Philipp Krämer
e-mail: philipp.l.kraemer@bio.uni-giessen.de
Fields of interest / focus of work
The Humboldt Current is one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world. Not only does it host the largest fishery on the planet, centered around the Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens), but the marine region off the west coast of South America also provides habitat for countless seabirds.
In my PhD research, I focus on four species of storm-petrels that breed in the driest desert on Earth – the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The species I study are:
– Markham’s Storm-Petrel (Hydrobates markhami),
– Hornby’s Storm-Petrel (Hydrobates hornbyi),
– Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel (Hydrobates tethys),
– and Elliot’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanites gracilis).
My research focuses on the spatial behavior of adult birds, especially during the breeding season, as well as their diet composition and the impacts of light pollution as a significant anthropogenic threat. I examine these behavioral patterns in the context of the El Niño cycle – a global climate phenomenon that has particularly strong effects on the fauna of the eastern Pacific.
For fieldwork, I travel to the Chilean coastal cities of Iquique and Arica and the surrounding desert areas. Methodologically, I use GPS tracking to monitor foraging flights between breeding colonies and the ocean. To analyze diet composition, I apply molecular techniques such as metabarcoding and metagenomics, as well as stable isotope analysis.
The fieldwork and the project as a whole are carried out in cooperation with the Chilean NGO Red de Observadores de Aves y Vida Silvestre de Chile (ROC).
The doctoral project is funded by a graduate scholarship from Justus Liebig University Giessen and DFG research grants (“Spatial and trophic ecology of three storm-petrel species in the northern Humboldt Current”, P. Quillfeldt: QU 148/39-1).