Article

 

Nesting ecology of Marbled Murrelets at a remote mainland fjord in southeast Alaska Public Deposited

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/2b88qf15m

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • Studying the ecology of endangered species in portions of their range where the population remains abundant can provide fundamental information for conservation planners. We studied nesting by radio-tagged Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) during 2007 and 2008 in Port Snettisham, a relatively pristine, remote mainland fjord in southeast Alaska with high at-sea densities of Marbled Murrelets during the breeding season. Of 33 active Marbled Murrelet nest sites located during the study, we found 15 within forested habitat (tree nest sites), 16 in nonforested habitat (ground nest sites), and 2 that could not be determined. Some nests were located farther inland from the coast (range: 1–52 km) and at higher elevations (range: 42–1,100 m) than previously documented in Alaska. Nesting success to ≥ 20 days posthatch (0.20 ± 0.07 [SE]) was less than half of similar estimates in British Columbia and more comparable to estimates from California and Washington. A logistic regression found that nesting success did not differ between years, but nesting success was higher for tree nests than for ground nests. Conservation planners should consider that Marbled Murrelets will use certain nonforest habitat types for nesting in mainland southeast Alaska. Our reported nesting success was likely a maximum, and our results indicate that nesting success can be low even when nesting habitat is seemingly abundant and marine habitat appears excellent.
  • Keywords: Breeding, Alaska, Marbled Murrelet, Brachyramphus marmoratus, Telemetry, Alcid
Resource Type
DOI
Date Available
Date Issued
Citation
  • Barbaree, B. A., Nelson, S. K., Dugger, B. D., Roby, D. D., Carter, H. R., Whitworth, D. L., & Newman, S. H. (2014). Nesting ecology of Marbled Murrelets at a remote mainland fjord in southeast Alaska. The Condor, 116(2), 173-184. doi:10.1650/CONDOR-13-116.1
Journal Title
Journal Volume
  • 116
Journal Issue/Number
  • 2
Rights Statement
Funding Statement (additional comments about funding)
  • Field research was funded by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), Division of Wildlife Conservation, through a cooperative agreement with the EcoHealth Alliance (formerly Wildlife Trust) and Oregon State University (OSU). Additional funding was provided by the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at OSU and the U.S. Geological Survey through the Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
Publisher
Peer Reviewed
Language
Replaces

Relationships

Parents:

This work has no parents.

Items