Wiebke Schäfer

Room: B421

Fields of interest / focus of work

I am particularly interested in foraging behaviour and diet ecology of seabirds.

In my doctoral research, I will investigate and compare the prey composition of several seabird species, mainly focusing on birds breeding in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) in the South Atlantic Ocean, including Imperial shags (Leucocarbo atriceps albiventer), Rock shags (L. magellanicus) and Gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua). As top marine predators, seabirds are considered to be ideal indicator species to monitor marine ecosystems. Studying the diet of a seabird can give us important insights into predator-prey interactions and their environment.

I will use the DNA metabarcoding method to identify main prey items of the study species from faecal samples, that can be collected non-invasively. Additionally, I will use this method to examine intestinal parasite infections of the birds.