Project Information

Title: LTM Program: Continuing the Legacy - Prince William Sound Marine Bird Population Trends 20120114-M

Project Year and Number: 2020: 20120114-M

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2024: 24120114-M, 2023: 23120114-M, 2022: 22120114-M, 2021: 21120114-M, 2019: 19120114-M, 2018: 18120114-M, 2017: 17120114-M, 2016: 16120114-K, 2015: 15120114-K, 2014: 14120114-K, 2013: 13120114-K, 2012: 12120114-K

Principal Investigator (PI): Kathy Kuletz (USFWS), Robb Kaler (USFWS)

Managing Agency: USFWS

Assisting Personnel: None

Project Website: https://gulfwatchalaska.org/monitoring/pelagic-ecosystem/pws-marine-bird-population-trends/

Research Location: Prince William Sound

Restoration Category: Monitoring

Injured Resources Addressed: Common Murres, Kittlitz's Murrelets, Marbled Murrelets, Pigeon Guillemot

Abstract:

We will conduct small boat surveys to monitor the abundance of marine birds in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska. The surveys are conducted every two years and therefore occur during July 2018 and 2020 during the current Gulf Watch Alaska (GWA) funding cycle (FY17-21). Fifteen July surveys over a 30-year period have monitored population trends of marine birds in PWS after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. These surveys are the primary means to determine whether populations injured by the spill are recovering. Data collected from 1989 to 2018 indicated that pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba), marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus), and Kittlitz’s murrelets (B. brevirostris) are exhibiting long-term declines in PWS. Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) densities have also declined in PWS, at the same time that nearly complete kittiwake breeding failures were observed (2016-2018). We will continue to examine overall population trends for all marine birds in PWS, which benefit the nearshore and forage fish components of GWA, the Herring Research and Monitoring program, and the pigeon guillemot restoration project (project 20100853, PI Kuletz/Kaler/Irons) at the Naked Island Group. We are requesting additional funds in FY20 and FY21 to continue offshore seabird surveys on the Seward Line (project 20120114-L, PI Hopcroft) that are now a part of the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project. Leveraged funding previously acquired is insufficient to support the extended sampling of the LTER. These surveys continue a 20-year time series on the Seward Line and link shifts in seabird abundance and cross-shelf distribution to annual and long-term patterns observed in the inshore waters of PWS.


Proposal: View (840 KB)

Reports:
Annual Report: View (626 KB)
Final Report: See Project 21120114-M

Publications from this Project: None Available