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Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences

Modeling Habitat Associations For The Common Loon (Gavia Immer) At Multiple Scales In Northeastern North America, Anne Kuhn, Jane Copeland, John Cooley, Harry Vogel, Kate Taylor, Diane Nacci, Peter V. August Jan 2011

Modeling Habitat Associations For The Common Loon (Gavia Immer) At Multiple Scales In Northeastern North America, Anne Kuhn, Jane Copeland, John Cooley, Harry Vogel, Kate Taylor, Diane Nacci, Peter V. August

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Common Loon (Gavia immer) is considered an emblematic and ecologically important example of aquatic-dependent wildlife in North America. The northern breeding range of Common Loon has contracted over the last century as a result of habitat degradation from human disturbance and lakeshore development. We focused on the state of New Hampshire, USA, where a long-term monitoring program conducted by the Loon Preservation Committee has been collecting biological data on Common Loon since 1976. The Common Loon population in New Hampshire is distributed throughout the state across a wide range of lake-specific habitats, water quality conditions, and levels of …


Spatial And Temporal Variation In Otolith Chemistry For Tautog (Tautoga Onitis) In Narragansett Bay And Rhode Island Coastal Ponds, Ivan Mateo, Edward G. Durbin, David A. Bengtson, Richard Kingsley, Peter K. Swart, Daisy Durant Jan 2010

Spatial And Temporal Variation In Otolith Chemistry For Tautog (Tautoga Onitis) In Narragansett Bay And Rhode Island Coastal Ponds, Ivan Mateo, Edward G. Durbin, David A. Bengtson, Richard Kingsley, Peter K. Swart, Daisy Durant

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

The elemental composition of otoliths may provide valuable information for establishing connectivity between fish nursery grounds and adult fish populations. Concentrations of Rb, Mg, Ca, Mn, Sr, Na, K, Sr, Pb, and Ba were determined by using solution-based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in otoliths of young-of-the year tautog (Tautoga onitis) captured in nursery areas along the Rhode Island coast during two consecutive years. Stable oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotopic ratios in young-of-the year otoliths were also analyzed with isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Chemical signatures differed significantly among the distinct nurseries within Narragansett …


Importance Of Early Successional Forest For Wildlife In Southern New England, Amy Wynia May 2007

Importance Of Early Successional Forest For Wildlife In Southern New England, Amy Wynia

Senior Honors Projects

Many bird species that require early successional forest are declining in the Northeast U.S. because such habitat is relatively rare and when they inhabit the more common mature forests or suburban areas they are less successful. Early successional forest is maintained by regular disturbance (wind, fire, clear-cutting, and flooding) which has been happening less frequently during the past 50 years. Bird species that have declined during this time and which inhabit early successional forest include ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus), blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), chestnut-sided warbler (Dendroica pensylvanica), gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), field sparrow (Spizella pusilla), golden-winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera), eastern …


Breeding Ecology And Behavior Of The Hawaiian Hawk, Curtis R. Griffin, Peter W. C. Paton, Thomas S. Baskett Jan 1998

Breeding Ecology And Behavior Of The Hawaiian Hawk, Curtis R. Griffin, Peter W. C. Paton, Thomas S. Baskett

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

We studied the ecology of the endangered Hawaiian Hawk (Buteo solitarius) on the island of Hawaii for three breeding seasons. Their breeding strategy is a prime example of a K-selected species characteristic of many birds in tropical environments: clutch size was one and brood-rearing was among the longest reported for any diurnal raptor. Twenty-eight nests were found in a variety of native and exotic habitats. Incubation lasted 38 days, nestlings fledged after 59-63 days, and parents cared for fledglings for an average of 30.2 weeks, which was 2.5 to 10 times longer than similar-size temperate zone raptors. Males …


Factors Affecting Interannual Movements Of Snowy Plovers, Peter W. C. Paton, Thomas C. Edwards Jr. Jan 1996

Factors Affecting Interannual Movements Of Snowy Plovers, Peter W. C. Paton, Thomas C. Edwards Jr.

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

We studied the interannual movements of 361 individually color-banded adult Snowy Plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) at Great Salt Lake, Utah from 1990 to 1993. In northern Utah, Snowy Plovers nested in a dynamic environment; suitable breeding habitat declined by 50% at two study areas in four years. Male Snowy Plovers were more site faithful than females; 40% of males exhibited fidelity compared with 26% of females (P < 0.01). However, as the amount of available suitable nesting habitat declined, male site fidelity diminished, whereas female fidelity remained relatively constant. We found strong evidence that female site fidelity was affected by nesting success in the previous year. Females that nested unsuccessfully were less likely than successful females to exhibit site fidelity the following year; males did not exhibit this nest-success bias. In addition, unsuccessful females breeding at sites with high densities of nests tended to disperse the following year, whereas male site fidelity did not appear to be affected by either a study site's overall nesting success the previous year or a study site's nest density the previous year. Female avoidance of areas with high densities of nests may be an antipredator strategy. Snowy Plovers in northern Utah have biparental incubation duties, but only males care for broods. Familiarity with brood-rearing areas was one plausible explanation for male-biased fidelity. However, we could not eliminate an alternative hypothesis that both focal study sites represented scarce breeding areas due to the presence of freshwater, and male Snowy Plovers preferred to use the same areas rather than disperse. We propose that more landscape-level studies are needed to address questions concerning local and regional movement patterns.


Differences In Wintering Areas Of Snowy Plovers From Inland Breeding Sites In Western North America, Gary W. Page, Mark A. Stern, Peter W. C. Paton Jan 1995

Differences In Wintering Areas Of Snowy Plovers From Inland Breeding Sites In Western North America, Gary W. Page, Mark A. Stern, Peter W. C. Paton

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.