Project Information

Title: LTM Program - Ability to Detect Trends in Nearshore Marine Bird Surveys

Project Year and Number: 2012: 12120114-F

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: None

Principal Investigator (PI): Heather Coletti

Managing Agency: USNPS

Assisting Personnel: None

Project Website: https://gulfwatchalaska.org/monitoring/nearshore-ecosystems/ecological-trends-in-kachemak-bay/

Research Location: Prince William Sound

Restoration Category: Research

Injured Resources Addressed: Black Oystercatchers, Clams, Harlequin Ducks, Intertidal Organisms, Mussels, Sea Otters, Sediments, Subtidal Organisms

Abstract:

This project is a component of the integrated Long-term Monitoring of Marine Conditions and Injured Resources and Services submitted by McCammon et. al. Skiff based surveys for marine birds along the Prince William Sound, Katmai and Kenai Fjords coastlines have been conducted for over 5 and 20 years, respectively. The results of these surveys provide estimates of the species composition, relative abundance, and distribution of all marine birds and mammals within this nearshore zone. The focus of these surveys is on marine birds that are trophically linked to the nearshore food web, and include species of sea ducks(Harlequin ducks, Barrow’s and common goldeneye, and scoters), mergansers (common and red-breasted), and shorebirds, specifically the black oystercatcher, cormorants, glaucouswinged gulls and pigeon guillemots. Sustainability of long-term monitoring programs requires the optimization of sampling intensity and efforts to minimize costs while concurrently having sufficient power to detect a trend. While there has been critical thought in the past regarding these questions, current available analytical methods now allow for the use of existing data in simulations, using a Bayesian framework, to estimate number of samples and sample frequency required to detect a specified trend as well as examine effects contributing to variation, such as imperfect detection.


Proposal: View (80 KB)

Reports:
Annual Report FY12: View (2,211 KB)
Final Report: View (231 KB)

Publications from this Project: None Available