Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: South Carolina
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

A recent synthesis of oceanographic data for the South Atlantic Bight is lacking and this is particularly true for avian taxa in this region. Clapp et al. (1982) composed distributions of marine birds from records dating until the early 1980s but no comprehensive synthesis has been conducted since. The need for such a synthesis is warranted given the increase in human activity within this zone (e.g. commercial and recreational fisheries) and proposed or experimental activities focused on energy development. Furthermore the region supports a wide array of breeding and migratory seabirds, many of which are declining or have population trends of unknown trajectories. In many cases research on these species has been minimal and not always made available in easy-to-access outlets. I propose to synthesize the existing knowledge on distribution and ecology of seabirds in the South Atlantic Bight. Data gaps will be identified and areas for future research highlighted. The work will build upon current efforts of the PI to increase the knowledge-base of seabird ecology along the South Atlantic US coast