The sequential megafaunal collapse hypothesis: Testing with existing data

By D. Demaster, Andrew W. Trites, P. Clapham, S. Mizroch, P. Wade, R. Small, Jay M. Ver Hoef. 2006

115 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Atmospheric Science, Ecology, Global and Planetary Change

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/04e9e91254a1ad8f4523ef5a50b8950d98c32d87

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Atmospheric Science

1. D. Noren
2. John K. B. Ford
3. Rob Williams
4. J. Durban
5. R. Pitman
6. D. Hauser
7. L. Barrett‐Lennard
8. C. Matkin

In Ecology

1. D. Noren
2. J. Durban
3. John K. B. Ford
4. R. Pitman
5. G. Ellis
6. C. Matkin
7. Rob Williams
8. L. Barrett‐Lennard

In Global and Planetary Change

1. D. Noren
2. J. Durban
3. Rob Williams
4. R. Pitman
5. John K. B. Ford
6. G. Ellis
7. Boris Worm
8. J. Baum

Citations in the corpus

• Cooperative hunting behavior, prey selectivity and prey handling by pack ice killer whales (Orcinus orca), type B, in Antarctic Peninsula waters (2012, background): “These claims have generated a series of pointed rebuttals (e.g., Clapham 2001, DeMaster et al. 2006, Mizroch and Rice 2006, Mehta et al. 2007, Trites et al. 2007, Wade et al. 2007, Barbraud and Cotté 2008, Wade et al. 2009), and the only consensus that has emerged to date is that too little is…”
• Selective foraging by fish-eating killer whales Orcinus orca in British Columbia (2006, background): “A variety of arguments have been raised against this hypothesis (e.g. DeMaster et al. 2006, Mizroch & Rice 2006), which emphasise how much uncertainty exists regarding the dynamics of killer whales and their prey.”
• Killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Canadian Arctic: Distribution, prey items, group sizes, and seasonality (2012, background): “…increased killer whale occurrence may be profound, either as a competitor or predator that has been implicated in trophic cascades and ecosystem modification (Estes et al. 1998, Springer et al. 2003, 2008, but see DeMaster et al. 2006, Mizroch and Rice 2006, Trites et al. 2006, Wade et al. 2007).”
• Swimming speed, respiration rate, and estimated cost of transport in adult killer whales (2009, background): “…whale predation has been implicated in changes in the dynamics of marine mammal populations in the northeast Pacific (e.g., Springer et al. 2003, Williams et al. 2004), although the role of killer whales in the collapse of marine mammal populations is controversial (e.g., DeMaster et al. 2006).”
• Cascading top-down effects of changing oceanic predator abundances. (2009, background): “Notwithstanding controversy about the cause of shifting killer whale predation (e.g. DeMaster et al. 2006), multiple lines of evidence point to this predation as the cause of the declines.”
• KILLER WHALES AND MARINE MAMMAL TRENDS IN THE NORTH PACIFIC—A RE-EXAMINATION OF EVIDENCE FOR SEQUENTIAL MEGAFAUNA COLLAPSE AND THE PREY-SWITCHING HYPOTHESIS (2007, methodology): “The Springer et al. hypothesis has generated considerable controversy (e.g., DeMaster et al. 2006, Mizroch and Rice 2006, Trites et al., in press), and has significant ramifications scientifically, as well as in the realms of management and politics.”
• Fight or flight: antipredator strategies of baleen whales (2008, background): “hypothesis has been challenged on several grounds (DeMaster et al., 2006; Trites et al., 2007; Wade et al., 2007), including the contention by some that ‘great whales have never been more than a rare item in the diets of killer whales’ (Mizroch & Rice, 2006).”
• Estimating abundance of killer whales in the nearshore waters of the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands using line-transect sampling (2007, background): “Mizroch and Rice (2006), DeMaster et al. (2006), and Wade et al. (2006) suggest that the hypothesis described in Springer et al. (2003) is incorrect.”
• Estimated field metabolic rates and prey requirements of resident killer whales (2011, background): “…of transient killer whale predation on marine mammal populations in the Northeast Pacific has resulted in considerable debate (e.g., Springer et al. 2003, Williams et al. 2004, DeMaster et al. 2006, Trites 60 et al. 2007, Wade et al. 2007, Springer et al. 2008, Estes et al. 2009, Wade et al. 2009).”
• The Bering Sea—A dynamic food web perspective (2007, background): “…populations have been attributed variously to climate-induced variations in prey availability, competition with fisheries, direct human-induced mortality, and serial predation by killer whales following the reduction of baleen whales (NRC, 2003; Springer et al., 2003; DeMaster et al., 2006).”
• Whale killers: Prevalence and ecological implications of killer whale predation on humpback whale calves off Western Australia (2015, methodology): “Since it was published, the SMC has met with numerous criticisms about the assumptions and data used for the analyses (DeMaster et al. 2006; Trites et al. 2007; Wade et al. 2007, 2009), with some authors further contending that large whales are not now and probably never were important prey for…”
• Ecosystem models show combined effects of fishing, predation, competition, and ocean productivity on Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in Alaska (2006, unknown): “Other attempts to test the sequential megafaunal collapse theory have also failed to find support for the assumptions and conclusions drawn by Springer et al. (2003) (see DeMaster et al. 2006; Trites et al. 2006a; Wade et al. 2006).”