26 Feb
2007
26 Feb
'07
3:05 p.m.
Please join us this evening for a special presentation:
/Shorebird Distribution and Abundance on the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain/
with
Stephen C. Brown, PhD
Director, Shorebird Conservation Research Program, Manomet Center for
Conservation Sciences
Monday, February 26, 5 - 6 PM
Maxwell Dworkin, Room G125, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA
Contact: Jenny MacGregor, jenny_macgregor(a)harvard.edu
Organized by the Harvard University Center for the Environment and the Harvard Museum of
Natural History
Abstract:
The coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge hosts 18
species of breeding shorebirds, including 7 species listed as highly
imperiled or high priority species in the U.S. Shorebird Conservation
Plan, and 6 species listed as Birds of Conservation Concern by the US
Fish and Wildlife Service. However, there has never been a
comprehensive survey of the coastal plain to determine the abundance and
distribution of these species. We conducted a comprehensive survey
across the coastal plain from the Canning to the Aichilik Rivers in 2002
and 2004, including 197 rapidly surveyed plots. We estimated detection
rates using a double counting technique developed for arctic shorebird
surveys and data from 37 intensively studied plots across the north
slope. We stratified the survey by major habitat types, including
wetlands, moist areas, uplands, and riparian areas. We detected 14
breeding species, and provide population estimates and confidence limits
for these species on the Arctic Refuge coastal plain. We also
determined habitat associations for all 14 species among the four major
habitat types. Our population size esimtates for the coastal plain of
the Arctic Refuge represent greater than 1% of the estimated minimum
North American population of 13 shorebird species, including 5 species
of high concern, and greater than 10% of the estimated minimum North
American population of American Golden-Plover (/Pluvialis dominica/) ,
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (/Tryngites subruficollis/), and Pectoral
Sandpiper (/Calidris melanotos/). Habitats used by these species are
threatened by proposed oil development, and by encroachment of shrubs
and boreal forest due to global climate change.
Bio for Stephen C. Brown, PhD
Director, Shorebird Conservation Research Program
Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences
As Manomet's Director of Shorebird Research and Conservation, Stephen
Brown works on a wide variety of science and policy issues related to
protecting this imperiled group of birds that literally cover the globe
during their annual migrations. Stephen was the lead author of the
_U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan_ which brought together wildlife
managers and policy makers from all 50 states and several federal
agencies, university researchers, and many other conservation groups to
develop a coordinated strategy for restoring the declining populations
of shorebirds. Stephen has an active research program in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, where his work helps to determine the impacts
that oil development would have on nesting shorebirds, and he has
recently completed a study of American Oystercatchers that included a
census of the entire Atlantic and Gulf coasts (see
www.shorebirdworld.org <http://www.shorebirdworld.org/>).
Stephen has been a conservation biologist with Manomet Center for
Conservation Sciences since 1998. He earned his undergraduate degree
from Hampshire College in Environmental Studies, and his Master of
Science degree from the University of Michigan School of Natural
Resources studying an endangered shorebird. His Ph.D. research in
Natural Resources at Cornell University focused on improving habitat for
birds through wetland restoration. Stephen has published dozens of
articles on wetlands and shorebirds in scientific journals, and the
recent book /Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge/.
--
Jenny MacGregor
Events and Publications Coordinator
Harvard University Center for the Environment
ph: 617-495-8883