ANNUAL REPORT of the
CENTRE FOR WILDLIFE ECOLOGY
2003-2004
Department of Biological
Sciences
Simon Fraser University
http://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/index.html
Dr.
Ron Ydenberg, Director
(For a Adobe Reader version of this report, click
here)
I. History..................................................................................................................... 3
II. Mission Statement.............................................................................................. 3
III. Personnel............................................................................................................. 4
A. Research Team................................................................................................... 4
1.
Faculty and Research Associates............................................................................ 4
2.
Research Group.................................................................................................... 4
B. Steering Committee......................................................................................... 5
IV. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 6
V. THE CWE IN ACTION................................................................................................ 7
A. The Triangle Island Seabird Research Station..................................... 7
B. The Western Sandpiper Research Network............................................ 8
C. The Marbled Murrelet Project.................................................................. 9
D. Shellfish and Scoter Ecology along the
British Columbia Coast 10
1. Baynes Sound
Sustainable Shellfish Aquaculture Initiative...................................... 10
2. The status
of Abalone populations in Haida Gwaii.................................................. 12
E. Heron Working Group................................................................................... 12
F. Harlequin Duck Conservation Research............................................... 13
G. Ecological physiology................................................................................ 14
H. Waterbirds in the North............................................................................. 16
I. Landscape ecology of songbirds.............................................................. 17
VI. Conferences....................................................................................................... 18
VII Funding............................................................................................................... 22
Viii. Publications................................................................................................... 27
A. Papers in
Refereed Journals.................................................................................... 27
B. Papers
submitted to refereed journals...................................................................... 30
C. Other
Publications................................................................................................. 31
D. Theses.................................................................................................................. 31
I. History
Under the Migratory Birds Convention and Canada Wildlife Acts, the mandate of the Canadian Wildlife Service is to protect and conserve migratory bird populations. In the 21st century, this historical mandate is broadening to encompass other environmental concerns such as species at risk, biodiversity, sustainability and endangered habitats. To meet these broad and varied responsibilities, Environment Canada depends on sound science, and participates in cooperative ventures. In 1993, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Simon Fraser University, and Environment Canada signed a ten year agreement to create the NSERC/CWS Chair in Wildlife Ecology at SFU. The Centre for Wildlife Ecology (CWE) described here is a revised administrative structure based on the Chair, formed after the retirement in 2002 of the original chairholder, Professor Fred Cooke.
II. Mission Statement
The mission of the Centre for Wildlife Ecology (CWE) is to foster high quality, graduate training and research, conduct basic and applied research in wildlife ecology, and to provide knowledge and personnel that will help Environment Canada and other agencies meet the challenges of conservation in the 21st century. The central concept is to foster synergy between the mission-oriented research and management policies of the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and the basic research agenda of the University. Information, ideas, expertise, resources and opportunity flow back and forth across this interface, giving government agencies access to a broad base of science capability that helps inform policy and decision making, while the university and its faculty and students benefit from enhanced opportunities for research and application of the ideas their disciplines generate.
III. Personnel
A. Research Team
1. Faculty and Research Associates
|
Name |
Position |
|
Ron
Ydenberg |
Director, Professor |
|
Tony
Williams |
Professor |
|
David
Green |
Associate Director, Assistant Professor |
|
Dov
Lank |
University Research Associate / Adjunct Professor |
|
Dan
Esler |
University Research Associate |
|
Mark
Hipfner |
University Research Associate / CWS Biologist |
|
Christine
Bishop |
CWS Research Scientist / Adjunct Professor |
|
Sean
Boyd |
CWS Research Scientist / Adjunct Professor |
|
Rob
Butler |
CWS Research Scientist / Adjunct Professor |
|
Bob
Elner |
CWS Research Scientist / Adjunct Professor |
|
John
Elliott |
CWS Research Scientist / Adjunct Professor |
|
Barry
Smith |
CWS Research Scientist / Adjunct Professor |
|
Fred
Cooke (retired) |
Emeritus Chairholder |
2. Research Group
|
Postdoctoral
Fellow |
PhD
(in progress) |
MSc
(in progress) |
Staff |
|
Joël Bęty |
Guillermo Fernandez |
BriAnne Addison |
Blake Bartzen, Res. Assist |
|
James Dale |
Brent Gurd |
Courtney Albert |
Kristen Charleton, Res.
Asst. |
|
Elsie Krebs |
Joel Heath |
Jeff Ball |
Rian Dickson, Res. Assist. |
|
Ramunas Zydelis |
Sarah Jamieson |
Jeanine Bond |
Cait Henderson, Res.
Assist |
|
|
Oliver Love |
Gwylim Blackburn |
Judy Higham, CWE Admin.
Asst. |
|
|
Andrea Pomeroy |
Lily Cesh (MET) |
Sam Iverson, Aquacult.
Tech. |
|
|
Katrina Salvante |
Eric Davies |
Glen Keddie, Res. Assist. |
|
|
Bonnie Stout |
Bart DeFreitas |
Molly Kirk, Aquacult.
Tech. |
|
|
|
Kristen Gorman |
Debbie Lacroix,
Aquacult.Tech. |
|
|
|
Jamie Kenyon |
Leisha LeClaire, Res.
Asst. |
|
|
|
Sunny LeBourdais |
Rocky Lis, Res. Asst. |
|
|
|
Tyler Lewis |
Darren Lissimore, Res.
Asst. |
|
|
|
Josh Malt |
Laura McFarlane
Tranquilla, MAMU and Triangle Tech |
|
|
|
Kim Mathot |
Holly Middleton, Res.
Asst. |
|
|
|
Jonathan Whiteley |
Tawna Morgan, Res. Asst. |
|
|
|
|
Nadine Parker, MAMU Tech. |
|
|
|
|
Judith Shapiro, SciHor
Res. Assist |
|
|
|
|
Connie Smith, CWE Research
Tech |
|
|
PhD(
defended) |
MSc
(defended) |
. |
|
|
Christy Morrissey |
Amanda Niehaus |
|
|
|
Silke Nebel |
Dana Seaman |
|
|
|
Heidi Regehr |
|
|
|
|
Michael Rodway |
|
|
|
|
François Vézina |
|
|
B. Steering Committee
|
Name |
Position |
Affiliation |
||
|
Larry
Dill |
Professor |
SFU |
||
|
Elizabeth
Elle |
Assistant
Professor |
SFU |
||
|
Robert
Elner |
Head,
Migratory Birds Conservation |
CWS |
||
|
David
Green |
CWE
faculty (non-voting) |
SFU |
|
|
|
Alton
Harestad (SFU alternate) |
Assoc.
Professor |
SFU |
||
|
Paul
Kluckner |
Regional
Director, ECB PYR |
CWS |
||
|
Rick
McKelvey (CWS alternate) |
Manager,
CWS PWRC |
CWS |
||
|
Tony
Williams |
CWE
faculty (non-voting) |
SFU |
||
|
Ron
Ydenberg |
CWE
Director (non-voting) |
SFU |
||
IV. INTRODUCTION
The aim of this Annual Report is to give an overview of our activities, outline the progress on new and continuing projects, describe the personnel involved, and to give some indication of our scientific and community involvement. Previous Annual Reports are available from the CWE. Contact us via our website
http://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/index.html.
The last year has seen only minor staffing changes. Dr. Tony Williams assumed the Chairship of the Department of Biological sciences, a demanding position leaving little time for the duties of Associate Director of the CWE. Dr. David Green has replaced him in that role.
Dov Lank continues with the CWE as a University Research Associate and Adjunct Professor, directing the Marbled Murrelet project. Dr. Dan Esler retains responsibility for the waterbird program, and Dr. Mark Hipfner continues to lead the Triangle Island Seabird Research Station. Students graduating and new students joining the group since the last Annual Report are listed on p. 3. Judy Higham and Connie Smith continue to provide outstanding service in their administrative roles.
The largest visible change of the past year took place when the CWE left its long-term quarters (the ‘Cooke’ lab, in B7217) and moved to new digs in K8501. The move was made at the behest of then-Dean Dr. Willie Davidson, and the then-chair of Biology, Dr. Norbert Haunerland, who were seeking a solution for a space crisis in the old science wing. We agonized over this decision: the new quarters offered some advantages, but also drawbacks, and there was no clear overall net gain. However, the promise of ‘future considerations’ tipped the balance, and we agreed to the move. (Unfortunately, the Dean unexpectedly resigned shortly afterwards.)
In this Annual Report we would like to draw attention to the productive relationship we enjoy with our Research Scientist colleagues at CWS, many of whom are also Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences. They take an active role in supervising, supporting and working with students. Our Mission Statement declares that “Information, ideas, expertise, resources and opportunity flow back and forth across [the academia-government] interface ….”, a goal met in full measure in this relationship.
Finally, we note that September 2003 marked the completion of a full decade of operations for the CWE, an event we celebrated September 12/13 with a conference and party. Last year, the Annual Report declared that the CWE has proven itself an enduring institution, thriving, diversifying and continuing to attract students and funding. We have continued that record in the past year.
V. THE CWE IN ACTION
The accounts that follow give brief
overviews of the major projects run by the CWE.
More detail is available on our website (http://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/index.html). Publications and theses are listed
below. The personnel can also be
contacted via the website.
A. The Triangle Island Seabird Research Station
Coastal British Columbia is home to large populations of seabirds, for which the Canadian Wildlife Service has responsibility. The Triangle Island Seabird Research and Monitoring Station was established in 1994 as a center for research devoted to understanding seabird biology, aimed particularly at identifying and understanding environmental and demographic causes of population change so as to recommend appropriate conservation actions for marine wildlife. The Anne Vallée Ecological Reserve on Triangle Island supports the largest and most diverse seabird colony in BC, including the world’s largest population of Cassin’s Auklets, BC’s largest populations of Tufted Puffins and Common Murres, and a large population of Rhinoceros Auklets, among others. As part of the Scott Island Group, Triangle Island is recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA). Moreover, waters around the Scott Islands are being developed as a Marine Wildlife Area (MWA) under the Canada Wildlife Act, to protect critical habitat for the millions of seabirds that depend on these waters through the year.
Our ongoing investigations examine breeding propensity and chronology, reproductive performance, nestling diet and development, parental provisioning patterns, attendance patterns, and adult survival. Of particular interest is the issue of how climate-induced fluctuations in the timing and availability of marine prey populations affect seabird reproduction and survival.
The
2003 season: We opened our research
station on Triangle Island for year 10 on 26 March 2003, with continued
logistical support from the Canadian Coast Guard. Scientific research was conducted under the
direction of Mark Hipfner, with Laura MacFarlane-Tranquilla again acting as
supervisor of logistical support. Mark and Laura led the field crew at various
times in the summer. We maintained our
time series focus on Cassin’s Auklet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Tufted Puffin and Common
Murre, coupled with graduate student research (see below). We also initiated
small research projects in 2003 on Pelagic Cormorants, Glaucous-winged Gulls,
and Black Oystercatchers.
After
several years of cold ocean conditions following the regime shift that began in
1998-1999, sea surface temperatures were quite high during summer 2003
(described as "El Nino Lite" by researchers working at the Farallon
Islands in California). Not surprisingly, seabirds suffered through a season of
relatively poor breeding success at Triangle in 2003. Success was low to
average in Cassin's and Rhinoceros auklets, and very close to values predicted
from spring sea surface temperatures. Tufted Puffins had a very bad year; many
birds succeeded in hatching eggs, but adult birds suddenly stopped feeding
their chicks on the first of August and the chicks perished. In fact, the adult
birds largely abandoned the colony. Only Common Murres enjoyed good breeding
success in 2003.
Graduate
students: In 2003, Gwylim Blackburn
completed field work for his MSc research on breeding ecology of Tufted
Puffins, with a focus on sexual selection and ornamentation as indicators of
parental quality. In addition, Eric Davies continued work on his MSc at SFU,
investigating at foraging ecology of Triangle's alcids.
B. The Western Sandpiper Research Network
Shorebirds are among the most highly migratory of all birds. Populations of many species travel half the globe in the course of their annual migrations. The Canadian Wildlife Service has an historical, mandated responsibility for the conservation of migratory birds. Great concern has been raised about apparent population declines of many species over the past two decades. The CWE has nurtured the development of the Western Sandpiper Research Network over the past ten years as a platform for research on a hemispheric scale that can address this issue. CWS staffers Rob Butler, Bob Elner, and Barry Smith are active in this group.
The majority of the world’s 3.5 – 4.0 million Western Sandpipers stop briefly to refuel in Boundary Bay or on Robert’s Bank during their annual northward migration, providing a thrilling sight for local residents. A good fraction of the species population also stops over on southward migration, following a flight over the Gulf of Alaska. Because of this, the species is ranked in the highest priority class in the draft BC-Yukon region CWS Shorebird Management Plan. Our multifaceted research is documenting and modeling the factors controlling the population size, migratory routes and timing, ecological relationships with predators and prey, habitat use, and physiological ecology of this long-distance, neotropical migrant. Our integrated approach allows us to examine how factors at one location affect events at another. How do events in the wintering grounds, migration sites, and breeding grounds interconnect? Where are population bottlenecks? Of direct conservation concern is the consequence of the removal or deterioration of one or more locations on survival and reproduction. For the past 11 years, we have pursued and aided fieldwork at three breeding sites, several migration locations, and four wintering sites. We have organized eight workshops to help keep researchers in touch, and we run a list-server for this purpose. As a result of our work, the Western Sandpiper is now the best-studied shorebird in the Western Hemisphere.
Specific activities during the past year include:
- Silke Nebel completed her PhD thesis examining the sex and age distribution of Western Sandpipers during the non-breeding season, and submitted for publication several papers addressing possible causes for the patterns.
- Amanda Niehaus completed her MSc thesis and submitted several papers, modeling the timing of southward migration from the breeding grounds, and examining empirical data on sex differences at different stages of migration.
- Dana Seaman completed her MSc thesis, with Tony Williams, looking at the “landscape physiology” of migrant western sandpipers (see physiological ecology section).
- Four essays on future directions in shorebird research were published by members of the WESA network in the 100th issue of the Wader Study Group Bulletin. One by Silke Nebel and D. Lank reviewed the WESA network program, Bob Elner and Dana Seaman focused on foraging ecology, Rob Butler et al. discussed influences of changes in the predator landscape on migrant shorebirds, and Shepherd et al. discussed integrating marine and terrestrial components into shorebird conservation planning. These essays resulted in an invitation for Silke Nebel to give a plenary paper on the group’s work at the Global Flyways Conference in Edinburgh, 4-7 April 2004.
- Lank et al. published a paper on effects of predator landscapes on aspects of migration strategies, arising from a workshop in Lund, Sweden in 2002.
- Guillermo Fernández continued progress towards completing his Ph.D., examining sex and age distributions at a local scale at a large non-breeding site in western Mexico, and published the final paper from his MSc, and presented a symposium paper on life history differences in Western Sandpipers at the Neotropical Ornithological Congress.
- Patrick O’Hara, SFU and network alumni, submitted papers from his PhD thesis focusing on body size and life history differences in relationship to non-breeding latitude.
- Andrea Pomeroy examined migrant western sandpipers’ usage of stopover sites near Vancouver with respect to the availability of food and predation danger as part of her MSc work.
· Kim Mathot, working with Bob Elner
examined the feeding modes and feeding opportunities of western sandpipers at migratory stopover sites and at non-breeding grounds along the
coast. She completed field work in
Panama and Mexico this past fall/winter.
- Ydenberg et al. obtained acceptance for publication in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B of a paper documenting the 15 year change in census numbers, body mass, length of stay (modeled by Barry Smith, CWS), and predation danger for migrant sandpipers in southern BC, and drew attention to the conservation planning implications of their findings
- The year concluded with a February workshop at SFU which brought together persons to help put together a major proposal to test hypotheses about factors responsible for apparent changes in many shorebird populations over the past 30 years. This project will be conducted in association with the Shorebird Research Group of the Americas, which was formed recently by an international group including Rob Butler, in part to address this question.
C. The Marbled Murrelet Project
This ground-breaking and high profile project examining the biology of the threatened and elusive marbled murrelet continues for its tenth year. Dov Lank, Nadine Parker, Laura McFarlane Tranquilla, and Elsie Krebs continued with the project, and were joined at SFU by entering M.Sc. student Josh Malt. Alumni Falk Huettmann, Emmanuelle Cam, Peggy Yen, and Russ Bradley also worked towards publication of results. The team worked closely with Louise Waterhouse from the BC Ministry of Forests and other murrelet researchers in government, industry, and academia.
Dov Lank continued to serve on the Canadian Marbled Murrelet Recovery Team, which is headed by former CWE staff member Doug Bertram. This participation enables the results of this research to be rapidly assimilated into evolving policy guidelines for management of this threatened species, which falls under the protection of the newly passed federal Species at Risk Act. The provincial “Identified Wildlife Management Strategy”, which sets policies for management of the species nesting habitat by forest companies and others, was substantially re-written over the past year, incorporating our findings into its policy recommendations. In addition, Louise Waterhouse et al. completed a publication creating guidelines for air photo interpretation of potential murrelet habitat that relied heavily on known nest sites identified by the project in earlier years.
The year has been extremely productive in terms of publications and submission of manuscripts. Emmanuelle Cam’s multi-authored demography paper was published in Conservation Biology. Laura McFarlane Tranquilla was the lead author on 5 papers published or in press, with a sixth submitted. Russ Bradley has a major thesis chapter in press as a paper in the Journal of Wildlife Management. Peggy Yen and Falk Huettmann published a BC-wide analysis of murrelet distributions in the Journal of Ecological Modeling.
Nadine Parker et al. obtained acceptance of a paper analyzing post-fledging survival rates of murrelets at Desolation Sound, and prepared a MS on the 2002 dispersal study from Clayoquot Sound. Elsie Krebs has taken on the challenge of synthesizing information on marine home ranges and nesting locations and performance, for both Desolation and Clayoquot Sound. Yuri Zharikov integrated several sources of information on landscape variables to produce a rigorous analysis of nest distributions and success with respect to patch sizes and landscape features, which was submitted for publication. Falk Huettmann completed reanalysis and rewriting of his habitat selection paper, designed to be submitted as a Wildlife Monograph. We conclude that murrelets are not particularly sensitive to forest stand patch size, and that nesting success is not poorer in small patches, as has been previously suggested. This work has substantial implications for murrelet management in British Columbia.
The SFU group produced a major literature review of population dynamics, geographical distribution, and habitat selection by Marbled Murrelets, which was submitted to the US Fish and Wildlife Service as part of their mandated 5-year review of the species’ status in northern California, Oregon and Washington.
As the year closed, these findings were being communicated to interested parties, including presentations at the Pacific Seabird Group meeting in La Paz, Mexico, and funding was obtained to continue another season of field work, focusing on the relationship between landscape structure and the risk of nest predation.
D.
Shellfish and Scoter Ecology along the British Columbia Coast
1. Baynes Sound Sustainable Shellfish Aquaculture Initiative
In response to the planned expansion of shellfish aquaculture along the British Columbia coast, Dr. Leah Bendell-Young in collaboration with the CWE, initiated in 2001/02 a study of ecological implications of shellfish aquaculture. Funded by a NSERC Strategic Grant obtained by Dr. Bendell-Young, the CWE and CWS, the project is centered in Baynes Sound, and is a collaborative venture with an array of agency, university, and industry partners. This project is now in its third year, and is led by Leah Bendell-Young, Ron Ydenberg, Rob Butler, Dan Esler, and Sean Boyd. The research addresses interactions between wintering surf and white-winged scoter populations, ‘wild’ benthic fauna and shellfish aquaculture. The basic project is fully described in last year’s Annual Report.
We made progress on the project as follows over the past year: Following our five-year plan for the project, the work expanded to Barkley and Desolation Sounds. Tyler Lewis and Jonathan Whiteley are graduate students working on the project. A sub-project was initiated with USRA student Ian Giesbrecht on the interactions between shorebirds and shellfish aquaculture. We have begun initial analyses of the many data collected, and made comparisons with such historical data as we could find. And in November, 2003, we held another public meeting in Nanaimo, inviting all interested parties to attend. We presented some initial results, continued our dialogue with the industry. We feel that we are slowly but surely convincing them that the project is non-threatening to their interests, and that the results will in the longer run benefit the industry as well as the environment.
Specific activities
included:
- Three winters (2001-02, 2002-03, and
2003-04) of data collection have been completed, with activities focused
in Baynes Sound. Intensive surveys
have been conducted with the intent of describing changes in numbers and
distribution between and within years.
These data also will be compared to historical CWS data (from
winter 1980-81) to provide insight into longer-term changes. The survey data also will be used in
analyses of habitat associations, with the goal of determining the
relationships between habitat attributes, including aquaculture, and
scoter densities. A post-doctoral
research associate, Ramunas Zydelis, will be leading the habitat
association work.
- A major component of the project
involves radio-telemetry, which we are using to answer questions about
survival, movements, habitat associations, and foraging behavior. Over the last 3 winters, 254
scoters have been marked with
conventional VHF transmitters.
These are tracked by vehicle regularly from December through
April. We have found that scoters
in Baynes Sound show strong fidelity to feeding areas, they forage almost
exclusively in intertidal habitats, they almost never forage at night, and
their winter survival is high.
- Diet of captured scoters was inferred
from analysis of shell fragments in fecal samples; varnish clams (Nuttallia obscurata) and manila
clams (Venerupis phillippinarum)
were the taxa most abundant in the fecal samples.
- Clams were sampled throughout Baynes
Sound during summers 2002 and 2003.
These data will be used to quantify abundance and distribution of
prey.
- Tyler
Lewis, MSc student, is quantifying the behavioural responses of scoters to
temporal and spatial variation in bivalve prey. Results from this work will indicate behavioural
consequences of variation in bivalve prey that occur due to aquaculture operations. In each of the winters 2002-03 and
2003-04, six plots were intensively sampled for clam density and
distribution. At each of the six plots,
foraging radio-marked scoters were monitored to determine the amount of
time devoted to feeding. These data
will be compared between sites with different clam densities and
distributions, as well as over time as prey resources are depleted. In addition, foraging success (proportion
of dives in which a prey item was brought to the surface) was documented
for both radio-marked and non-marked scoters at each plot.
- Finally, during winter 2002-03 and
2003-04 we have conducted surveys in Desolation and Barkley Sounds to
quantify scoter use of the area and prepare for more intensive work in the
future.
These results are preliminary as data
preparation and rigorous analysis have not been applied. However, we are confident that the data
gathered over the past 3 winters will be valuable for understanding scoter
interactions with aquaculture (and other forms of habitat change), as well as
lending new insight into wintering biology of these poorly known species.
2. The status of Abalone populations in Haida Gwaii
Northern Abalone is Canada’s only marine invertebrate with ‘threatened’ status, and as such the species is deserving of some conservation attention. M.Sc. student Bart DeFreitas is supported by his employer Haida Fisheries, a subvention grant from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and by the CWE, and is investigating why depleted abalone populations seem to have difficulty in re-establishing themselves. Bart’s thesis work is nearing completion, and the first results have been published (DeFreitas 2003). His ‘Baby Abalone Recruitment Traps’ (acronym BART) showed that many small abalones are present in the waters around Haida Gwaii. Therefore, the depressed numbers do not seem to be due to a failure of spawning, as some have claimed. The growth of wild abalones also lies well within the reported range. It seems therefore that most individuals are unable to reach sizes large enough to enter the fishery, perhaps because the depredation rate is high.
E. Heron Working Group
The Great Blue Heron, the
largest heron of North America, is widely distributed in Canada but the
estimated 1500 pairs of coastal British Columbia Great Blue Heron are distinct
from herons elsewhere in Canada. The
coastal birds are non-migratory and remain isolated year round from heron
populations that migrate. This isolation
has led to adaptations with among other features a darker plumage and
subspecies classification, Ardea herodias fannini. This subspecies, which is currently
blue-listed by the British Columbia Ministry of Sustainable Resource
Management, is being investigated by a team of researchers from the CWE and
CWS. Barry Smith, Ross Vennesland and
Rob Butler are working on a paper on the status and population trends of
herons. It is likely that the status of this subspecies will change to the red
list in light of these analyses.
The majority of these
herons, about four-fifths of them, nest in five large colonies each with well
over 100 breeding pairs. They include
the Point Roberts, University of British Columbia, Chilliwack, Mary Hill,
Alouette Lake and Salt Spring colonies. The
large colonies have existed for many years and even decades, although heron
colonies are not static and may shift location from time to time. The remaining BC coastal herons nest in small
colonies or as solitary pairs and typically relocate their nesting sites every
few years. The number of herons nesting
in colonies is positively related to the area of eelgrass on nearby beaches. Large beaches at the mouth of the Fraser
River estuary support hundreds of pairs of herons, whereas the smaller areas of
eelgrass on Vancouver Island beaches support only a few hundred herons in
total.
Environment Canada's
Canadian Wildlife Service has formed a partnership with the British Columbia
Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, and the Wild Bird Trust (WBT) of
British Columbia to establish the Heron Stewardship Program. The objective of this program is to reduce
the impact of humans at nesting colonies and important heron feeding areas. In
2001, the Heron Stewardship Program in BC expanded to include government and
non-government groups and individuals in Washington State into the Heron
Working Group. The Working Group
collaborates on designing research and census protocols, conservation advice,
seeking funding support and providing a web site forum for information
(http://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/hwg/abouthwg.html).
Canadian Wildlife Service
scientists are working with students from the Centre for Wildlife Ecology at
Simon Fraser University to understand the response of herons to eagle predators
at their nests and the food supplies. It
has been observed that the overall reproductive success of Great Blue Herons in
the Georgia Basin has decreased over the last decade and a high level of colony
abandonment, thought to be due to predation, occurs. Fieldwork has suggested that once a colony
has abandoned, it frequently fractures into a number of smaller colonies around
the same foraging site. CWE MSc student
Jamie Kenyon is examining the role these different sized colonies may play in
the overall population dynamics of this species. This is accomplished by analyzing size,
quality, and use of foraging sites throughout the Georgia Basin as well as
differences in age structure between these foraging sites. A model is being
developed that will aid in the understanding of the role predation plays in
colony formation.
F. Harlequin Duck Conservation Research
CWE and CWS have had long-standing conservation concerns and research interest regarding harlequin ducks in the Strait of Georgia. Past studies have resulted in an unprecedented understanding of ecology and demography of a seaduck. In 2003 CWE graduate students Heidi Regehr and Michael Rodway completed and defended their doctoral dissertations and each published several papers. Heidi’s work addressed dispersal of harlequin ducks and the subsequent implications for population structure and demography. Michael tackled the subject of timing of pairing in harlequin ducks and factors that influence timing, including the process of mate selection and associated constraints, spacing behaviour, and the role of herring spawn.
Although there was little banding of harlequins in the past year (some were banded during wing molt at White Rock), researchers (including Sean Boyd, and Pete Clarkson) continued to make observations of colour banded birds at several locations in the Strait of Georgia in the fall and spring, concentrating on birds at White Rock and at the herring spawn at Hornby Island, augmenting the database of information on individual birds. The objectives are to understand survival, migration and recruitment patterns of this population in order to characterize which habitats are most favorable for harlequin ducks.
A new study was initiated in summer 2003 on harlequin ducks breeding on streams in the southern Coast Mountains. Led by Dan Esler and Ron Ydenberg, and involving MSc students Jeanine Bond and Sunny LeBourdais, this research is designed to determine factors related to distribution and productivity. For the first time, we are collecting data to evaluate the relationship between harlequin duck abundance and habitat attributes at a broad, regional scale. This approach will allow a broad inference for predicting and mitigating effects of human activities on streams in the region. We also are looking more closely at two mechanisms by which productivity might be affected. The first considers the interactions between fish, harlequin ducks, and their prey, aquatic invertebrates. We speculate that there may be direct and indirect effects of fish that have implications for abundance of harlequin duck prey and subsequent productivity. Also, we are using a stable isotope approach to determine whether nutrients for clutch formation are derived primarily from marine wintering areas or from freshwater breeding streams.
G. Ecological physiology
The main aims of CWE's research in ecological physiology are three-fold: 1) to obtain a better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying individual and population-level variation in physiological traits in order to provide a solid basis for predicting how animals might respond to environmental change, 2) to determine more meaningful intra-specific measures of body condition, quality and individual health for birds, and 3) to develop and apply new physiological approaches and techniques to conservation biology and ecotoxicology. We approach these aims through a combination of studies on basic physiology, often using tractable model systems (e.g. zebra finches) as well as free-living birds (starlings, western sandpiper), coupled with more applied, and more specific, goal-orientated projects (e.g. addressing current endocrine disrupter and ecotoxicological problems). The techniques we have developed and utilised for this basic research, and the basic information generated on reproductive physiology have been invaluable in contributing to, and facilitating, our more applied work. One good example of this linkage is our work on development of indirect, physiological techniques to assess reproductive state and breeding chronology in rare or cryptic species (Vanderkist et al. 1999, 2000; McFarlane Tranquilla et al. 2003). The following projects are on-going in my lab at present:
1. Corticosterone, reproduction and environmental stress: Oliver Love (PhD student) is continuing our work with starlings using hormonal manipulations to investigate the interaction between stress and reproduction. Specifically, he is examining the adaptive role of corticosterone in mediating reproductive 'decisions' in females and the consequences of this on offspring phenotype. Maternal corticosterone transferred to the yolk may act as a hormonal cue of maternal condition to the developing embryo enabling mothers to fine-tune the quantity and quality of offspring to prevailing environments.
2. Metabolic costs of egg production: François Vézina (PhD student) has been investigating energetic costs of reproduction and, specifically, egg formation using respirometry (for BMR) and the doubly-labeled water technique (for DEE), and the relationship between body composition and energy expenditure. He is focusing on variability in the strategies individual birds can utilise to meet elevated energy demands during laying.
3. Role of lipid dynamics in
reproduction: Katrina Salvante (PhD student) is working on a potential
mechanism underlying "costs of reproduction": the conflict between
the mother meeting her own energy needs (for maintenance etc) and those of
provisioning the egg. In particular she
is looking at the dynamics of lipoprotein metabolism in relation to
reproduction under 'normal' and stressful conditions (e.g. low ambient
temperature), and the hormonal basis of this relationship.
4. Costs of social signalling:
Dr James Dale (NSERC PDF) is investigating the relationship between social
dominance, potential social signals (e.g. bill colour) and immune function. He
is also interested in assessing the utility of applying studies of social
behaviour and sexual signals as measures of bird health in applied issues such
as ecotoxicology.
5. Timing of nesting and
reproductive physiology of Greater scaup: Continental scaup populations
have declined in recent years, and lowered productivity has been suggested as
an important contributing factor in this decline. Kristen Gorman (MSc, co-supervised by TDW and
Dr Dan Esler) is investigating physiological and nutritional attributes that
influence timing of clutch formation in female greater scaup (Aythya marila). This work has three components: 1) assessment
of nutrient reserve dynamics (lipid, protein) during egg formation using more
traditional methods of body composition analysis; 2) use of stable isotope
analysis to determine the sources and relative contributions of nutrient
reserves used in egg formation; and 3) validation of the use of an indirect,
physiological method (plasma yolk precursor analysis) to determine reproductive
state in free-living ducks. This project
is funded by the
6. Physiological
mechanisms underlying timing of breeding and clutch size in birds: Dr. Joël
Bęty (NSERC PDF) works in the Canadian Arctic (
7. Impact
of use of MSMA (monosodium methanearsonate) for bark beetle control on cavity-nesting
birds in B.C. forests. Bark beetles
are considered among the most damaging of forest insect pests in western
8. Monitoring of chlorinated
hydrocarbons and effects in bald eagles on the
9. "Landscape
physiology" - plasma metabolites in migrating birds: Dana Seaman (MSc)
completed her thesis investigating the application of plasma metabolite
analysis for the assessment of fattening rate and the relative quality of
habitats or sites used by migratory shorebirds of Western Sandpipers (funded by the Marine Ecosystem Health Program, UC
Davis). We are now extending this work to a number of other scales, or
different systems, e.g. a) habitat use over the whole migratory route in
western sandpipers (a collaboration with Drs. Nils Warnock, Guillermo Fernández Aceves and John
Takekawa, with funding from US Fish & Wildlife, California), and b) habitat use in pre-migratory staging areas in
Alaska ( a collaboration with Dr. Abby
Powell and Audrey Taylor, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK and Dr. Richard
Lanctot, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK) and c) altitudinal habitat use in
passerines in the Lower Mainland (Lesley Evans-Ogden, NSERC PDF at UBC).
H. Waterbirds in the North
·
Population change in seaducks
in
·
Timing of reproduction in
Greater Scaup - Another project initiated in collaboration with the U.S. Geological
Survey addresses the relationships of nutrition and physiology to timing of
reproduction by greater scaup in coastal
· Foraging ecology of breeding Red-throated Loons - Numbers of red-throated loons have declined by over 50% in recent decades. Jeff Ball, MSc student, has conducted two field seasons of research into the underlying causes of this population change by addressing the hypothesis that changes in forage fish quantity or quality have constrained the ability of parents to adequately provision chicks, resulting in subsequent depression of recruitment. In collaboration with Dr. Joel Schmutz, USGS, Jeff is documenting variation in provisioning by Red-throated loons, and the subsequent effects on chick growth, survival, and behaviour.
· Foraging Strategies of
·
Parental care in eiders -
Markus Öst, of the
I. Landscape ecology of songbirds
CWE’s research on the landscape ecology of
songbirds investigates how natural and anthropogenic modification of the
landscape influences avian populations.
Currently projects coordinated by David Green focus on how dispersal and
migratory strategies of individual birds influence their fitness and the
demography and genetic structure of populations. Projects underway include a study on
migration and demography of American dippers, a songbird dependent on pristine
rivers and streams, a study investigating the long-term declines of warbler
species in BC and a study examining how habitat fragmentation influences the
genetic structure of logrunner populations in
1. Migratory behaviour and population demography of American dippers
The Dipper project builds on research initiated by Christy Morrissey (CWE PhD student) on the population ecology of the American Dipper in the Chilliwack River Valley, BC. The majority of dippers, in this and other populations, make seasonal movements between low elevation wintering grounds on large rivers and breeding grounds on higher elevation tributaries. However some individuals do not undergo this seasonal migration and remain on permanent territories year round. Little is known about what factors influence altitudinal migration or the consequences of altitudinal migration for subsequent survival or reproductive success. We are currently using morphometric data, mark-recapture analysis and radiotelemetry to investigate whether migratory/sedentary behaviour is associated with distinct morphological and physiological traits, and examine how variation in migratory behaviour influences recruitment, natal philopatry, survival and reproductive success of American dippers. Holly Middleton (research assistant) who coordinates the fieldwork is also quantifying variation in juvenile dispersal behaviour and examining factors that influence site fidelity in dippers. Amber Taylor (undergraduate) is investigating the wing morphology of sedentary and migratory dippers.
2. Population declines in migratory warblers of BC
Long term declines in populations of many
migratory songbirds have been documented both in
In BC,
VI. Conferences
Each year the CWE hosts a number of scientific meetings
built around one or more of its main projects.
On
The CWE
hosted the eighth Western Sandpiper
Research Network workshop (February 20/21, 2004) to consider the broad
outlines of a hemispheric research project aimed at understanding causes for
declining shorebird census numbers.
Relevant portions of the Summary Document (March 30 draft) of the
workshop are copied below. We thank the
Discovery Parks Major Research Project Application Preparation fund at
DRAFT
(March 30/04)
SUMMARY
DOCUMENT
SHOREBIRD RESEARCH
GROUP OF THE
PROJECT PLANNING
WORKSHOP
CENTRE FOR WILDLIFE
ECOLOGY
FEBRUARY 20/21 2004
BACKGROUND
Recent
analyses of shorebird census data in
Conservation
plans for shorebirds have been completed in both the
In 2002,
the Shorebird Research Group of the Americas (SRGA) was formed to create a
platform from which to coordinate priority shorebird research on a hemispheric
scale. The first initiative of this
group will be to launch a major multi-year hemisphere wide research project,
using this approach to investigate the causes for these declining population
trends. This idea was endorsed in
principle by the CWS Shorebird Technical Committee in
The next
step for The Shorebird Research Group of the
PROJECT PLANNING
WORKSHOP SUMMARY
General features
The
attendees agreed that as the matter is pressing, any project must have attainable
goals within a reasonable timeframe. We
agreed to structure the project around tests of seven general hypotheses (see
below) that might explain part or all of the reported declines, in some or all
of the species. We agreed that searching
for and making best use of existing data is invaluable, and that co-ordinating
activities across the hemisphere would greatly increase the extent and power of
the work.
We agreed
to focus on western sandpipers initially (Calidris
mauri), because there is an existing network (see http://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/). This network has held seven workshops on
western sandpipers since 1994, so this species has been well-studied. Repeated stopover censuses in
Seven general
hypotheses
There are
several widely-touted possible causes for the declines. Bearing in mind that the same causes need not
apply to all the species, and that more than one may be affecting any single
species, these are (1) habitat loss or change; (2) toxic chemicals and
pollutants; (3) increasing predator populations; (4) human disturbance; and (5)
climate change. To this list we decided
to add a hypothesis that explicitly considers (6) interactions among two or
more of these factors. A final
hypothesis is that (7) declines are apparent rather than real, resulting from
changes in behaviour of migrants that affect the number tallied. We found at the workshop that opinions on the
importance of some of these factors varied widely.
Basic plan
The workshop
was able to generate a list of up to 12 sites in the non-breeding range,
including 8 Latin American sites for which some historical data on western
sandpipers are available. For about half
of these sites the data are extensive and of high quality. There are a further 12 (at least) migratory
sites in
Comparisons
of the census data among these sites will permit evaluation of most of the
hypotheses. For example, a prediction of
hypothesis 7 is that declines should be registered at migratory sites, but not
at non-breeding sites. Hypothesis 1
predicts a correlation between measures of habitat change at these sites and
changes in the non-breeding census. Many
other plausible predictions were discussed.
Next steps
The
workshop provided enough time only to hammer out the rudiments of the above
plan. The next tasks are (1) recruit
additional expertise, especially in the toxics and GIS areas; (2) to develop
detailed predictions; and (3) to seek funding.
We are actively working on these at the moment.
Funding
We estimate
the cost of the project at about CDN$400,000 per year for 5 years. We’re aiming for funding from a variety of
sources.
Future meeting
An active
point of discussion was how the Shorebird Research Group of the
We agreed
to meet again next year to discuss the SRGA further. A joint meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group
and the Waterbird Society to be held in
REFERENCES
Analyses of shorebird
census data
R.I.G.
Morrison, C. Downes, B. Collins, B.
Wilson Bull. 106, 431 (1994).
Morrison,
R.I.G., et al. Wader Study Group Bull. 94, 39 (2001).
Bart, J.,
B. Andres, S. Brown, G. Donaldson, B. Harrington, H. Johnson, V. Johnston, S.
Jones, R.I.G. Morrison, M. Sallaberry, S. Skagen, and N. Warnock. 2002. Program
for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (PRISM), Version 0.7.
Shorebird conservation
plans
S. Brown,
C. Hickey, B. Harrington, R. Gill, Eds. The U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan,
2nd edition. Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, Manomet,
MA, 2001).
G.M. Donaldson, C. Hyslop, R.I.G.
Morrison, H.L. Dickson, I. Davidson, Eds. Canadian Shorebird Conservation Plan.
Canadian Wildlife Service Special Publication. Published by Authority of the
Minister of Environment, Canadian Wildlife Service. Minister of Public Works
and Government Services
VII Funding
Budget
|
|
Centre for Wildlife Ecology Annual Financial Report |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CWS Annual Chair Funding |
200,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Support for Doctoral Students |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PhD Grad Fellowships |
29,200 |
|
|
Heath, J; Morrissey, C; Nebel,
S; Love, O; Salvante, K |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dean of Grad Studies Travel Grants |
|
|
|
Guillermo Fernandez Aceves; Kristin Gorman |
1,400 |
|
|
Oliver Love, Katrina Salvante, Francois Vézina |
1,700 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
American Ornithologists |
2,376 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TAships for Ph.D. Students |
27,176 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Support for Masters Students |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grad Fellowships |
24,000 |
|
|
Ball, J; |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SFU TAships for M.Sc. Students |
25,954 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Travel Grants |
|
|
|
Canadian Wildlife Service: Pacific Seabird Group 2004 Conference |
3,463 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Support for Undergraduate Students |
|
|
|
NSERC Undergrad Research Award:
|
13,500 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Generated Research Funding |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
President's PhD. Research Stipend |
11,200 |
|
|
Fernandez Aceves, G; Morrissey,
C |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NSERC PGSB - Heath J; Jamieson S |
20,596 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Niehaus A |
6,800 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NSERC PGSA - Mathot, K |
17,500 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NSERC Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship: Malt, J |
5,250 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NSERC Northern Research Supplement: Bęty, J |
5,000 |
|
|
NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship: Bęty, J |
10,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
20,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Environment |
45,000 |
|
|
Cesh L, Charleton K, Mathot K, Middleton H, Shapiro J |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Canadian Wildlife Service |
800 |
|
|
Miscellaneous Research Expenses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ball J, Heath J |
Northern Scientific Training Program |
11,195 |
|
|
|
|
|
Fernandez G |
International Council for Canadian Studies |
13,200 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aquaculture |
|
|
Bendell-Young L |
NSERC Strategic Grant
"Towards a Sustainable |
151,000 |
|
|
Shellfish Aquaculture Industry" |
(2nd of 5 yrs) |
|
|
|
|
|
Esler D, Boyd S |
Canadian Wildlife Service:
Ecological interaction between |
23,000 |
|
|
shellfish aquaculture operations and |
(1st of 2 years) |
|
|
the foraging behaviour of Scoters in Baynes Sound, B.C.( Lewis, T) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Esler D |
Whispering Pines |
27,143 |
|
|
|
(1st of 3 years) |
|
|
|
|
|
Esler D |
Exxon |
fully reported in the last |
|
|
"Long Term Effects of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill on Demography of |
two fiscal years |
|
|
Harlequin Ducks and Sea Otters in |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Esler D |
US Geological Survey |
fully reported in the last |
|
|
"Evaluating Population Declines in Red Throated Loons" |
two fiscal years |
|
|
|
|
|
Esler D |
US Geological Survey
"Ecology of Greater Scaup" |
fully reported in the last |
|
|
|
two fiscal years |
|
|
|
|
|
Esler D |
US Geological Survey
"Common Eiders, Long Tailed Ducks" |
fully reported in the last |
|
|
|
two fiscal years |
|
|
|
|
|
Esler D |
BC Hydro Bridge Coastal Restoration Program |
71,550 |
|
|
Variation in Harlequin Duck Distribution and Productivity: |
(1st of 3 years) |
|
|
The Roles of Habitat, Competition, and Nutrient Acquisition" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Esler D |
Canadian Wildlife Service: Abundance and Distribution of Marine Birds |
10,000 |
|
|
on the West Coast of Vancouver Island |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marbled Murrelets |
|
|
Lank, DB |
Ministry of Forests: Identification of critical habitat and testing
methods |
96,560 |
|
|
of population assessment for breeding marbled murrelets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lank, DB |
O & C "Review of
Marbled Murrelets" |
19,800 |
|
|
|
|
|
Lank DB, Arcese P |
|
4,733 |
|
|
|
|
|
Lank DB, Bertram D |
Canadian Wildlife Service: |
3,569 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hipfner M |
Canadian Wildlife Service -
Helicopters |
6,668 |
|
|
|
|
|
Williams TD, |
Canadian Wildlife Service: Reproductive Biology and Habitat use |
9,000 |
|
|
by the Yellow-Breasted Chat in |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Williams TD, |
World Wildlife Fund |
8,000 |
|
|
and Habitat use by the Yellow-Breasted Chat in |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Williams TD, Elliott J |
Canadian Wildlife Service: "Ecotoxicology of halogenated |
10,000 |
|
|
organic contaminants in bald
eagles in the |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Williams TD, Elliott J |
Canadian Wildlife Service: "Zebra Finches" |
6,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Blue Heron Conservation Project - Kenyon, J |
|
|
Ydenberg RC, Smith B |
Water, Lands, Air Protection (WLAP), Population Research of |
8,000 |
|
Chatwin T |
Coastal Great Blue Heron Conservation Project |
|
|
Ydenberg RC, Smith B |
Canadian Wildlife Service: Great Blue Heron Conservation Concerns |
9,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Western Sandpipers |
|
|
Ydenberg RC, Baird P |
US Army Corps of Engineers:
Multinational Study of |
39,435 |
|
|
Neotropical Migrants: The Western Sandpiper as model. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ydenberg, RC |
SFU Discovery Parks Major Grant Preparation Administration Grant: WESA |
5,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Ydenberg RC |
SFU Discovery Parks Administration Grant |
5,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lank DB |
NSERC Individual Research Grant:
|
24,000 |
|
|
Sexual Selection and Genetic Polymorphism |
(1st of 4 yrs) |
|
|
|
|
|
Williams TD |
NSERC Individual Research Grant: |
43,000 |
|
|
"Physiology of
life-histories: egg size and number |
(2nd of 4 yrs) |
|
|
and costs of reproduction" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ydenberg RC |
NSERC Individual Research Grant - "Predation danger and |
51,000 |
|
|
the evolutionary ecology of
migrants and provisioners" |
(3rd of 4 yrs) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2003/2004 Generated Research
Funding |
797,999 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2003/2004 Funding Summary |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Student Support - Fellowships, TA Ships, Awards, SFU and external
sources |
128,769 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total 2003/2004 OTHER Generated Research Funding |
797,999 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
926,768 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Canadian Wildlife Service / Environment |
200,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All Funding Sources 2003/2004 |
1,126,768 |
Viii. Publications
This list reflects those publications produced since our last report
(publications that were “in press” or “submitted” for the last report are
included and have been updated). We
continue to publish very actively, with 19 publications in press and 13
submitted. Most of our publications
relate to the research carried out in the main CWE programs and most refer to
work carried out in the
A. Papers in Refereed Journals
In
press:
Bennett, K., T.D. Williams, J.E. Smits, M. Wayland, S.
Trudeau and L.I. Bendell-Young. In
press. Impact of oil sands based
wetlands on the growth of mallard (Anas platyrhychos) ducklings. Envir. Toxicol. Chem.
Dekker, D. and R.C. Ydenberg. In press.
Raptor predation on wintering dunlins in relation to the tidal
cycle. Condor
Fernandez, G., P.D. O'Hara and D.B. Lank. In press.
Tropical and subtropical Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri)
differ in life history strategies.
Ornit. Neotrop.
Hipfner, J.M., K. Charleston and W.E. Davies. In press.
Rates and consequences of relaying in Cassin's and Rhinoceros auklets
breeding in a seasonal environment. J.
Avian Biol.
Love, O.P., C.W. Breuner, F. Vézina and T.D.
Williams. In press. Mediation of a corticosterone-induced
reproductive conflict. Hormones and
Behavior
McFarlane Tranquilla, L., P.P.-W. Yen, R.W. Bradley, B.
Vanderkist, D.B. Lank, M. Drever, G. Kaiser, L. Lougheed and T.D.
Williams. In press. Do two Marbled Murrelets make a pair?
Breeding status and behaviour of Marbled Murrelet twosomes captured
at-sea. Wilson Bull. 115
Mulcahy, D.M., K.A. Burek and D. Esler. In press.
History of fabric collars from percutaneous antennas on intracoelomic
radio transmitters implanted in harlequin ducks. J. Avian Surg. Med.
O'Hara, P.D., G. Fernandez, F. Becerril, H. de la Cueva
and D.B. Lank. In press. Life history varies with migratory distance
in Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri).
J. Avian Biol.
Parker, N., E. Cam, D.B. Lank and F. Cooke. In press.
Post-fledging survival of juvenile Marbled Murrelets as determined by
radio-telemetry in
Peery, M.Z., S.R. Beissinger, S.H. Newman, E.B. Burkett
and T.D. Williams. In press. Applying the declining population paradigm:
diagnosing causes of low reproductive success in Marbled Murrelets. Conservation Biology
Peery, Z., S.R. Beissinger, S.H. Newman, B.H. Becker,
E.B. Burkett and T.D. Williams. In
press. Monitoring marbled murrelet
populations using inland surveys: implications from radio telemetry. Condor
Pomeroy, A.C. and R.W. Butler. In press.
Colour infrared photography is not a good predictor of macro
invertebrate abundance on mudflats used by shorebirds. Waterbirds
Schamel, D., D.M. Tracy and D.B. Lank. In press.
Male mate choice, male availability and egg production as limitations on
polyandry in the Red-necked Phalarope.
Anim. Behav.
Williams, T.D., W.O. Challenger, J.K. Christians, M.
Evanson, O. Love and F. Vézina. In
press. What causes the decrease in
hematocrit during egg production? Funct.
Ecol.
Ydenberg, R.C., R.W. Butler, D.B. Lank, B.D. Smith and J.
Ireland. In press. Western sandpipers alter migration tactics to
mitigate danger from recovering peregrine falcon populations. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B.
2004:
Bradley, R.W., F. Cooke, L.W. Lougheed and W.S.
Boyd. 2004. Inferring breeding success through radio
telemetry in the Marbled Murrelet. J.
Wildl. Manage. 68:318-331.
Evans Ogden, L.J., K.A. Hobson and D.B. Lank. 2004.
Blood isotopic (d13C and d15N) turnover and diet-tissue fractionation
factors in captive dunlin (Calidris alpina
Nebel, S., A. Cloutier and G.J. Thompson. 2004.
Molecular sexing of prey remains permits a test of sex-biased predation
in a wintering population of western sandpipers. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. (Suppl.) DOI
10.1098:rsbl.2004.0176.
Niehaus, A.C., D.R. Ruthfauff and B.J. McCaffery. 2004.
Response of predators to Western Sandpiper nest exclosures. Waterbirds 27:79-82.
Shepherd, P.C.F. and D.B. Lank. 2004.
Marine and agricultural habitat preferences of dunlin wintering in
Williams, T.D. and
Williams, T.D., A.S. Kitaysky and F. Vézina. 2004.
Individual variation in plasma estradiol-17B and androgen levels during
egg formation in the European starling Sturnus vulgaris: implications
for regulation of yolk steroids. Gen.
Comp. Endocrinol. 136:346-352.
Yen, P.P.W., F. Huettmann and F. Cooke. 2004.
A large-scale model for the at-sea distribution and abundance of Marbled
Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) during the breeding season in
coastal
2003:
Burns, J.G.
2003. Relationship of Calidris
sandpiper wing shape with relative fuel load and total migration distance. Auk 120:827-835.
de Freitas, B.
2003. Estimating juvenile
northern abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) abundance using artificial
habitats. J. Shellfish Res. 22:819-823.
Egeler, O., D. Seaman and T.D. Williams. 2003.
Influence of diet on fatty-acid composition of depot fat in Western
Sandpipers (Calidris mauri). Auk
120:337-345.
Gjerdrum, C., A.M.J. Vallee, C. Cassady St. Clair, D.F.
Bertram, J.L. Ryder and G.S. Blackburn.
2003. Tufted puffin reproduction
reveals ocean climate variability. Proc.
Nat. Acad. Sci. 100:9377-9382.
Lank, D.B., R.W. Butler, J. Ireland and R.C.
Ydenberg. 2003. Effects of predation danger on migratory
strategies of sandpipers. Oikos
103:303-319.
Lank, D.B. and R.C. Ydenberg. 2003.
Death and danger at migratory stopovers: problems with "predation
risk". J. Avian Biol. 34:225-228.
McFarlane Tranquilla, L., R. Bradley, N. Parker, D. Lank
and F. Cooke. 2003. Replacement laying in Marbled Murrelets. Marine Ornithol. 31:75-81.
McFarlane Tranquilla, L., F. Huettmann, C. Lougheed, L.W.
Lougheed, G. Kaiser and N. Parker.
2003. Sightings of vagrant
Pacific alcids in
McFarlane Tranquilla, L., T. Williams and F. Cooke. 2003.
Using vitellogenin to identify interannual variation in breeding
chronology of Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus). Auk 120:512-521.
Morbey, Y.E. and R.C. Ydenberg. 2003.
Timing games in the reproductive phenology of female Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus
spp.). Am. Nat. 161:284-298.
Nebel, S. and B.J. McCaffery. 2003.
Vocalisation activity of breeding shorebirds: documentation of its
seasonal decline and applications for bird surveys.
Öst, M. and A. Back.
2003. Spatial structure and
parental aggression in eider broods.
Anim. Behav. 66:1069-1075.
Öst, M., R. Ydenberg, K. Lindstrom and M. Kilpi. 2003.
Body condition and the grouping behaviour of brood-caring female common
eiders (Somateria mollissima).
Beh. Ecol. Sociobiol. 54:451-457.
Öst, M., R.C. Ydenberg, K. Lindstrom and M. Kilpi. 2003.
Condition and coalition formation by brood rearing common eider
females. Behav. Ecol. 14:311-317.
Peterson, C.H., S.D. Rice, J.W. Short, D. Esler, J.L.
Bodkin, B.A. Ballachey and D.B. Irons.
2003. Long-term ecosystem
response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Science 302:2082-2086.
Rodway, M.S., H.M. Regehr, J. Ashley, P.V. Clarkson, R.I.
Goudie, D.E. Hay, C.M. Smith and K.G. Wright.
2003. Aggregative response of
Harlequin Ducks to herring spawning in the
Rodway, M.S., H.M. Regehr and J.W. Chardine. 2003.
Status of the largest breeding concentration of Atlantic Puffins, Fratercula
arctica, in
Rodway, R.S., H.M. Regehr and F. Cooke. 2003.
Sex and age differences in distribution, abundance, and habitat
preferences of wintering Harlequin Ducks: implications for conservation and
estimating recruitment.
Salvante, K.G. and T.D. Williams. 2003. Effects
of corticosterone on the proportion of breeding females, reproductive output
and yolk precursor levels. Gen. Comp.
Endocrinol. 130:205-214.
Stein, R.W. and T.D. Williams. 2003.
Tissue damage precludes the use of the everted sleeve technique to measure
nutrient uptake in a small migratory shorebird, the Western Sandpiper (Calidris
mauri). Physiol. Biochem. Zool.
76:762-770.
Vézina, F., K.G. Salvante and T.D. Williams. 2003.
The metabolic cost of avian egg formation: Possible impact of yolk precursor
production? J. Exp. Biol. 206:4443-4451.
Vézina, F. and T.D. Williams. 2003.
Plasticity in body composition in breeding birds: what drives the
metabolic costs of egg production? Physiol.
Biochem. Zool. 76:716-730.
Wardrop, S.L. and R.C. Ydenberg. 2003.
Date and parental quality effects in the seasonal decline in
reproductive performance of the Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor:
interpreting results in light of potential experimental bias. Ibis 145:439-447.
Williams, T.D. and J.C. Christians. 2003.
Experimental dissociation of the effects of diet, age and breeding
experience on primary reproductive effort in zebra finches Taeniopygia
guttata. J. Avian Biol. 34:379-386.
Williams, T.D. and M. Miller. 2003.
Individual and resource-dependent variation in ability to lay
supranormal clutches in response to egg removal. Auk 120:481-489.
Zharikov, Y. and G.A. Skilleter. 2003.
Depletion of benthic invertebrates by bar-tailed godwits Limosa
lapponica in a subtropical estuary.
Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 254:151-162.
Zharikov, Y. and G.A. Skilleter. 2003.
Slaves to their stomachs: digestive limitations to the pre-migratory
increase in energy intake rate in non-breeding eastern curlews Numenius
madagascariensis. Physiol. Biochem.
Zool. 76:704-715.
B. Papers submitted to refereed journals
Evans Ogden, L.J., K.A. Hobson and D.B. Lank. Submitted.
Using stable isotope analysis to establish the contribution of
agricultural fields to the diet of wintering shorebirds. J. Anim. Ecol.
Gurd, D.B.
Submitted. Ecomorphology of
dabbling ducks: what are the trade-offs and predictions? Oikos
Lozano, G.A. and D.B. Lank. Submitted.
Immunocompetence and testosterone-dependent condition traits in male
ruffs (Philomachus pugnax). Anim.
Biol.
McFarlane Tranquilla,
Nebel, S.
Submitted. Intraspecific feeding
niche divergence and a latitudinal cline in sex ratio in a migratory
shorebird. Oikos
Nebel, S. and G. Fernandez. Submitted.
Latitudinal cline in sex ratio and bill length in non-breeding least
sandpipers. Condor
O'Hara, P.D., G. Fernandez, B. Haase, H. de la Cueva and
D.B. Lank. Submitted. Differential migration of Western Sandpipers
(Calidris mauri) with respect to body size and wing length. Auk
Pomeroy, A.C. and R.W. Butler. Submitted.
The usefulness of colour infrared photography to estimate primary
productivity of intertidal mudflats used by shorebirds. Waterbirds
Schamel, D., D.M. Tracy, D.B. Lank and D.F.
Westneat. Submitted. Copulation strategies and extra-pair
fertilization rates in the sex-role reversed, socially polyandrous Red-necked
Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus.
Beh. Ecol. Sociobiol.
C. Other Publications
Elner, R.W. and D. Seaman. 2003.
Calidrid conservation: unrequired needs.
Wader Study Group Bulletin 100: 30-34.
Nebel, S. and D.B. Lank.
2003. Cross-seasonal and
cross-disciplinary interactions: synergy from studying the year-round physiology,
behaviour, and population biology of migratory shorebirds. Wader Study Group Bulletin 100:118-121.
Ydenberg, R.C. and D.B. Lank. 2003.
Wader migration on the changing predator landscape. Wader Study Group Bulletin.
D. Theses
Nebel, S. 2003. Ecological factors underlying the
non-breeding distribution of western sandpipers. Ph.D.,
Niehaus, A.C.
2003. Ecology of migratory timing
by southbound male and female western sandpipers (Calidris mauri). MSc,
Regehr, H.M.
2003. Movement patterns and
population structure of Harlequin Ducks wintering in the
Rodway, M.S.
2003. Timing of pairing in
Harlequin Ducks: interaction of spacing behaviour, time budgets and the influx
of Herring spawn. Ph.D.,
Seaman, D.A.
2003. Landscape physiology:
plasma metabolites, fattening rates and habitat quality in migratory western
sandpipers. MSc,