Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Earth & Marine Sciences A308
Phone: 831.459.5358
Fax: 831.459.5353
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DONALD A. CROLL Assistant Professor of EEBiology B.Sc. University of California, Davis M.Sc. Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, California State University Ph.D. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California CROLL LAB

Center for Ocean Health 100 Shaffer Road University of California Santa Cruz, CA 95060 phone 831.459.3610 fax 831.459.3383 croll@biology.ucsc.edu office hours

Marine Ecology, Marine Conservation Biology

Our research interests broadly include the ecology and conservation of marine mammals, seabirds and the habitats upon which they depend. We focus in two areas. One includes an examination of how physical and biological factors explain and ultimately may be used to predict the distribution of large, highly mobile marine predators such as marine mammals and seabirds. Here we examine the interaction between the physiological, behavioral and life history characteristics of marine mammals and seabirds, physical and biological oceanographic processes, and the distribution, abundance, and behavior of prey species. The second focuses on the most important threat to seabird populations and island ecosystems worldwide: the introduction of non-native species (e.g. cats, rats, pigs, goats, sheep, foxes, etc.). This research examines the changes that result from the introduction of non-native species to islands and seeks to understand, develop, and improve methods for the restoration of island ecosystems.

Current research projects include: 1) the foraging ecology of blue, fin, and humpback whales in the California Current, 2) trophic links in the Monterey Bay upwelling ecosystem, 3) ecological restoration of the islands of Northwest Mexico and California, and 4) introduced foxes and seabirds: the role of top-down processes in controlling marine subsidies to terrestrial ecosystems.

Selected Publications

Croll, D.A., Kudela, R. Ecosystem impact of the decline of large whales in
the North Pacific. In: J.Estes, R. Brownell, D. Doak, and T. Williams.
Whales, Whaling, and Ocean Ecosystems. UC Press. (In Press)

Croll, D., Hewitt, R., Demer, D. and Jansen, J. 2006. Effects of variability
in prey abundance and distribution on the reproduction and foraging ecology
of Chinstrap Penguins. J. Zool.

Maron, J., Estes, J., Croll, D., Danner, E., Elmendorff, S., and Buckelew,
S. 2006. An introduced predator alters Aleutian Island plant communities by
thwarting nutrient subsidies. Ecological Monographs 76(1): 3-24.

Finkelstein, M., Keitt, B., Croll, D., Tershy, B., Jarman, W.,
Rodriquez-Pastor, S., Anderson, D., and Smith, D. 2006. Albatross species
demonstrate regional differences in North Pacific marine contamination.
Ecological Applications 16(2):678-686.

Croll, D., Maron, J., Estes, J,, Danner, E., and Byrd, V. 2005. Introduced
predators transform Subarctic islands from grassland to tundra. Science
307: 1959-1961.

Croll, D.A., Marinovic, B., Benson, S., Chavez, F.P., Black, N., Ternullo,
R., and Tershy, B.R. 2005. From wind to whales: trophic links in a coastal
upwelling system. Marine Ecology Progress Series 289:117-130.

Acevedo, A.A., Croll, D.A. and Tershy, B.R. 2002. High feeding costs limit
dive time in the largest whales. J. Experimental Biology 205:1747-1753.

Croll, D.A., Clark, C.W., Acevedo, A., Tershy, B., Flores, S., Gedamke, J.
and Urb‡n-Ram’rez, J. 2002.
Only male fin whales sing loud songs. Nature 417:809-810.

Keitt, B.S., Wilcox, C., Tershy, B.R., Croll, D.A. and Donlan, C.J. 2002
The effects of feral cats on the population viability of Black-vented
Shearwaters (Puffinus opisthomelas) on Natividad Island, Mexico.
Animal Conservation 5:217-223.

Donlan, C.J., Tershy, B.R. and Croll, D.A. 2002. Islands and introduced
herbivores: conservation
as ecosystem experimentation. J. Applied Ecology 39:235-246.

Croll, D.A., Acevedo-GutiŽrrez, A., Tershy, B.R. and Urb‡n-Ram’rez, J.
2001. The diving behavior of blue and fin whales: is dive duration shorter
than expected based on oxygen stores? Comparative Biochemistry and
Physiology A 129:797-809.

Croll, D.A., Clark, C.W., Calambokidis, J., Ellison, W.T., and Tershy, B.R.
2001. Effect of anthropogenic low frequency noise on the foraging ecology of
Balaenoptera whales. Animal Conservation 4:13-27.

Williams, T.M., Davis, R.W., Fuiman, L.A., Francis, J., LeBoeuf, B.J.,
Horning, M., Calambokidis, J., and Croll, D.A. 2000. Sink or swim:
strategies for cost-efficient diving by marine mammals. Science
288:133-136.

Croll, D.A., and Tershy, B.R. 1998. Penguins, fur seals, and fishing: prey
requirements and potential competition in the South Shetland Islands,
Antarctica. Polar Biology19:365-374.

Croll, D.A., Tershy, B., Hewitt, R., Demer, D., Fiedler, P., Smith, S.,
Armstrong, W., Popp, J., Kiekhefer, T., Lopez, V., Urb‡n-Ram’rez, J. and
Gendron, D. 1998. An integrated approach to the foraging ecology of marine
birds and mammals. Deep-Sea Research II:1353-1371.