Lapland Longspur Calcarius Lapponicus Research Articles

Historical avifaunal change and current effects of hiking and road use on avian occupancy in a high‐latitude tundra ecosystem

Tourism is increasing in tundra ecosystems across the world, yet its influence on bird communities and its interaction with other drivers of change is poorly known. To help fill this gap, we paired an interview‐based survey of 11 people with local knowledge of Denali National Park and Preserve, with an occupancy study of 15 bird species in relation to road proximity, traffic volume and hiking. Interviewees noted declines in American Golden PloverPluvialis dominica, Arctic TernSterna paradisaea, Long‐tailed JaegerStercorarius longicaudusand Northern WheatearOenanthe oenantheover the past five decades. Our occupancy study confirmed these reports as we detected no Arctic Terns, few Northern Wheatears, and found both plovers and jaegers to be sensitive to hiking. Occupancy of tundra and shrub habitats by American Golden Plover, American Tree SparrowSpizelloides arborea, Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus, Long‐tailed Jaeger and Willow PtarmiganLagopus lagopusdeclined with increasing hiking intensity. We found that occupancy probability of tundra by Horned LarkEremophia alpestrisincreased, while that of the shrub‐tolerant Wilson’s WarblerCardellina pusilladecreased, with distance from the park road. Detection of species varied based on survey length, noise, start time, presence of a trail and date. The knowledge gained from this study reveals a loss in avian diversity over the past few decades that has the potential to cause a shifted baseline syndrome, and ongoing threats of hiking to sensitive tundra‐breeding birds. Park managers should seek to balance human recreation with the needs of sensitive tundra‐breeding birds to further protect species of conservation concern. This may be done by not building new trails in tundra, limiting access to tundra hiking areas during the early breeding season, reducing the spatial extent of hiking by improving maintained trails and designating a single, maintained path in areas with multiple unofficial hiking tracks, educating tourists about tundra‐nesting birds and closing especially important nesting areas to the public.

Book Review

Book Review

Late‐season snowfall is associated with decreased offspring survival in two migratory arctic‐breeding songbird species

While the effect of weather on reproduction has been studied for many years in avian taxa, the rapid pace of climate change in arctic regions has added urgency to this question by changing the weather conditions species experience during breeding. Given this, it is important to understand how factors such as temperature, rain, snowfall, and wind affect reproduction both directly and indirectly (e.g. through their effects on food availability). In this study, we ask how weather factors and food availability influence daily survival rates of clutches in two arctic‐breeding migratory songbirds: the Lapland longspur Calcarius lapponicus, a circumpolar breeder, and Gambel's white‐crowned sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii, which breeds in shrubby habitats across tundra, boreal and continental climates. To do this, we monitored clutch survival in these two species from egg‐lay through fledge at field sites located near Toolik Field Station (North Slope, Alaska) across 5 yr (2012–2016). Our results indicate that snowfall and cold temperatures decreased offspring survival rates in both species; although Lapland longspurs were more susceptible to snowfall. Food availability, quantified by pitfall sampling and sweep‐net sampling methods, had minimal effects on offspring survival. Some climate models predict increased precipitation for the Arctic with global warming, and in the Toolik region, total snow accumulation may be increasing. Placed in this context, our results suggest that changes in snow storms with climate change could have substantial consequences for reproduction in migratory songbirds breeding in the North American Arctic.

Inventory of Lowland-Breeding Birds on the Alaska Peninsula

AbstractWe conducted the first systematic inventory of birds in the lowlands (areas ≤100 m above sea level) of the Alaska Peninsula during summers of 2004–2007 to determine their breeding distributions and habitat associations in this remote region. Using a stratified random survey design, we allocated sample plots by elevation and land cover with a preference for wetland cover types used by shorebirds, a group of particular interest to land managers. We surveyed birds during 10-min counts at 792 points across 52, 5 km × 5 km sample plots distributed from south of the Naknek River (58.70°N,157.00°W) to north of Port Moller (56.00°N,160.52°W). We detected 95 bird species including 19 species of shorebirds and 34 species (36% of total) considered at the time to be of conservation concern for the land managers in the region. The most numerous shorebirds on point counts were dunlin Calidris alpina, short-billed dowitcher Limnodromus griseus, and Wilson's snipe Gallinago delicata. We found the breeding-season endemic marbled godwit Limosa fedoa beringiae at 20 plots within a 3,000-km2 area from north of Ugashik Bay to just north of Port Heiden and east to the headwaters of the Dog Salmon and Ugashik rivers. The most abundant passerines on point counts were American tree sparrow Spizelloides arborea, Lapland longspur Calcarius lapponicus, and savannah sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis. Sandhill crane Antigone canadensis, glaucous-winged gull Larus glaucescens, and greater scaup Aythya marila were also relatively abundant. We categorized habitat associations for 30 common species and found that lowland herbaceous vegetation supported wetland-focused species including sandhill crane, marbled godwit, short-billed dowitcher, and dunlin; whereas, dwarf shrub-ericaceous vegetation supported tundra-associated species such as willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus, rock sandpiper Calidris ptilocnemis, and American pipit Anthus rubescens. Tall shrub vegetation was important to several species of warblers and sparrows, as well as one species of shorebird (greater yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca). We found that point counts augmented with incidental observations provided an almost complete inventory of lowland-breeding species on the study area. These data form a baseline to monitor any future changes in bird distribution and abundance on the Alaska Peninsula.

Distribution and behaviour of passerines around Peregrine Falco peregrinus eyries in western Greenland

This paper describes the distribution and behaviour of passerine birds within 1 km of Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus eyries in western Greenland. Passerine populations were censused in 1983 around six cliffs occupied by nesting Peregrines and at six sites on the open tundra, and in 1984 at two unoccupied sites suitable for Peregrine nesting.Four passerine species accounted for over 90% of birds seen. Within 400 m of Peregrine occupied cliffs, three species, Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus. Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe, and Common Redpoll Carduelisflammea, were found in lower than average abundance while the fourth, Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis, was found in increased abundance. Our indirect tests suggest that Peregrine presence, rather than direct predation, was responsible for the distributions of the first three species. The Snow Bunting, however, behaviourally adapts to Peregrine presence in order to exploit nesting habitat available at the cliff base.These results contrast strongly with those reported by other Arctic workers, where increased abundances of potential prey were observed in close proximity to nesting Peregrines.