Research | Hoover Ecology

Spatial clustering of prey fields, and links to predators

Ecological questions often revolve around food -- where is the food, how is it distributed, how energetic is it, what are the costs of collecting it? To understand the movements and foraging decisions that seabirds and other marine predators make, I try to first understand the spatial structure of their prey - zooplankton, krill, squid, and forage fishes.

I collaborate with academic, non-profit, and government colleagues to analyze prey data collected through acoustic surveys and net trawls, and link these patterns to physical oceanographic variables that drive prey distribution and abundance.

As a seabird ecologist, I focus on matching these biophysical data with at-sea or colony records of seabirds. My work often involves surveying birds at sea, and I try to participate in 1-2 research cruises a year.

Dorman et al. (In prep). Acoustically-derived krill biomass for the California Current, 2012-2018.

Hoover et al. (In prep).Sensing and mapping prey fields: spatial organizatin of euphausiid crustaceans across the California Current Ecosystem.

Sydeman et al. (2021). Hemispheric asymmetry in productivity of ecosystem sentinels: trouble in the north, opportunity in the south. Science

Hoover et al. (2021). Spatio-temporal persistence in mesoscale zooplankton communities in the eastern North Pacific. PLoS One

Jones et al. (2014). A cross-shelf gradient of delta-15 N stable isotope values of krill and pollack indicates seabird foraging patterns in the Bering Sea. Deep Sea Research II

Benoit-Bird et al. (2013). Prey patch patterns predict habitat use by top marine predators with diverse foraging strategies. PLOS One

Benoit-Bird et al. (2011). Active acoustic examination of the diving behavior of murres foraging on patchy prey. Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Behavioral ecology of Common Loons

At Chapman University, I analyzed data collected from The Loon Project in northern Wisconsin to understand how juvenile loons select new lakes to forage on.

I am also analyzing the acoustic yodels made by adult male loons to better understand how these territorial calls reflect the age and condition of each individual.

Eat Prey Loon

https://californiawaterblog.com/2021/02/14/eat-prey-loon-lessons-from-juvenile-loons-in-wisconsin/

Piper et al. (2022). Territory holders are more aggressive towards older, more dangerous floaters. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03131-7

Hoover et al. (in prep). Male yodels reflect both age and quality in an iconic northern waterbird..

Hoover et al. (2020). Early evidence of natal-habitat preference: juvenile loons feed on natal-like lakes after fledging. Evolution and Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7134

Piper et al. (2020). Loons on the wane: plunging chick and floater survival cause population decline in a northern icon. Condor

Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC):

mate choice, odor, and behavior

MHC IIb markers are highly polymorphic proteins associated with immune response to extracellular pathogens, and may also influence individual odor cues, kin recognition, and mate choice decisions.

For my PhD work at UC Davis, I characterized genetic diversity at the Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II (MHC IIb) within a Leach’s storm-petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) colony on Bon Portage (BP) Island, Canada.

I continue to investigate whether variability in MHC genes can be used to predict mate choice in a natural population, and whether specific MHC genotypes are associated with individual fitness measures. In collaboration with colleagues, the MHC alleles genotyped in the BP population are also used to explore associations with other physiological covariants such as individual microbial or olfactory profiles.

Jennings et al. (in revision). Feather chemicals reflect information on the major histocompatibility complex in a highly scented seabird. Royal Proceedings B

Tyson al. (2022) Energetic constraints give rise to sex-specific provisioning in a monomorphic seabird, the Leach's storm-petrel). Avian Biology

Sin et al. (2021). Demographic history rather than mating system predicts signatures of inbreeding and inbreeding depression in an outbred population of seabirds. American Naturalist.

Hoover et al. (2018) Ecology can inform genetics: Disassortative mating contributes to MHC polymorphism in Leach's storm-petrels (Oceanodroma leucorhoa). Molecular Ecology.

Pearce et al. (2017). Morphological and genetic factors shape the microbiome of a seabird species (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) more than environmental and social factors. Microbiome.

Hoover et al. (2016) Modeling the importance of sample size in relation to error in MHC-based mate-choice studies on natural populations. Integrative and Comparative Science.