(Images: Steve Zack/Wildlife Conservation Society)
Oil development has attracted populations of opportunistic predators
including Arctic fox, ravens, and gulls, which feed on nesting birds. The
predators use oil infrastructure, which ranges from drilling platforms to road
culverts, to build their nests or dens. In this study researchers found
one bird species, the Lapland longspur, lost significantly more nests in areas
closer to oil development than farther away. Nests beyond 5 kilometers
(3.11 miles) from oil development remained unaffected by predators.
Other birds, including red and red-necked phalaropes, may also be
feeling impacts from predators, though data was less strong than with
longspurs. At the same time, other species tested did not show an effect.
Authors believe this may be due to high natural variation in nesting success
across years and between sites.
The study appears in the September issue of the journal Ecological
Applications. Authors include: Joe Liebezeit and Steve Zack of the
Wildlife Conservation Society; S.J. Kendall, P. Martin and D.C. Payer of the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; S. Brown of Manomet Center for Conservation
Sciences; C.B. Johnson and A.M. Wildman of ABR, Inc; T.L. McDonald of West,
Inc.; C.L. Rea of ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc.; and B. Streever of BP
Exploration (Alaska), Inc.
The authors monitored nearly 2,000 nests of 17 passerine and shorebird
species over a four-year period. Birds from five continents migrate to
the Arctic each year to nest.
“This is the first study specifically designed to evaluate the
so-called oil ‘footprint’ effect in the Arctic on nesting birds,” said the
study’s lead author, Joe Liebezeit of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “The
study was also unique in that it was a collaborative effort among conservation
groups, industry, and federal scientists.”
The impetus for this study stemmed from previous evidence suggesting
predators have increased in the oil fields near Prudhoe Bay.
“The findings of this study shed new light on growing concerns about oil
development impacts to wildlife in the Alaskan Arctic, an immense region that,
outside of Prudhoe Bay, is still largely undisturbed by humans and home to vast
herds of caribou, the threatened polar bear, and millions of breeding birds,”
said Jodi Hilty, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s North America
Programs.
WCS is engaged in separate studies in remote areas of the western
Arctic, evaluating where wildlife protection would be most effective in advance
of development.
“Our interest is in ensuring a balance of both wildlife protection in
key areas and helping industry minimize potential impacts to wildlife as they
begin to pursue development in western Arctic Alaska,” said Steve Zack,
coauthor and Coordinator of the Arctic Program for WCS. “This study helps
inform industry on some consequences of development.”
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places
worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and
the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by
the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes
towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony.
WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life
on Earth. Visit: www.wcs.org>>
Tags: Animals
comments ( )