Field Marks of a Celebration: Roger Tory Peterson's Centennial Birthday
J. Dunlap, C.S. Robbins
2008, Audubon Naturalist News (34) 4-6
A red letter day in my life was April 27, 1934, the day I first met Roger. A birding friend, Elisha Atkins, had invited Clinton Reynolds and me to dinner to meet a famous ornithologist. We would all be going on a field trip to Newburyport on the...
Management concerns about known and potential impacts of lead use in shooting and in fishing activities
C.I. Goddard, N.J. Leonard, D.L. Stang, P.J. Wingate, Barnett A. Rattner, J. C. Franson, S.R. Sheffield
2008, Fisheries (33) 228-236
We present a summary of the technical review, jointly requested by the American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society, addressing the hazards to wildlife resulting from lead objects or fragments introduced into aquatic and terrestrial environments from the use of ammunition and fishing tackle. Impacts from lead are well documented...
Endocrine effects of the herbicide linuron on the American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
K.M. Sughrue, M.C. Brittingham, J.B. French
2008, The Auk (125) 411-419
Certain contaminants alter normal physiological function, morphology, and behavior of exposed organisms through an endocrine mechanism. We evaluated how the herbicide linuron, an endocrine-active compound, affects physiological parameters and secondary sex characteristics of the American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis). When administered at relatively low doses (control, 1.0, 4.0, and 16.0 μg...
Annual recapture and survival rates of two non-breeding adult populations of Roseate Terns Stema dougallii captured on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and estimates of their population sizes
P. O’Neill, C.D.T. Minton, I.C.T. Nisbet, J.E. Hines
2008, Waterbirds (31) 338-345
Capture-recapture data from two disparate breeding populations of Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) captured together as non-breeding individuals from 2002 to 2007 in the southern Great Barrier Reef. Australia were analyzed for both survival rate and recapture rate. The average annual survival rate for the birds from the Asian...
Anatomy of a bottleneck: diagnosing factors limiting population growth in the Puerto Rican parrot
S.R. Beissenger, J.M. Wunderle Jr., J.M. Meyers, B.-E. Saether, S. Engen
2008, Ecological Monographs (78) 185-203
The relative importance of genetic, demographic, environmental, and catastrophic processes that maintain population bottlenecks has received little consideration. We evaluate the role of these factors in maintaining the Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata) in a prolonged bottleneck from 1973 through 2000 despite intensive conservation efforts. We first conduct...
Importance of sampling design and analysis in animal population studies: a comment on Sergio et al
M. Kery, J. Andrew Royle, Hans Schmid
2008, Journal of Applied Ecology (45) 981-986
1. The use of predators as indicators and umbrellas in conservation has been criticized. In the Trentino region, Sergio et al. (2006; hereafter SEA) counted almost twice as many bird species in quadrats located in raptor territories than in controls. However, SEA detected astonishingly few species. We...
Migration of Florida sub-adult Bald Eagles
E.K. Mojica, J.M. Meyers, B.A. Millsap, K.L. Haley
2008, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (120) 304-310
We used satellite telemetry locations accurate within 1 km to identify migration routes and stopover sites of 54 migratory sub-adult Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) hatched in Florida from 1997 to 2001. We measured number of days traveled during migration, path of migration, stopover time and locations, and distance traveled...
Mercury and other element exposure to tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) nesting on Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota
T. W. Custer, Christine M. Custer, K. M. Johnson, D. J. Hoffman
2008, Environmental Pollution (155) 217-226
Elevated mercury concentrations in water were reported in the prairie wetlands at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, ND. In order to determine whether wildlife associated with these wetlands was exposed to and then accumulated higher mercury concentrations than wildlife living near more permanent wetlands (e.g. lakes), tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)...
Visual implant elastomer mark retention through metamorphosis in amphibian larvae
Evan H. Campbell Grant
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 1247-1252
Questions in population ecology require the study of marked animals, and marks are assumed to be permanent and not overlooked by observers. I evaluated retention through metamorphosis of visual implant elastomer marks in larval salamanders and frogs and assessed error in observer identification of these marks. I found 1) individual...
Potential environmental contaminant risks to avian species at important bird areas in the northeastern United States
Barnett A. Rattner, B.K. Ackerson
2008, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (4) 344-357
Environmental contaminants can have profound effects on birds, acting from the molecular through population levels of biological organization. An analysis of potential contaminant threats was undertaken at 52 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) within the northeastern Atlantic coast drainage. Using geographic information system methodology, data layers describing or integrating...
A hierarchical model for spatial capture-recapture data
J. Andrew Royle, K.V. Young
2008, Ecology (89) 2281-2289
Estimating density is a fundamental objective of many animal population studies. Application of methods for estimating population size from ostensibly closed populations is widespread, but ineffective for estimating absolute density because most populations are subject to short-term movements or so-called temporary emigration. This phenomenon invalidates the resulting estimates...
Evaluation of specimen preservatives for DNA analyses of bees
M. Frampton, Sam Droege, T. Conrad, S. Prager, M.H. Richards
2008, Journal of Hymenoptera Research (17) 195-200
Large-scale insect collecting efforts that are facilitated by the use of pan traps result in large numbers of specimens being collected. Storage of these specimens can be problematic if space and equipment are limited. In this study, we investigated the effects of various preservatives (alcohol solutions and DMSO)...
Effects of human activity of breeding American Oystercatchers, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, USA
J. B. Sabine, J.M. Meyers, C. T. Moore, Sara H. Schweitzer
2008, Waterbirds (31) 70-82
Abstract.-Increased human use of coastal areas threatens the United States population of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus), a species of special concern. Biologists often attribute its low numbers and reproductive success to human disturbance, but the mechanism by which human presence reduces reproductive success is not well understood. During...
Element patterns in feathers of nestling Black-Crowned Night-Herons, Nycticorax nycticorax L., from four colonies in Delaware, Maryland, and Minnesota
Thomas W. Custer, Nancy H. Golden, Barnett A. Rattner
2008, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (81) 147-151
The pattern of elements in nestling black-crowned night-heron feathers from a rural Minnesota colony differed from colonies in industrialized regions of Maryland and Delaware. Except for chromium, however, the differences did not reflect the elements associated with waters and sediments of the Maryland and Delaware colonies. Therefore, elements...
Long-term trends in breeding birds in an old-growth Adirondack forest and the surrounding region
S.A. McNulty, Sam Droege, R.D. Masters
2008, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (120) 153-158
Breeding bird populations were sampled between 1954 and 1963, and 1990 and 2000 in an old-growth forest, the Natural Area of Huntington Wildlife Forest (HWF), in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Trends were compared with data from regional North American Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) and from a forest...
The evolution of wildlife conservation: The science that supported the conservation movement
Matthew C. Perry
2008, INformation 8-11
Sediment ingestion rates in waterfowl (Anatidae) and their use in environmental risk assessment
W. Nelson Beyer, Matthew C. Perry, Peter C. Osenton
2008, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (4) 246-251
When waterfowl (Anatidae) ingest sediment as they feed, they are exposed to the environmental contaminants in those sediments. The rate of ingestion may be key to assessing environmental risk. Rates of sediment ingestion were estimated as from <2% to 22% in 16 species of waterfowl collected in the northeastern United...
Effect of climate fluctuations on long-term vegetation dynamics in Carolina bay wetlands
C.L. Stroh, D. De Steven, G.R. Guntenspergen
2008, Wetlands (28) 17-27
Carolina bays and similar depression wetlands of the U.S. Southeastern Coastal Plain have hydrologic regimes that are driven primarily by rainfall. Therefore, climate fluctuations such as drought cycles have the potential to shape long-term vegetation dynamics. Models suggest two potential long-term responses to hydrologic fluctuations, either cyclic change...
Concentrations of metals in blood and feathers of nestling ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) in Chesapeake and Delaware Bays
Barnett A. Rattner, N. H. Golden, P. C. Toschik, P. C. McGowan, T. W. Custer
2008, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (54) 114-122
In 2000, 2001, and 2002, blood and feather samples were collected from 40–45-day-old nestling ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) from Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay and River. Concentrations of 18 metals, metalloids, and other elements were determined in these samples by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy, and Hg concentrations were measured by cold...
Estimation and correction of visibility bias in aerial surveys of wintering ducks
A.T. Pearse, P.D. Gerard, S.J. Dinsmore, R.M. Kaminski, K. J. Reinecke
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 808-813
Incomplete detection of all individuals leading to negative bias in abundance estimates is a pervasive source of error in aerial surveys of wildlife, and correcting that bias is a critical step in improving surveys. We conducted experiments using duck decoys as surrogates for live ducks to estimate bias associated...
Modeling individual effects in the Cormack-Jolly-Seber Model: A state-space formulation
J. Andrew Royle
2008, Biometrics (64) 364-370
In population and evolutionary biology, there exists considerable interest in individual heterogeneity in parameters of demographic models for open populations. However, flexible and practical solutions to the development of such models have proven to be elusive. In this article, I provide a state-space formulation of open population capture-recapture...
Combining Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count data to evaluate seasonal components of population change in Northern Bobwhite
W.A. Link, J.R. Sauer, D.K. Niven
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 44-51
Annual surveys of wildlife populations provide information about annual rates of change in populations but provide no information about when such changes occur. However, by combining data from 2 annual surveys, conducted in different parts of the year, seasonal components of population change can be estimated. We describe a hierarchical...
The Overmyer mastodon (Mammut americanum) from Fulton County, Indiana
Neal Woodman, J. W. Branstrator
2008, American Midland Naturalist (159) 125-146
In June 1978 the partial skeleton of an American mastodon, Mammut americanum, was salvaged from a drainage ditch in Fulton County, north-central Indiana. The remains were recovered mostly from ca. 170–260 cm below the current land surface in marl overlain by peat and peaty marl. The stratigraphy of the site...
Hierarchical Bayes estimation of species richness and occupancy in spatially replicated surveys
M. Kery, J. Andrew Royle
2008, Journal of Applied Ecology (45) 589-598
1. Species richness is the most widely used biodiversity metric, but cannot be observed directly as, typically, some species are overlooked. Imperfect detectability must therefore be accounted for to obtain unbiased species-richness estimates. When richness is assessed at multiple sites, two approaches can be used to estimate species...
Efficient implementation of the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, with application to the Cormack?Jolly?Seber model
W.A. Link, R. J. Barker
2008, Environmental and Ecological Statistics (15) 79-87
Judicious choice of candidate generating distributions improves efficiency of the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. In Bayesian applications, it is sometimes possible to identify an approximation to the target posterior distribution; this approximate posterior distribution is a good choice for candidate generation. These observations are applied to analysis of the Cormack?Jolly?Seber...
