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SITE NAME
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Canning River Delta, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, USA
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| Contact details
(phone/fax//e-mail//address): |
| (907) 456-0303/(907) 456-0428(fax) // Steve_Kendall@fws.gov // U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 101 12th Ave., Room 236, Fairbanks, AK 99708, USA
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PROJECT DETAILS |
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Project name:
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Nest Survival of Tundra Nesting Birds Relative to Human Development on Alaska's Arctic Costal Plain
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Start of survey:
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End
of survey: |
Team
size: |
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1.06
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22.07
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6
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WEATHER
CONDITIONS
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| Season phenology: |
average
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Weather conditions: |
| We had very warm weather in July. We also had a few days of smoke from a record year of fires in the boreal forests of the interior of Alaska and thunderstorms on 2 occasions (both of these phenomena a very rare occurrences on the Arctic Coastal Plain).
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| Date of ice-break on
rivers: |
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| Date of final loss of
snow: |
10.06
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BIOTIC
CONDITIONS
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| Rodents abundance evaluation: |
low
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Breeding conditions:
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| In 2004, we located and monitored 148 of nests of 12 species. The most abundant shorebird species were: pectoral sandpiper (16.0 nests/sq.km), semipalmated sandpiper (14.0 nests/sq.km) and red-necked phalarope (7.5 nests/sq.km). Pectoral sandpiper's densities were low in 2002, but have been similar in 2003 and 2004. Red Phalaropes were abundant in 2002, but occurred in low densities in 2003 and 2004. Mayfield estimate of nest success ranged from 0.574-0.955 in shorebirds, and was 0.299 in Lapland Bunting. For most species in 2004 the nest success rates were between the lower rates found in 2002 and the higher rates found in 2003. However, success rates were higher than in previous years for semipalmated sandpipers (0.955) and red-necked phalaropes (0.638). Nests of buff-breasted sandpipers, Baird's sandpiper and long-billed dowitchers were found at the Canning River Delta for the first time on this project. Predator abundance was similar to the previous year, except snowy owls were not present in 2004.
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Rodent dynamics:
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| Small mammal populations appeared to be lower in 2004 than 2003.
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Rodent species recorded:
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| Latin | Abundance |
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| Lemmus trimucronatus | rare |
| Dicrostonyx torquatus | rare |
| Microtus oeconomus | rare |
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Summary
of fauna studies: |
Since 2002, several partners have been investigating the survival and fate of shorebird nests in relation to human infrastructure on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska. This region is an important breeding area for several bird species, some of which have experienced recent population declines. Anthropogenic factors on the breeding grounds may have contributed to these declines, particularly through enhancement of predator populations. Availability of human food sources and man-made structures for use as nest, den, or surveillance sites may influence predator populations. Increased numbers of predators may have deleterious consequences for productivity of breeding birds via increased predation on eggs and young. The dynamics of this predator-prey system are poorly understood, however. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge joined several partners in 2002 in a multi-year, multi-site study of nest survival and predation of tundra-nesting birds on the Arctic Coastal Plain in an effort to determine anthropogenic influences on this relationship.
In 2004 at the Canning River Delta we conducted our third season of field data collection.
We have data from >1,700 nests from all of the sites and years combined, including >1,100 shorebird nests. Over the winter of 2004/2005 we will pool these data for analysis by an independent statistician. We plan to use a spatially adjusted proportional hazards survival model with covariates for distance to and density of infrastructure, predator abundance, nest site habitat, and climate conditions to compare nest survival relative to human developed areas. The results of the analysis will determine whether we conclude the study or continue with more field data collection.
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