Monday, February 26, 5 - 6 PM
Maxwell Dworkin, Room G125, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA

Contact: Jenny MacGregor, jenny_macgregor@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). 

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.

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Jenny MacGregor
Events and Publications Coordinator
Harvard University Center for the Environment
ph: 617-495-8883