Mr Luke Einoder

Biography/ Background

I am researching the feeding and breeding ecology of the short-tailed shearwater for my PhD, and am affiliated with SARDI-Aquatic Sciences at West Beach in Adelaide.

My work primarily aims to gain a better understanding ot the utilisation of the marine environment by this highly pelagic seabird species from field sites on offshore islands along the coastline of South Australia. Thru colony based methods I am measuring how adult shearwaters provisioning food to their young, in order to gain information on the food and energy requirements of both chicks and adults. I am also deploying satellite trachking devices on some birds in order to directly record their movements at sea as they forage for food. By measuring the activity of adults, and assessing the species composition of the diet, I aim to determine the importance of local continental shelf waters vs oceanic waters as foraging areas.

This seabird species performs a duel foraging strategy rotating short daily foraging trips over local waters with 10-25 day long trips to distant southern ocean waters, travlling as far as the Antarctic coastline in a single foraging trip. This strategy enables them to exploit the highly productive waters upto 4000kms away, whilst rearing a chick on a relatively comfortable temperate island. Understanding the importance of local vs oceanic waters is important as this species is the most abundant seabird in Southern Australia during the summer months, and thus must be playing a large role in marine food webs. However the food requirements of breeding adults are currently unknown, as is the energy flow local vs distant waters. In addittion I aim to investigate the association between oceanographic features and foraging activity, particularly with regards to the influence of upwelling events over local shelf waters.

This research is being conducted in associateion with a larger research effort at SARDI Aquatic Sciences which is investigating the trophodynamics of the local marine environment, with the aim of determining the role of apex predators and their potential use as an indicator of the state of pelagic fish stocks.

Research Interests

I have wide interestes in a braod range of ecological fields, and have been involved in wildlife research since the completion of my undergrad uni studies in 1998. I am primarily interested in avian research, in the areas of conservation and management of threatened species.

Publications

Einoder, L.D. and Richardson, A.2008. Aspects of the Hindlimb Morphology of Some Australian Birds of Prey In press-AUK

Einoder, L.D. and Richardson, A. 2006. An ecomorphological study of the raptorial digital tendon locking mechanism Ibis: 148, 515–525

Ben Reddiex, David M. Forsyth, Eve McDonald-Madden, Luke D. Einoder, Peter A. Griffioen, Ryan R. Chick and Alan J. Robley 2006 Control of pest mammals for biodiversity protection in Australia. I. Patterns of control and monitoring. Wildlife Research 33(8)

Einoder, L.D. and Goldsworthy, S. D. 2005 Foraging flights of short-tailed shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris) from Althorpe Island: assessing their use of neritic waters Transactions of the Royal Society of S. Aust. 129(2), 209-216.

Tim Clancy and Luke Einoder, 2004. Estimating the population size of Grey Headed Flying Fox Camp Sites. A report to Parks Victoria by the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

Ben Reddiex, Dave Forsyth, Eve McDonald-Madden, Luke Einoder, Peter Griffien, Ryan Chick and Alan Robley, 2004. A Review of Feral Animal Control Operations in Australia. A Report to The Department of Environment and Heritage.

Reddiex, B., Forsyth, D.M., McDonald-Madden, E., Einoder, L.D., Griffioen, P. A., Chick, R.R., and Robley, A.J. 2004. Review of existing feral goat, feral cat, feral rabbit, feral pig, red fox, and wild dog control in Australia. I. Audit and evaluation of control programs. Report to Department of the Environment and Heritage. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne.

Entry last updated: Friday, 14 Sep 2012