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National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Regional Office

Prince William Sound, photo: Mandy Lindeberg

Office of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) Damage Assessment and Restoration

Alaska Predator Ecosystem Experiment 1993-2002

Researcher working with a Black-legged Kittiwake and its chick. Researcher working with a Black-legged Kittiwake and its chick on the cliffs of Prince William Sound. Photo: EVOS Trustee Council

Alaska Predator Ecosystem Experiment (APEX) was an interdisciplinary and interagency effort of biologists, ecologists, oceanographers, and statisticians from federal, state, private, and university entities from 1993-2002. APEX tested the general hypothesis that low food abundance contributed to the decline of seabird and marine mammal populations in Prince William Sound. APEX researchers sampled the stomach contents of forage fish to see if they were affected by a lack of food. In addition, researchers monitored where the seabirds were feeding and what effect diet had on their reproductive success.


APEX Research Projects

  • Lessons from the study of the effects of the Exxon Valdez Spill on Alaskan Seabirds and Fish
  • Longterm changes in Gulf of Alaska Marine Forage Species 1953-1998
  • Foodweb supporting forage fish populations in Prince William Sound, Alaska
  • Mesoscale interactions between seabirds and forage fish
  • Microscale interactions between seabirds and forage fishes in the Northern Gulf of Alaska
  • Seabird reproductive energetics and the fat content of fish
  • Kittiwakes foraging behavior and population dynamics in Prince William Sound

Principal Investigators

David G. Ainley, H.T. Harvey Associates, Alviso, CA
Jack Anderson, Columbia Analytical Services, Carlsbad, CA
Paul J. Anderson, National Marine Fisheries Service, Kodiak, AK
James E. Blackburn, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Kodiak, AK
Evelyn Brown, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Institute of Marine Science, Fairbanks, AK
Ken Coyle, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Institute of Marine Science, Fairbanks, AK
David Duffy, University of Hawaii Manoa, Department of Botany, Honolulu, HI
R. Glenn Ford, R.G. Ford Consulting Company, Portland, OR
Greg Golet, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK
John Thedinga and Lee Hulbert, Auke Bay Laboratory, NMFS, Juneau, AK
David B. Irons, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK
Katherine J. Kuletz, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK
Lyman McDonald, Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc., Cheyenne, WY
Brenda Norcross, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Institute of Marine Science, Fairbanks, AK
William D. Ostrand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK
John F. Piatt, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Anchorage, AK
Jennifer Purcell, University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge, MD
Daniel D. Roby, Oregon State Univ., Oregon Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, Corvallis, OR
Mark Romano, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Anchorage, AK
David Roseneau, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Homer, AK
David C. Schneider, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NFLD
Tom Shirley, University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Juneau, AK
Molly Sturdevant, National Marine Fisheries Service, Auke Bay Laboratory, Juneau, AK
Rob Suryan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK




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