þÿ<html xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta name=Title content="BOWER, J"> <meta name=Keywords content=""> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name=Originator content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel=File-List href="37_1_9-17_files/filelist.xml"> <title>BOWER, J</title> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Author>ec</o:Author> <o:Template>Normal</o:Template> <o:LastAuthor>Benjamin Saenz</o:LastAuthor> <o:Revision>2</o:Revision> <o:Created>2009-10-12T16:53:00Z</o:Created> <o:LastSaved>2009-10-12T16:53:00Z</o:LastSaved> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>365</o:Words> <o:Characters>2086</o:Characters> <o:Company>Environment Canada</o:Company> <o:Lines>17</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>4</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>2561</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>11.1280</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch> <o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:PunctuationKerning/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Geneva; panose-1:0 2 11 5 3 3 4 4 4 2; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Helvetica-BoldOblique; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:Helvetica; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Lucida Grande"; panose-1:0 2 11 6 0 4 5 2 2 2; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Helvetica-Oblique; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:Arial; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Geneva;} p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Geneva;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </head> <body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US style='tab-interval:.5in'> <div class=Section1> <p class=MsoBodyText><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>BOWER, J.L.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>2009. Changes in marine bird abundance the Salish Sea: 1975 to 2007. <i>Marine Ornithology</i></span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> 37: 9-17.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoBodyText><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Despite worldwide examples of marine bird declines there has been relatively little study of marine bird population changes in the Salish Sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The 1978-79 Marine Ecosystems Analysis Puget Sound Project (MESA) provided baseline data for wintering marine bird abundance for the southern Strait of Georgia and northern Puget Sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Subsequently, comprehensive census work has been limited to the Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program s (PSAMP) aerial surveys (1990-present), shore-based and ferry surveys by Western Washington University (WWU) of marine bird abundance (2003-present), and Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs; 1960s-present).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I use these three surveys to evaluate changes in non-breeding season marine bird abundance in the Salish Sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Comparison of WWU data from 2003-2005 with 1970s MESA data from the same locations show significant declines in 14 of the 37 most common over-wintering Salish Sea species, including 10 species which declined &gt;50%, while seven species showed significant increases over that time period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The order of species, from those showing the most declines to those showing the greatest increases showed a significant correlation between the PSAMP and WWU studies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Western Grebe <i>Aechmophorus occidentalis</i></span><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>, scaup (primarily Greater Scaup <i>Aythya marila</i></span><span style='font-family: "Times New Roman"'>), and Marbled Murrelet <i>Brachyramphus marmoratus</i></span><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>, showed significant declines in all three studies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The Common Murre <i>Uria aalge</i></span><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>, not included in the PSAMP study, showed significant declines of over 80% in the WWU and CBC studies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Significant declines occurred in species of four of the five feeding guilds, including piscivores, benthivores, omnivores, and planktivores, while significant increases were seen in species of three feeding guilds, demonstrating that the factors affecting species abundance are complex and may be unique to each species.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The WWU study largely corroborates declines documented by the PSAMP study, while analysis of 11 Salish Sea CBCs found the fewest species with significant declines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Long term monitoring, including continuation and expansion of low-cost monitoring such as the WWU survey, and citizen-science efforts such as the BC Coastal Waterbird Survey (1999-present) and the Seattle Audubon Society s new Puget Sound Seabird Survey, will help to determine how future environmental changes in the Salish Sea marine ecosystem and beyond affect migratory and resident marine bird populations.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class=MsoNormal><![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><o:p></o:p></p> </div> </body> </html>