Habitat correlates of wintering sea duck occurrence in southeast Alaska
Southeast Alaska provides non-breeding habitat for >300,000 sea ducks, however little is known about habitat features that may influence their distribution within this area.
Southeast Alaska provides non-breeding habitat for >300,000 sea ducks, however little is known about habitat features that may influence their distribution within this area.
Highlights
• OH-PBDEs, MeO-PBDEs and PBDEs in blue mussel and long-tailed duck were measured.
• OH- and MeO-PBDE levels were higher in birds sampled the Baltic than in the Arctic.
• OH- and MeO-PBDE levels were higher in mussels in the Baltic Sea than in the Arctic.
• Levels of OH-PBDEs in Baltic blue mussels were significantly higher in summer.
PRIORITIES 2015–2017 Priorities set out in this Implementation Plan are designed to help meet the SDJV mission,
which is to “...promote the conservation of all North American sea ducks through partnerships by providing greater
knowledge and understanding for effective management.”
The 2014-2018strategic plan reflects a significant shift in focus for the SDJV, from a broad-based science program
to a more focused program intended to provide information most needed by managers to make informed
Numbers of scoters (black, surf, and white-winged) and long-tailed ducks wintering in the Maritime provinces of Canada and the Chesapeake Bay (MD and VA, USA) have noticeably declined in recent years. Common goldeneye populations have also declined. Changes in the location of these seaduck populations have also been observed and have given managers new concerns. Many factors related to human population increases have been implicated in causing changes in the distribution and abundance of seaducks.
The mission of the Sea Duck Joint Venture(SDJV)is to promote the conservation of North American sea ducks through partnerships by providing greater knowledge
and understanding for effective management. SDJV focuses on the 15 species of North American sea ducks on their coastal water habitat for migration and wintering as well as boreal forest and tundra habitat for nesting. Since the JV’s founding in 1998, the four pillars of its work have included science, communications, funding, and conservation.
Although monitoring data for sea ducks (Tribe Mergini) are limited, current evidence suggests that four of the most common species wintering along the eastern coast of the United States—long-tailed duck Clangula hyemalis, white-winged scoter Melanitta fusca, surf scoter Melanitta perspicillata, and black scoter Melanitta americana—may be declining, while the status of American common eider Somateria mollissima dresseri is uncertain.
The world distribution of Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) consists of three
separate populations: 150 000 to 200 000 birds in western North America (Eadie et al 2000),
a resident population of 2000 in Iceland (Gardarsson 1978), and approximately 4500 birds in
eastern North America (Savard and Dupuis 1999; Robert et al 2000a). The breeding range is
discontinuous in North America and is largely restricted to northwestern North America, where
more than 90% of the world’s population breeds (del Hoyo et al 1992). Little is known of the
The U.S. Department of Interior investigated potential disturbance effects of human
activities on the distribution and density of Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis), and eiders
(Somateria spp.) in lagoons and offshore waters of the south-central Beaufort Sea. The primary
objectives of this study were to compare Long-tailed Duck population trends between
“industrial” and “control” areas, describe the relationship between bird density and human activities, and document distribution patterns of eiders and other marine birds in the south-central
Knowledge of ecological factors that influence birth, death, immigration, and emigration provide
insight into natural selection and population dynamics. Populations of Pacific common eiders
(Somateria mollissima v-nigrum) on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) in western Alaska declined by
50-90% from 1957 to 1992 and then stabilized at reduced numbers from the early 1990’s to the
present. This study investigates the primary underlying processes affecting population dynamics of
We estimated the summer and winter abundance of marine birds in Prince William
Sound, Alaska, following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, examined changes in population size
between pre-spill and post-spill surveys, and compared pre- to post-oil spill population trends in
the oiled zone of the Sound relative to trends in the unoiled zone.
Ninety-nine species of birds were observed on surveys. Not all species were equally vulnerable to
the oil spill because of the seasonal and geographic distribution. Estimated populations of 15 to