UNB ACWERN Newsletter
Vol. 4 (Fall 2001)
We've all been busy and there is a lot to report! This Newsletter has TEN sections:
10. A Naturalist's View: Complete With Giants
2 NEW ACWERN Babies to welcome to the world, both couples and baby girls are happy and getting adjusted to their new lives!
Karel and Marie-José
welcome: Raphaelle Rosemarie Allard
Born August 20, 2001, at 22:22, 6 lbs 13 oz
Dedreic and Lorelei
welcome: Raena Corellei Machias Grecian
Born September 29, 2001, at 9:13 am, 6 lbs 12 oz
Mark Dionne: Mark joins us from Quebec. He completed his undergrad at Laval and is now starting an MSc. project looking at the effects of diving ducks on cultured blue mussels in PEI. He is interested in the extent that ducks remove mussels and will be looking at ducks feeding in cultured sites and those feeding at wild sites. Mark's field season runs from October through December and he is working in collaboration with CWS, PEI Dept. of Fisheries and Aquaculture and PEI Aquaculture Alliance. He is co-supervised by Tony Diamond and Diana Hamilton.
This is a new category of students for ACWERN. It was created to allow
former ACWERN students the chance to continue their involvement with ACWERN
and also includes students supervised by ACWERN associates.
Joe Nocera: Joe (an ACWERN M.Sc. graduate of the Acadia node) has taken a Ph.D. position with Graham Forbes and the NB Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Tony Diamond will serve on the advisory committee for his project entitled "Demographic and behavioral responses of grassland birds to agro-ecosystem management". The project is funded through co-operation with the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture and the NS Dept. of Natural Resources (G. Randy Milton). The ACWERN UNB node has extended "honorary ACWERN associate" status to Joe, which will allow him the opportunity to once again participate in ACWERN activities.
Jean-Sebastien Lauzon-Guay: Completed his BSc. at Université du Quebec a Montreal BSc and has worked for a year at the Bamfield Marine Station in BC. He has now started an MSc project supervised by Diana Hamilton and Myriam Barbeau. He will be using stage based modeling to examine blue mussel growth and survival under cultured conditions. The factors he will be examining include predation of mussels by ducks, mussel density, size etc. He'll be working closely with Mark Dionne and his field season extends from October through December.
Julie Paquet: Last May Julie successfully defended her master's thesis: 'Time-budget flexibility of breeding Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea): An investigation of the behavioural buffer.' She is still a wildlife technician for CWS Atlantic and the main projects she's working on are with shorebirds, saltmarsh birds, toxicology "stuff" and database "stuff." She helped organise a conference between France/Canada (mostly CWS Atlantic and St-Pierre et Miquelon) with other scientists from French Guyana and Guadeloupe. She's been invited down for a personalized tour of Guadeloupe and will be spending a couple of weeks exploring. Julie has also been selected for a professional exchange to India and Nepal in January/February 2002. The exchange is funded by Rotary, and CWS has been very morally supportive.
Completed and successfully defended in Spring 2001
Edwards, Michael 2001. Seasonal variation in mobbing response by forest birds. B.Sc. thesis, UNB.
Violette, Vicky 2001. Landscape analysis of the Breeding Bird Survey design. B.Sc.F. thesis, UNB.
6. News from the
Lab (Tony and Current Students):
Tony Diamond:
Tony attended the first meeting of the Atlantic Advisory Committee of
"C-CIARN", the Canadian Climate Impact and Adaptation Research
Network, in Halifax, on 17 September. This group will facilitate interaction
and communication among those conducting research on climate change impacts,
and help to set the research agenda of the Climate Change Action Fund.
Karel Allard: Karel completed another field season in the Arctic
and made it home in time for the birth of his daughter, Raphaelle. He
admits to being completely enthralled with her and is contemplating getting
her first pair of binoculars. Karel and Marie-José are both very
happy.
Nikki Benjamin: Nikki completed her first field season for her MSc. in the Bay of Fundy. She attended the AOU meeting in Seattle and presented a poster at the East Meets West meeting at SFU.
Matt Betts: Matt completed another field season in the Fundy region and attended the East Meets West conference at SFU. He presented a paper titled: 'Assessing forest bird habitat at multiple scales in the Greater Fundy Ecosystem.' Matt also attended the Canadian Woodlands Forum in Quebec City in August and will attend the Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network meeting later in October. See below for his paper titles and abstracts.
Brenda Blinn: Brenda completed another field season and this year was based on Grand Manan Island. She's now compiling and writing up her data. She won a travel grant from the AOU and presented her poster at the meeting in Seattle in August. She also attended the East Meets West meeting at SFU. See below for her poster title and abstract.
André Breton: Andre's field season took him to Seal Island on the coast of Maine. He attended the East Meets West conference at SFU and presented a poster titled: 'Estimating age-specific survival and distribution of emigrants between colonies of Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) in the Gulf of Maine.'
Kate Devlin: Last May Kate attended the annual meeting of the Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN) held in Calgary. She presented a paper co-authored with Tony Diamond about the long-term studies on Machias Seal Island. In August Kate completed another field season on Machias Seal Island. She managed to record some movement of her banded Arctic Terns and also spotted several Common Terns that had been banded in Argentina last winter. She won a travel grant from the AOU, attended the annual meeting in Seattle, WA and presented a paper titled: Pieces of a Population: Arctic Terns on Machias Seal Island, Bay of Fundy. A variation of this paper was presented at the East meets West conference held SFU. See below for abstracts.
Dedreic Grecian: Dedreic completed his field season on Machias Seal Island and also attended the AOU/SCO conference and the East Meets West conference on the west coast in August. See below for abstracts. He is also learning the tricks of being a father and is thrilled with his daughter, Raena.
Sarah Jamieson: Sarah took another trip to Greenland last spring where she was working with Flemming Ravn Merkel and Knud Falk who are investigating the relationship between shot load and condition of Common Eiders. They were working out of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources in Nuuk. She also attended the American Ornithologist's Union & Society of Canadian Ornithologists annual meeting in August in Seattle, WA and presented a poster: "Variation in Body Mass of Common Eiders Wintering in the Eastern Arctic. See below for her abstract. Sarah also presented this poster at the 'East meets West' conference held by CWE at Simon Fraser University.
Tara Warren: Tara finished her last field season and is now working on data analysis. She is continuing to update the UNB ACWERN website. In August she sent a poster to the East Meets West meeting at SFU.
Lasha Young: Lasha has just completed her first field season. As far as first years go she can't complain. The bugs were mild, the weather was great, and the people she worked with were amazing. She is now busy entering data and attempting to tackle the world of statistics!! She's already looking forward to next field season!!
Cam Stevens: Cam writes that he is still quite busy applying for grants to fund his dissertation project on amphibians and beaver ponds at the University of Alberta. Other than school, not much else new. His dog is well. He bought a guitar this summer and has taken some lessons. Look out Nashville! Yeee haaaw!!
Cam does have some publications from his MSc. on the way:
Stevens, C. E., T. S. Gabor, and A. W. Diamond. 2002. Use of small, restored wetlands by breeding waterfowl in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Restoration Ecology (in press).
Stevens, C. E., A. W. Diamond, and T. S. Gabor. 2002. Anuran call surveys on small, restored wetlands in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Wetlands (submitted October 2000; in review).
Dorothy MacFarlane: Dorothy is now the editor of Picoides. It's
a volunteer position, but one that gives her a chance to connect with
ornithologists and their work across the country. She ran two MAPS banding
stations in Fundy National Park this summer and she is teaching a Bird
ID course for beginners through the Dept. of Extension at UNB.
Dorothy will publish in Picoides all masters and doctoral theses abstracts on bird-related topics done in Canada ( or partly in Canada) or by Canadians. Masters 150 words, Doctoral, 200 words. Along with the abstract, she would love to have a picture if possible. (This does not mean conference abstracts, but the main theses abstracts.)
Anyone wishing to write an article on a bird-related or ecology subject, such as a problem area, and interesting event, a debate, or experiences of being a student in this field, etc. can email her (mandd@nbnet.nb.ca). Picoides will now publish a 20-page bulletin three times a year. Student memberships are only $10/year, and all members get Picoides. It is a good way to be in touch with ornithological issues and people across Canada.
Chapdelaine, G., Diamond, A.W., Elliot, R.D. and Robertson, G.J. 2001. Status and population trends of the Razorbill in North America. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper No.105.
Corrigan, S. and Diamond, A.W. 2001. Northern Gannet, Morus bassanus, nesting on Whitehorse Island, New Brunswick. Canadian Field-Naturalist 115: 176-177.
Crewe, Tara L, Diana J. Hamilton and Antony W. Diamond. 2001. Effects of mesh size in sieved samples of Corophium volatator. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 53:151-154.
Hamilton, Diana J. 2001. Feeding behavior of Common Eider ducklings in relation to availability of rockweed habitat and duckling age. Waterbirds. 24(2)233-241.
Huettmann, F., and Diamond, A.W. 2001. Using PCA Scores to classify species communities: an example using seabird classifications at sea. Journal of Applied Statistics 28(7): 843-853.
Huettmann F., and Diamond A.W. 2001. Seabird colony locations and environmental determination of seabird distribution: A spatially explicit seabird breeding model in the Northwest Atlantic. Ecological Modeling 141: 261-298.
A) EMAN, May 2001
B) Canadian Woodlands Forum, August 2001
C) AOU/SCO, August 2001
D) East Meets West, August 2001
E) AquaNet - the Network of Centres of Excellence in Aquaculture
- Halifax, 29 Sept - October 2, 2001
F) Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network,
October 2001
A) EMAN (Ecological and Monitoring Assessment Network), Calgary, AL May 2001
SEABIRDS AS INDICATORS
OF CHANGES IN MARINE ECOSYSTEMS
A.W. Diamond and C. M. Devlin, ACWERN, University of New Brunswick
Changes in marine ecosystems can be manifested in many different ways, on different temporal and spatial scales. Traditionally, changes in physical and chemical parameters such as sea-surface temperature (SST), salinity, depth of thermocline, etc. are examined for evidence of change. Changes in the physical parameters may not be important in themselves, but may have important effects on biological components of the ecosystem. We will compare six years' of data on seabird biology (diet, condition, chick growth-rate, breeding success) from Machias Seal Island in the Bay of Fundy with both our own meteorological and oceanographic measurements, and with standard measurements from existing government sources (e.g. Environment Canada). These will be compared with data from DFO on changes in the main prey of all the seabirds concerned (0-group [juvenile] herring Clupea harengus) which probably link the birds with the physical properties of the marine system. Previous work has shown a strong relationship between the % herring in the diet of one seabird (Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea) and the catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) of herring in the weir fishery of Grand Manan, 20-30 km away, two years later. We will extend this work to include data from more recent years and to incorporate a wider range of fish data such as : (i) herring larval surveys; (ii) herring condition (fat content) data; (iii) SST data (our own from Machais Seal, remotely sensed data from satellites [NOAA], and DFO data from their single monitoring station in the Bay of Fundy). We will concentrate on diet data from Arctic Terns, because we have a longer time-series from this species (1990-present). However, we now also have enough data from the 3 other seabird species (Common Tern S. hirundo, Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica, Razorbill Alca torda) to make interspecific comparisons as well, and answer the question "which seabird best reflects/predicts significant changes in the system?"
B) Canadian Woodlands Forum, Aug. 12-16 Quebec
City, Canada
WATERSHED-BASED WOODLOT
MANAGEMENT PLANNING IN THE FUNDY MODEL FOREST
Matthew Betts and Jason Knox
Abstract
A common perceived barrier to the achievement of biodiversity conservation
on small private woodlots is the fragmented nature of land ownership.
Multiple land ownerships make it difficult to plan for the large-scale
spatial objectives that are an essential component of sound forest management.
The purpose of this project was to initiate a community forestry project
for small private woodlots that encourages the implementation of landscape-level
ecological objectives. To accomplish this the Greater Fundy Ecosystem
Research Group (GFERG) and the SNB Wood Coop Ltd. (SNB) cooperated with
local communities in the Fundy Model Forest, New Brunswick to create a
coarse spatial management plan for a watershed. To initiate this landscape
ecological project, six steps were undertaken: (1) Develop criteria for
selection of candidate watershed, (2) Apply criteria to all watersheds
of the FMF and select priority watershed(s), (3) Organize public meetings
in candidate watersheds to develop community priorities for landscape
planning, (4) Develop a coarse-level watershed management plan. Important
components of this plan included the maintenance of large contiguous patches
of mature forest, special management areas on steep slopes and sensitive
soils, wildlife corridors, and ecologically sensitive areas. (5) Encourage
feedback on watershed plan from community through a public meeting, (6)
Incorporate watershed plan into SNB GIS system and develop woodlot plans
with this plan as a basis.
C) AOU/SCO (American Ornithological Union and Society of Canadian Ornithologists), Seattle, WA August 2001
Posters:
SELECTION AND USE
OF BROOD-REARING HABITAT OF COMMON EIDER ON GRAND MANAN ISLAND, NEW BRUNSWICK.
Brenda Blinn
The survival rate of eider ducklings in the Bay of Fundy has decreased from >14% of the adult breeding population prior to 1991 to 4-8% between 1995 and 1998. Broods may travel several kilometers from nesting islands to coastal duckling rearing areas within 24 hr post-hatch. Eider ducklings and attending females feed on invertebrates commonly associated with rockweed. Commercial boating (rockweed harvesting, fishing activity), recreational boating, industrial development (aquaculture cages) and public use of coasts could increase risk of duckling predation by Great Black-backed Gulls and Bald Eagles. My objective is to quantify the relative influence of various factors on habitat selection and use of eider broods. I will examine food availability, extent of predation and human disturbance, proximity to nesting islands and degree of exposure to wind and waves. I will look at spatial and temporal patterns of distribution and abundance of eider broods. Rockweed harvested and unharvested sites will be visited from the period of 22 May to 3 Aug 2001. The following data will be recorded at 20 min intervals for a period of 15 hr daily: number and behaviour of ducklings and females, age-class of ducklings, number, species and age of predators, predation attempts or successes, and presence of human activity. A brood's reaction following a disturbance will also be recorded.
A FIELD TECHNIQUE
TO ESTIMATE CONCEALED RAZORBILL NESTS.
Dedreic Grecian
Razorbills are colonial seabirds that breed on islands. Machias Seal Island
(MSI) 44°30'N, 67°06'W is the largest colony of razorbills near
the southern limit of their range. On MSI, an accurate population estimate
is difficult, as some nests are not 'visible' to surveyors due to the
heterogeneous habitat. The objective of this study was to develop a survey
method that will estimate the number of unseen nests. Typically, correction
factors (k-values) are calculated based on the ratio of adults counted
in a plot to the number of active nests in that plot. Radio telemetry
was proposed as a non-invasive method to develop a specific k-value for
MSI. Radio-transmitters were attached to 24 breeding adult razorbills
(inferred from presence of brood patch) which were representatives of
all birds breeding on MSI. All radio-tagged birds were tracked to their
nest site and the site scored as visible or unseen to a surveyor. A complete
nesting habitat survey was conducted between peak lay and peak hatch to
count all visible nests. A correction factor was generated from the number
of radio-tagged birds found in concealed nests. Seven radio-tagged birds
were found in nests that were not counted. Applying the correction factor
to the total number of nests counted (351) resulted in a corrected nest
number of 439. The results of this study suggest this method may be useful
in establishing appropriate correction factors for calibrating counts
of other cavity-nesting seabirds.
VARIATION IN BODY
MASS OF COMMON EIDERS WINTERING IN THE EASTERN ARCTIC.
Sarah Jamieson, Grant Gilchrist& Tony Diamond
We compared body mass
of two races of Common Eiders during the non-breeding
season. Northern Eiders were collected in Greenland and Cape Dorset, Nunavut
and Hudson Bay Eiders were collected in the Belcher Islands, Nunavut.
Collections occurred in mid-winter (15 Jan -26 Feb 01) and in spring (03
Apr- 28 May 01). Body mass was compared using a general linear model.
There was no significant difference between body mass of Northern Eiders
staging in Cape Dorset and pre-migratory con-specifics in Greenland. Indicating
that, unlike many other Arctic breeding waterfowl, they re-fuel close
to the breeding grounds. Eiders collected at the Belcher Islands in
the spring were significantly heavier than those collected there in winter.
Hudson Bay Eiders begin to lay mid- to late June, therefore it is possible
that eiders collected in spring had begun to store reserves to be used
during breeding. In winter there was no significant difference between
Northern Eiders wintering in Greenland and Hudson Bay Eiders wintering
in the Belcher Islands. However, in spring Hudson Bay Eiders were significantly
heavier than Northern Eiders. Hudson Bay Eiders lay larger clutches and
eggs than Northern Eiders, therefore they may need extra reserves during
reproduction. This is a preliminary study, later studies will determine
exactly how lipid and protein levels change throughout the non-breeding
season.
Presentation:
PIECES OF A POPULATION:
ARCTIC TERNS ON MACHIAS SEAL ISLAND, BAY OF FUNDY.
Kate Devlin
Machias Seal Island is located at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy situated on the border between the U.S. and Canada. It is the largest known Arctic Tern colony in the region and is designated as a Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Before understanding the dynamics of a regional population, it is necessary to closely examine the characteristics of local populations. Between 1995-1998 over 100 nesting adult terns were banded on the island and since the initiation of a regional study of Arctic Terns involving the used of field readable bands in 1999, over 500 adult terns and 700 chicks have been banded. In the long term we will establish a population of known age banded birds in the region, however, in the short term, information can be gathered about the survival rates and movement patterns of adult terns. In the 2001 field season we will obtain our first estimate of adult survival based on birds wearing both standard BBL bands and field readable bands. Additionally we will have collected two estimates of inter-colony movement to this island. I will discuss the implications of these data as well as records of historical banding. This island was never completely abandoned during the declines of seabird populations on the eastern seaboard of North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is thought this island may have served as one of a few refuge populations for the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy. Recent estimates of movement patterns in combination with observations of productivity indicate that this colony may currently be a "sink" in the regional populations.
D) East Meets West: CWE Conference. Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby, BC August 2001
The "East meets West" conference at Simon Fraser U. in August was attended by over 150 biologists with an interest in the application of science to wildlife conservation. The timing, arranged to recognise the retirement of Fred Cooke (Chair of SFU's Centre for Wildlife Ecology, ACWERN's counterpart on the west coast), did not allow participation from either Acadia or researchers from MUN (represented by Board member Grant Gardiner) but there was a strong contingent from UNB. Guest speakers included Ian Newton, Chris Perrins, John Reynolds and Bill Sutherland from the U.K., prompting one speaker to refer to another "British Invasion" by the "Fab Four" (for those with long memories). The open meeting was followed by a day when CWS managers discussed how to proceed with expanding the Wildlife Chairs into a national network.
UNB Posters Presented:
COMPARATIVE FEEDING ECOLOGY OF HERRING AND GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS IN THE BAY OF FUNDY. Nikki Benjamin and Tony Diamond
SELECTION AND USE
OF BROOD-REARING HABITAT OF COMMON EIDER ON GRAND MANAN ISLAND, NEW BRUNSWICK.
Brenda Blinn
ESTIMATING AGE-SPECIFIC
SURVIVAL AND DISTRIBUTION OF EMIGRANTS BETWEEN COLONIES OF ATLANTIC PUFFIN
(Fratercula arctica) IN THE GULF OF MAINE.
André Breton, Tony Diamond, Steve Kress, and Richard Elliot
A FIELD TECHNIQUE TO ESTIMATE CONCEALED RAZORBILL NESTS. Dedreic Grecian
VARIATION IN BODY
MASS OF COMMON EIDERS WINTERING IN THE EASTERN ARCTIC.
Sarah Jamieson, Grant Gilchrist and Tony Diamond
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIOP BETWEEN YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER FORAGING
AND PRODUCTIVITY
Tara Warren, Tony Diamond, and Graham Forbes
Papers Presented:
APPLYING SCIENCE TO
CONSERVATION IN ACWERN.
Tony Diamond
Our mandate in ACWERN is to investigate effects of environmental change on wildlife populations in Atlantic Canada. Accordingly our approach is to anticipate what we think are likely to be the major kinds of environmental change that might affect populations, and design research to address the population response to that change. An obvious example in forested ecosystems is the effect of forestry on availability and quality of habitat to songbirds; our research has focused on assessing relative importance of landscape and stand-level changes in habitat. In marine ecosystems, we address two main issues: changes in distribution and abundance of major prey species for seabirds, whether brought about by oceanographic change or overfishing; and, specifically with eiders, changes in abundance of potential predators such as Larus gulls. The latter leads us into other changes in human behaviour (e.g. fishing practices, solid waste management policies) that take us some way from traditional population biology, but will help us to solidify the cause-effect chain of actions and reactions that affect eider populations.
ASSESSING FOREST BIRD
HABITAT AT MULTIPLE SCALES IN THE GREATER FUNDY ECOSYSTEM
Matthew Betts
It is becoming increasingly clear that the pattern and composition of landscapes are also critical habitat features for a variety of species. This research is concerned with three major questions; (1) What is the contribution of stand structure and composition to explaining habitat selection by mature forest birds? (2) What is the relative contribution of landscape composition and configuration to explaining habitat selection by mature forest birds? and (3) If configuration effects exist, which components affect habitat selection by mature forest birds? This study is being conducted in the Greater Fundy Ecosystem (GFE) and Fundy Model Forest (FMF), which are located in the southeastern part of New Brunswick. Study sites were established in two 25 km2 landscapes that represent the extremes of forest fragmentation (Managed: 16% mature forest, Unmanaged: 80% mature forest). Bird species incidence and reproductive success was determined for each sample point using 'point count' (Ralph et al. 1995) and 'playback' (Gunn et al. 2000) methodologies. The latter of these methodologies relies on an index of reproductive success derived from direct observations of productivity (pairs, food carrying, nest material carrying, fledglings). A reduced set of variables relating to landscape structure (% mature forest) and pattern (edge density) was measured at multiple scales for each sample point. Stand-level habitat features were found for the majority of forest bird species. However, for some species, stand-level variables explaining bird reproductive success were not the same as those that explained stand-level bird abundance models. This indicates that density is not always an adequate measure of habitat quality. With the effects of stand-level vegetation removed, Ovenbird reproductive observations and Swainson's Thrush incidence were correlated with landscape composition at larger scales. Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ovenbird, and Black-throated Blue Warbler reproductive observations were correlated with landscape pattern.
THE ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC TERNS (STERNA PARADISAEA) BREEDING IN THE
GULF OF MAINE AND BAY OF FUNDY
Kate Devlin
The Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy mark the southern extent of the Arctic Tern breeding colonies in North America. This project grew out of a concern that the regional population of terns has not responded as rapidly to conservation efforts as other species of terns and involves the collaboration of the Canadian Wildlife Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Audubon Society and the Atlantic Co-operative Wildlife Ecology Research Network (ACWERN) at the University of New Brunswick. In 1999 we began to track the movements of Arctic Terns between 4 main breeding colonies by marking and re-sighting banded individuals. To date over 900 adult terns and 1200 young of the year have been banded. At least 400 of the birds banded as adults have been re-sighted. We have found that there is some movement of adult terns, however, in most cases, any movement or dispersal of birds to different nesting islands detected has been of young birds perhaps breeding for the first time. We believe that the population in the region demonstrates the characteristics of a metapopulation and we are trying to identify which colonies may be "source" colonies and which may be "sink" colonies. In the 2001 field season we are obtaining the second estimate of movement of adult terns between colonies as well as the first estimate of adult survival of Arctic Terns for North America. The second phase of this study will examine the genetic diversity of terns nesting on the 4 main colonies using an analysis of microsatellite DNA. The banding study will yield short-term year-to year-movements and the genetic study will illustrate the general mixing of the population over a longer time scale. I will be discussing the results of our observations to date and the direction of future work.
E) AquaNet - the Network of Centres of Excellence in Aquaculture - Halifax, 29 Sept - October 2, 2001
Tony Diamond, Diana Hamilton, Greg Robertson (former ACWERN-UNB PostDoc, now Seabird Research Scientist with CWS in Newfoundland), Mark Dionne and Jean-Sebastian Lauzon attended the first conference of AquaNet. Mark and Jean-Sebastian presented their poster and headed out to start fieldwork immediately after the meeting.
Poster:
PREDATION BY DIVING DUCKS AT MUSSEL CULTURE SITES IN P.E.I.
Mark Dionne and Jean-Sebastian Lauzon
F) Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network Oct. 18-22, 2001
PREDICTING THE LANDSCAPE-SCALE
DISTRIBUTION OF RED SPOTTED NEWT (NOTOPHATHALMUS VIRIDESCENS) HABITAT
IN NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA.
Matthew Betts, Greater Fundy Ecosystem Research Group and Graham Forbes,
University of New Brunswick
The diversity and complexity of forest ecosystems has motivated many wildlife managers and conservation biologists to rely on the 'indicator species' approach for the measurement and monitoring of 'ecosystem health' and 'biodiversity'. By managing for a range of indicator species, it is often assumed that other species with similar but less stringent habitat requirements will also be protected. Because amphibians tend to be sensitive to subtle habitat changes at both local and landscape scales, they potentially serve as excellent indicators. Through a review of the existing scientific literature we complied a list of both stand-level and landscape-level habitat requirements for red spotted newt. With the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) we predicted the distribution of this species in the northwestern region of New Brunswick (the Saint John River Ecodistrict). Our analysis revealed that while many patches are isolated by agricultural development and recent forest harvesting, enough forest currently exists in young age classes to serve as potential 'dispersal habitat' for this species. Nevertheless, landscape configuration may be precariously close to a minimum threshold, below which the viability of newt habitat will decline. Such hypotheses need to be tested by collecting more detailed information about the local habitat requirements for a range of amphibian species, and conducting extensive landscape-scale surveys of species that are potentially sensitive to habitat fragmentation.
10. A Naturalist's
View: Complete with Giants
The following is an essay that Andre Breton wrote after hiking the Juan De Fuca trail on Vancouver Island, BC with Sarah Jamieson following the East Meets West Conference at Simon Fraser University. They were hiking from 26th - 30th of August 2001. Enjoy!
Complete With Giants
How can towering stacks of cellulose forever touch our lives? Millions…billions of eukaryotic plant cells formed and immediately more formed above them and on it goes for hundreds of years. Of course, not all trees enjoy such an extended existence, but several do. Following an informative conference at Simon Fraser University (SFU), a fellow graduate student and I went to see for ourselves this region so spatially dominated by a guild of giant trees. The leviathans we encountered are typical to the temperate rainforest community of British Columbia. Those are Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and western red cedar (Thuja plicata). Along a narrow footpath known as the Juan De Fuca (JDF) Trail, my friend and I explored a macroscopic matrix dominated by these trees. Complete with giants, our senses sometimes overwhelmed by the regional ordinary, the trail carried us forward but often in all directions. What follows is a brief account of a lifetime of memories collected in a few short days.
The Juan De Fuca Trail is essentially the southern equivalent to the more talked about West Coast Trail. Both trails are located on the west coast of Vancouver Island and both alternate their course from coastal forest to beach and back again repeatedly. Rarely, along the Juan De Fuca, did I find myself beyond hearing range of the melodic cries of the California gull (Larus californicus) and other common Larids (Family Laridae). We made our way from SFU to Vancouver Island through a myriad of public transportation eventually arriving in the capital city, Victoria, one day later. To reach the northern trailhead of the Juan De Fuca, we purchased seats from a van service and time-traveled from mainland cityesque Victoria to a town reminiscent of a secluded outpost, Port Renfrew.
The nature of the place is all around you at Port Renfrew; tall trees dripping equally with water, lichen, and moss; the green of evergreen all around; narrow gorges made steep by soft banks and comforted by water in motion. At first, the country appears to be one of hills, but this is an illusion. The traveler to this country is standing along the coast and that coast is dissected by hundreds of small but coarse streams. These do the cutting and the result is shoreline marked by steep drops and resultant climbs. But not far upstream, a brief walk along a convenient logging road, the land curves only gently and eventually levels out. Indeed, there are mountains farther on, but those are inland features set apart from the topography of the coast trails.
From the vantage of a gravel lot sloping gently to the north, the JDF trail dips into the forest and turns to the south. The extreme southward bend marks the start of a trail that cherishes proximity to shore.
Immediately the woods are illuminated by the conversation of birds. At multiple levels in the vegetative matrix, a mixed flock of passerines (Order Passeriformes) is moving through. Sweet notes and abbreviated songs betray the otherwise undisclosed presence of migratory and resident birds. Other flocks, similar to this one, were frequent along the trail. Within them, a few species were very common while others were rare. Species richness of flocks varied widely. An abbreviated summary of potential resident members in a flock includes chestnut-backed chickadee (Parus rufescens), brown creeper (Certhia americana), golden-crowned kinglet (Regulus satrapa), downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), and fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca). A similar summary for non-residents includes western flycatcher (Empidonax difficilus), Wilson's warbler (Wilsonia pusilla), Townsend's warbler (Dendroica townsendi), black-throated gray warbler (Dendroica nigrescens), and orange-crowned warbler (Vermivora celata). Other passerines were seen in mixed flocks infrequently or not at all. Some of those species, like the Muscicapid Ixoreus naevius (varied thrush), tended to form conspecific groups and others were seen alone or in pairs. Examples of this category include winter wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), Stellar's jay (Cyanocitta cristata), and spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus).
Along the trail, changes in topography and structural features (e.g. unconsolidated ground moraines vs. exposed bedrock or sandy soils) controlling drainage rate provide macro-habitat for three general plant communities (in the opinion of the author!). The first is encountered immediately at the trailhead; this is a mixed deciduous forest. The moisture level is high and the air temperature cool. Essentially, this area is an extension of the proximal areas of nearby riparian vegetation (i.e. its part of the flood plain of the local drainage). Of course, this area may have been impacted by human intervention in recent time. Regardless, this habitat should have legitimate parcels in the region. A second habitat type is found adjacent to the streams. I made reference to this type above as the proximal riparian [zone]. Annual flooding frequently disturbs this area. The dominant vegetation is comprised of dense shrub both mixed and alternating with a species rich herbaceous counterpart. Lastly, is the forest of the big trees. Towering above ph deficient topsoil, Sitka spruce, western red cedar, and western hemlock provide a canopy of cathedral-like proportions. At eye-level the picture is one of massive trunks, sparse under story vegetation, downed trees in varying stages of decay and concealment from a continual rain of organic debris from above, and a uniform brown, dark, and green all seen together as a gentle mosaic of color. It's breathtaking and very…very special. These are the forests of the slopes and the hilltops (i.e. areas where drainage and exposure are maximized).
Our observations showed migrants visiting all habitat types described above. This of course is no surprise. Resident birds were more or less (more so) specific to 1 or 2 habitat types (forest or riparian).
Part two of the Juan De Fuca Trail is the story of the coastline. It to is special and worthy of lengthy description. However, I will provide only a summary list of avian encounters and leave the bulk of the chapter for another place and another author. Members of the Genus Larus were the most apparent visually and audibly. In order of magnitude, starting with most common, those species are California gull, glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens), mew gull (Larus canus), black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), Heerman's gull (Larus heermanni), herring gull (Larus argentatus), and Thayer's gull (Larus thayeri). These species conveniently formed mixed flocks along exposed low tide beaches. The California gull dominated all but one of those flocks (a small group [<20] dominated by mew gulls). Only one individual herring and Thayer's gull were identified throughout the hike.
Other common residents along the shore include the Northwestern crow (Corvus caurinus) and belted kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon). Less common species encountered were the western sandpiper (Calidris mauri), harlequin duck (Histronicus histronicus), surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata), common murre (Uria aalge), rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata), and pelagic cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus).
Along the last stretch
of forest, just before the sounds of mankind again filtered through to
my ears, I tried desperately to absorb the peacefulness of the place.
Instinctively, while exploring a similar forest near the SFU campus, I
felt something untouchable in this forest of big trees. For 5 days
I walked the course taken by the Juan De Fuca Trail and still the ghost
I chased eluded my senses. What I sensed here was as gentle as a breath
across a moist cheek, but this subtle prick evoked a deep response. Many
weeks later, from the confines of my shared space on a University campus,
I return to that feeling and attempt an answer for enlightenment. The
answer is something I've often used to express the feeling I get when
I climb from my field tent each morning 30 kilometers from the coast of
Maine (USA). It is simply the realization that I am alive…
Regardless of the stimulus, be it these woods or the sounds of a seabird
colony or whatever, this simple realization keeps bringing me back to
a universal reality…life is fleeting and therefore worthy of our
constant awareness.
Andre R. Breton
ACWERN
University of New Brunswick
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my advisor Tony Diamond, ACWERN, CWS, and the SFU chair for making my trip to the Northwest possible. Also, I owe Sarah Jamieson, my hiking partner, for first coming up with the idea, and then making our logistics to and from the trailhead a reality. Thanks Sarah!
