Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Using Migration Monitoring Data To Assess Bird Population Status And Behavior In A Changing Environment, Evan M. Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Across the world, researchers use migration banding stations to document bird migration and study the phenomenon. In this dissertation, I focus on ways of analyzing bird migration banding data and the utility migrating birds as indicators of ecosystem health that make these monitoring efforts more useful to answering ecological questions and managing migratory species. In Chapter 1, we provide background on hierarchical modeling and an overview of our findings. In Chapter 2, we developed and validated new methods to estimate daily changes in migratory population size while controlling for changes in detectability due to environmental conditions. In Chapter 3, this …

Collaborative Research: Globec Panregional Synthesis: Pacific Ocean Boundary Ecosystems: Response To Natural And Anthropogenic Climate Forcing, Andrew C. Thomas

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This is a Collaborative project POBEX (www.POBEX.org) under the the overall direction of M. DiLorenzo, GaTech. A separate FINAL report was submitted by DiLorenzo for the overall project in 2013. Using US and international observational datasets combined with physical and biological models, this project investigates the mechanisms of climate-related variability in three Pacific boundary ecosystems: Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and California Current System (CCS) referred to as the Northeast Pacific (NEP), the Humboldt or Peru-Chile Current System (PCCS), and the Kuroshio-Oyashio Extension (KOE) region. The research goals of this project can be summarized as follows:

(1) Assess to what extent, …

Rapid: Effect Of A Very Low Nao Event On The Abundance Of The Lipid-Rich Planktonic Copepod, Calanus Finmarchicus, In The Gulf Of Maine, Jeffrey Runge

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Test the hypothesis that a distinctly lower abundance of the planktonic copepod, Calanus finmarchicus in the Gulf of Maine follows the occurrence of very negative winter phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). In 2010, the station-based winter NAO index was -4.64, even more intense than the negative (-3.78) 1996 NAO winter index. If a two-year lagged relationship between very negative NAO winter indices and Calanus abundance in the Gulf of Maine is valid, cooler water from the Labrador Sea should replace Atlantic Temperate Slope Water in the GoM in 2012, inducing a major climatic ecosystem event on the New …

Rapid: Natural Laboratories In The Chilean Fjords: Studying Reproduction And Development In Emergent Deep-Sea Corals, Rhian G. Waller

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

The northern Patagonian fjords lie on the interface between the high Andes Mountains in the east and the South Pacific Ocean, formed thousands of years ago through erosive glacial activity and tectonic sinking (Borgel, 1970). Around 12,000 years ago the icefields in the Chiloé Interior Sea began to open, leaving behind over 15,000km2 of fjords, channels and gulfs (Clapperton, 1994). The waters within the fjords are influenced by strong tides, large volumes of freshwater runoff, and upwelling of deep-ocean waters as well as steep climatic gradients from north to south (observed in parameters such as temperature, wind intensity and precipitation; …

Flocculation, Optics And Turbulence In The Community Sediment Transport Model System: Application Of Oasis Results, Emmanuel Boss

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

The goal of this research is to develop greater understanding of the how the flocculation of fine-grained sediment responds to turbulent stresses and how this packaging of sediment affects optical and acoustical properties in the water column. Achieving these goals will improve the skill of sediment transport models and hence prediction of underwater visibility.

Estimating Particle Size In The Ocean From High-Frequency Variability In In-Situ Optics, Mary Jane Perry

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

During this 3-year NESSF fellowship and seven-month no-cost extension, I published two papers as first author (Briggs et al. 2011; Briggs et al. 2013) and two papers as a co-author (Alkire et al. 2012; Cetinic et al. 2012). I am also co-author on one submitted paper and have worked on five additional papers that are in preparation (two as first author). I have given talks at four international oceanographic conferences: The 2012 and 2014 Ocean Sciences Meetings in Salt Lake City and Honolulu, the 2012 Ocean Optics meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, and the 2013 Liege Colloquium in Liege, Belgium. I …

The Effects Of Flooding On The Microbial Communities Of Sparrow Eggs In A Temperate Maine Salt Marsh, Mattie Paradise

Honors College

Microbial infection has been shown to reduce hatching success for the eggs of tropical birds. In these ecosystems, humidity and temperature encourage bacterial growth and the transport of microbes through the pores of the egg shell. A single study in a temperate ecosystem found no noticeable change of microbial communities during the length of the incubation cycle, and thus no increased risk of microbial infection by the time of hatching. This study, however, took place in the arid Mediterranean type climate of California, a locale that likely diminishes the abilities of microbial communities to colonize and grow on egg surfaces. …

Effect Of Forest Vegetation On Nest-Site Selection By Spruce Grouse Across Two Spatial Scales, Nathaniel Scott Parkhill

Honors College

The spruce grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) is a gallinaceous bird that is threatened or endangered throughout much of the southeastern limit of its range. Generally associated with short-needled conifer forests like those characteristic of northern Maine, this species may be particularly sensitive to recent changes in timber harvesting practices. I examined nest-site selection to better understand spruce grouse habitat associations in northern Maine. In the summer of 2013, I located the nests of 12 female spruce grouse in commercially-managed forests of north-central Maine. I measured vegetation characteristics at nests and at sampling points 30 meters from nests, as well …

A Preliminary Examination Of The Effects Of Local Precipitation On Beach Water Quality At 3 Coastal Beaches In Maine, M. Sims, K Kaczor

Maine Sea Grant Publications

Stormwater runoff can negatively impact recreational water quality. When rain falls on the land, the water washes over the surface picking up bacterial pollutants from malfunctioning septic systems, wildlife, pet waste, etc. and are transported to the coastal surf-zone by runoff directly to the beach or via freshwater inputs such as rivers, streams and storm drains. The lag time (24-30 hrs) in obtaining fecal indicator bacteria results may pose a public health risk; therefore, some states have implemented an automatic precautionary rainfall advisory system where particularly high risk beaches are closed when rainfall exceeds predetermined levels which can vary widely …