marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), for which sand lance is a main prey item.
For my Ph.D. research, I have transitioned from studying marine systems to freshwater lakes of Arctic Alaska. My project explores the diet and habitat use of the yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii) on the North Slope. The yellow-billed loon is a species of conservation concern. One of the ten rarest bird species in North America, this species’ nesting habitat is potentially sensitive to oil and gas development, and adults are exposed to potential impacts at-sea such as incidental catch in fisheries.
The distributions of prey fish over the thousands of lakes dotting North Slope landscape are potentially important in determining habitat use for nesting yellow-billed loons. To help understand what habitat features are important for breeding loons, I am using a habitat modeling approach to examine the distribution and structure of fish communities in lakes, and then using this information, along with other environmental factors, to model the habitat use of nesting yellow-billed loons. To mechanistically connect landscape associations between fish species and breeding birds, I am using molecular techniques to determine the diet composition of loons.
Publications
Haynes T.B., J.A. Schmutz, M.S. Lindberg, A.E. Rosenberger. In Press. Risk of predation and weather events affect nest site selection by sympatric yellow-billed and Pacific loons in Arctic habitats. Waterbirds.
Haynes T.B., A.E. Rosenberger, M.S. Lindberg, M. Whitman, J.A. Schmutz. In Press. Method- and species-specific detection of Arctic fishes in lakes on the North Slope, Alaska. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
Haynes T.B., S.K. Nelson and V.M. Padula. 2011. Dynamics of multi-species feeding associations in marine waters near Juneau, Alaska. Marine Ornithology. 39:227-234. (536 KB PDF)
Haynes T.B., S.K. Nelson, F. Poulson and V.M. Padula. 2011. Spatial distribution and habitat use of Marbled Murrelets Brachyramphus marmoratus at sea in Port Snettisham, Alaska. Marine Ornithology 39:151–162. (479 KB PDF)
Haynes T.B. and C.L.K Robinson. 2011. Re-use of shallow sediment patches by Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus) in Barkley Sound, British Columbia, Canada. Environmental Biology of Fishes. 92(1):1-12. (476KB PDF)
Haynes T.B., S.K. Nelson and S.H. Newman. 2010. Diel shifts in the marine distribution of marbled murrelets near Port Snettisham, Southeast Alaska. Waterbirds. 33(4): 471-478. (148KB PDF)
Haynes T.B., E. Mentoz-Phillips and D.E. Facey. 2009. Comparing the hyposaline tolerance of two intertidal fish species: The black prickleback (Xiphister atropurpureus) and the penpoint gunnel (Apodichthys flavidus). Northwest Science. 83(4): 361-366. (176KB PDF)
Haynes T.B., C. Robinson and P. Dearden. 2008. Modelling nearshore intertidal habitat use of young-of-the-year Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus) in Barkley Sound, British Columbia, Canada. Environmental Biology of Fishes. 83(4) 473-484. (291KB PDF)
Haynes T.B., R.A. Ronconi and A.E. Burger. 2007. Habitat use and behavior of the Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus) in the shallow subtidal region of Southwestern Vancouver Island. Northwestern Naturalist. 88(3): 155-167. (486KB PDF)
