Presenter: Elliott Hazen (NOAA SWFSC ERD / UCSC / Stanford)

Description:
The rapid pace of environmental change in the Anthropocene necessitates new tools for measuring changes in ecosystem structure and function. From birds to invertebrates, sentinel species have been used to provide insight into ecosystem function, risks to human health, and as harbingers of future change. Here we develop the theory that marine top predators offer a unique ability to assess multiple ocean processes as they can transit across ocean basins and amplify food web processes across multiple spatio-temporal scales. To better facilitate the use of top predators as sentinel species, we provide a clear definition of ‘climate and ecosystem sentinels’, review the attributes of species identified as sentinels, and describe how a suite of sentinels could strengthen our understanding and management of marine ecosystems. We conclude that using marine predators as ecosystem sentinels enables rapid response and adaptation to ecosystem variability and environmental change in part because they are easier to observe, and in part because they may serve as leading indicators of ecosystem change. We need to continue to forge interdisciplinary collaborations to understand what top predator behavior, distribution, abundance, and demography may tell us about how climate variability and change are affecting ocean ecosystems. Choosing a suite of appropriate sentinels will both give insight into ecosystem processes and can help manage changing ecosystems into the future.