Vermont Center for Ecostudies

An eBirder’s 251 Town Birding Project Nears Halfway Point

2013-06-17T10:02:00.002-04:00

Seeing the success of 2011′s County Challenge sparked a discussion between Bob Heitzman and Kent McFarland about how one might fill in the blanks in the Vermont eBird map. Bob had suggested a challenge based on the “251 Club”, an organization that had sprung up during Vermont’s bicentennial. After a little over a year Bob has now approached the halfway point. He has Vermont eBird checklists in 121 towns and 4 gores and growing.

Bob's progress so far.

Stepping the level of detail down from the county level to the town level isn’t possible in Vermont eBird. Fewer than half of the states have political subdivisions below the county level so Bob needed some system to supplement Vermont eBird’s county-level data. Bob devised a way of tracking the 251 town surveys separate from his everyday birding checklists. When each town gets its ‘official survey’, Bob creates a personal location in Vermont eBird beginning with “251″ and the town name (ex: “251 Hartford – Jericho Road hilltop”. The Summary Table functions can then be used to obtain totals for the project for each year for My Observations beginning with “251″.

In an effort to provide a more balanced and scientifically meaningful sample, each survey targets at least 25 minutes and/or at least 0.25 miles. Sometimes timing or weather results in a smaller sample, but those are the basic parameters. Habitats are varied in an effort to identify a greater variety of species: wetlands and riverbanks, hemlock groves, deciduous forest, farm meadows, and even cemeteries are targeted.

The “251 Town Birder” project was began in May 2012. A half-dozen towns in far corners of the state had already been visited earlier in the year, so these were grandfathered in. Bob uses a DeLorme Atlas of Vermont to track where he’s surveyed as well as BirdLogNA, Notes, Voice Memos, and iBirdPro on his iPhone to log the details of each survey. For Bob, the iPhone has eliminated the need to carry a field guide, notepad and pen, and pocket recorder into the field. He does supplement the iPhone camera with another digital camera.

Planning has been key, but it’s not always foolproof. Bob frequently will bird dawn to dusk when he travels far from his base in Hartford. Last weekend of marathon birding had him on the road for 13 hours, logging 280 miles to survey the 9 towns across the southernmost tier of the state. Weather plays a factor in the success or failure of a survey, but so does accessibility. Driving through the town of Townsend last January, Bob could not find a single place to safely pull off the only main road through the town.

This month Bob has launched a website for his project where he blogs about his experiences, posts photos of the towns and the species he’s seen. You can even view a map of his progress towards 251 towns.

Song Wars: The (Wet) Adventures of Mountain Birdwatch, Continued

2013-06-17T08:08:00.000-04:00

I stared at the rushing river at my feet, feeling my toes squish inside my hiking boots and wondering why I hadn’t packed my portable camping ark along with my rain jacket and pants. Reassuring myself that the next morning would be drier (really, anything would be drier than this), I waded my way along the flooded trail, careful to secure footing in the shallowest sections of the muddy seas of flowing water that was once a pathway.

It had all seemed like such a good idea this morning. After a week of intermittent heavy rain during which I skulked around the office, waiting for a break in the weather to survey another Mountain Birdwatch route, the 70% chance of showers on Wednesday, June 12 with the likelihood of a dry morning on Thursday called to me irresistibly. Our Bunnell Notch route on Mount Cabot begins at the Berlin Fish Hatchery, and I arrived just in time to enjoy the daily trout feeding, with frenzied, gleaming fish bodies thrashing at the water’s surface, fighting for their kibble. The hike to the survey stations started promisingly, with dragonfly sightings and beautiful waterfalls cascading just off the trail. The rain fell steadily but not unpleasantly, misting around me and keeping me cool.

All that water can be quite beautiful- when you're not hiking through it!

Once I got higher, the full effects of a week’s rain became obvious. Most Mountain Birdwatch routes have six stations spaced at 250 meter intervals, so a full route is about a mile long. I counted only one water bar along the length of the route- the trail was completely flooded, with moving water, deep puddles, and mud for the entire mile. Point 3 was a pond with river access, completely underwater. I pitched my tent as close to point 1 as I could, wanting to shorten my pre-dawn slosh to the first station.

Our third survey station, complete with its own pond and accompanying river

3:45 arrived, cold and damp but with no actual rain. I breathed a sigh of relief- last time I attempted to survey this route, in 2011, I was forced to hightail it off the mountain during my second point count, avoiding a wave of thunderstorms that approached ominously. Stuffing plastic bags into my soaked boots, I navigated to my first point and enjoyed a spirited survey, with four Swainson’s Thrushes darting around and countersinging.

Countersinging involves a special type of vocal interaction in which two birds sing songs that are related in time- that is, one sings in response to the other, often immediately following the other individual’s song. Countersinging is used by males to establish territorial boundaries and signal their level of aggression with neighbors and potential intruders. For example, scientist Jeremy Hyman found that male Carolina Wrens responded more aggressively to countersinging than to non-countersinging, where the timing of a potential rival’s songs was unrelated. Amazingly, birds can use countersinging in seemingly quite complex ways, too. Many species use different methods or patterns of countersinging to signal gradations of aggression; for example, Danish scientist Torben Dabelsteen found that male European Robins were more aggressive when their songs were interrupted by another male than when another bird sang non-overlapping songs. It's not just people that don't like being interrupted during a conversation! As another example, individual male song sparrows each sing several different song variants, and Mike Beecher of the University of Washington found that matching the exact song variant of a rival during countersinging is a more aggressive signal than singing a non-matching song.

So the Swainson’s Thrushes sang spiritedly, warning off potential rivals as I enjoyed the cool and calm dawn. At my next point, it was the Blackpoll Warblers countersinging over my head with their high-pitched “rattlesnake song”. By point 6, the day had warmed up, and only one lone blackpoll and an enthusiastic ovenbird sang quietly and intermittently by a streaming tributary that masked all other sounds.

The hike out was only slightly drier than the hike in, but the promised reward of dry socks in the car encouraged me to speed along, stopping to enjoy a stunning web and a Great Tiger Moth caterpillar nibbling on some leaves alongside the trail.

Water droplets and a beam of light create a magical orb from a spider's web

I followed a tiny, hustling Ruffed Grouse chick along the trail for several meters, accidentally flushing the mother, who flew past my face with a great beating of wings and then ran frantically alongside the path, keening nasally. Her chicks ducked into the undergrowth as I rounded a bend and caught a flash of blue up the trail- my glorious and hugely welcome car, marking the end of my soaking saga.

--This slightly damp adventure brought to you by Judith Scarl, conservation biologist

Folks of a Bobolink Feather, Flocking Together: collaborative efforts in grassland bird conservation

2013-06-14T21:15:00.001-04:00

Bobolink habitat in Ryegate, Vermont

The early morning fog lazily lifts from the Valley as the sun begins to warm the air. I carefully reach my first field site of the day, walking the edge of a dewy hayfield to avoid nests and get the best vantage point. My eyes are searching for movement or small, still bodies in the gray horizon, my ears are sensitive to every sound. I’m on an important mission to find birds – grassland birds.

According the Breeding Bird Survey, grassland birds are the fastest declining group of birds in North America due to a combination of reasons that include intense hayfield mowing practices. Grassland songbirds, like Bobolinks who travel all the way from Argentina, come back in mid-May to find mates and build nests in the grass. It isn't until early or mid-July that chicks leave the nest, and several more days until they can fully fly. Mowing between May and July literally runs active nests over - nestlings can't escape like adult birds do. Postponing hayfield mowing until late July is critical to allow young grassland birds the ability to escape machinery.

Guided by the expertise of grassland bird advocates, including Rosalind Renfrew from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies and Pamela Hunt at New Hampshire Audubon, I’ve taken on a graduate student research project that aims to maximize quality habitat for grassland birds in the Upper Connecticut River Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire. The Upper Valley is characterized by scenic grassland views owned both by private farming operations and landowners who don’t necessarily practice agriculture. Twenty-five citizen scientists and I are seeking grassland-nesting bird “hotspots” in the region by surveying fields 10 acres or larger for Bobolinks, Savannah sparrows, Vesper sparrows, Eastern Meadowlarks, American Kestrels, and Northern Harriers. For better detection of birds, I’ve been granted access into privately-owned fields, and consequently spectacular views of the Valley; I express warm thanks to the landowners who have given me these experiences. Using the results of our surveys, I will engage with landowners who are interested in managing for grassland birds by discussing mowing regimes, available habitat incentive programs and other opportunities to help out.

I’m especially invested in collaboration after walking under a swarm of noisy Bobolinks checking me out as I move from one point to the next, only to find the same hayfield mowed and eerily quiet two weeks later. I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with many landowners in the Valley thus far, and fortunately, most people are interested in the birds and how they can help, too. For instance, one memorable man from Ryegate has a honeypot of Bobolinks on a dry hay field behind his house, and he's told me he'll keep "letting it go" for the birds. And before I met him, he didn't even know what Bobolinks were. I look forward to more understanding of one another and working alongside the people of the Upper Valley in conserving our grassland bird populations in the time I have remaining on this project.

- Jamie Sydoriak

In the Nick of Time (by loon volunteer Roy Pilcher)

2013-06-14T20:14:00.000-04:00

My computer is very demanding and from time to time we have a serious discussion as to where my loyalty resides. Today was one such occasion. With a steady rain overnight and continuing well in to the morning and temperatures in the mid-fifties, it was surely a day when the computer and I could reestablish our relationship.   The urge to go birding was equally strong and so a compromise was entered into. Two hours of birding and no more!

So here I am a few hours later, together again with my trusty computer and with a story to tell.

The weather at Kent Pond was no better than that down in the valley. Rain that
could not make up its mind from which direction to blow! First one window on one
side was opened and the rain came in. Then the window on the other side was
opened and the rain continued to come in. Not all was lost, through the curtain
of rain drops a single Common Loon was seen in the center of the pond and from
time to time a familiar song managed to seep through whenever a window was
opened.

It was time to venture to the western side of the pond from which the loon nest
could be viewed using a scope or binoculars. The island looked quite
diminished. The rising waters had submerged a goodly portion of the limited real
estate.   My eyes strained to focus through the obscurity of rain but no loon
could be seen in or near the nest. It was difficult to gauge but surely no more
than two inches of elevation separated the nest site from the rising waters.
Probably a surge or the constant battering of waves from the exposed southwest
had done their worst and all was lost!

Not so! From around the north side in a rocky enclave an adult loon appeared
and then a second.   Closer and closer together they swam and joyously, from
between them, bobbing in the water a little black chick appeared to be joined
soon after by a second. Together the family group trod water remaining close
until an invitation from one adult enticed one chick on to its back to be
followed soon after by its sibling. With the raising of one wing both chicks
disappeared into the embrace and warmth of the familiar not to be seen again.

One adult then left the area, mission accomplished!   The second with the
chicks safely and securely embedded, patrolled the westerly periphery of the
island. Strategically and to this observer,surprisingly, the adult then
clambered back on to the nest site now almost completely obscured through the
rain and opaqueness of the foliage.   In a short while after some further
movements and shuffling by the adult loon its head appeared and in its bill an
egg shell could be seen only to be ceremoniously and defiantly tossed upon the
rising waters.

It had been in the nick of time!
Cheers, Roy Pilcher

A Pitcher Plant’s Web of Life

2013-06-14T12:20:00.002-04:00

Find yourself a sphagnum covered bog in New England and you’re sure to find a pitcher plant. But peer a little closer and you’ll find a whole self-contained world within it.

Northern pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea) grow as a rosette and produce 6 to 12 new tubular leaves each season. A bunch of pitchers next to each other likely belong to the same individual. New leaves open every few weeks and the “pitcher” that is formed fills with rainwater. Leaves capture the sun for photosynthesis during their first year, but as they age they are used by the plant to capture prey for 1 to 2 years before they fall apart. The small prey die and break down in the pitcher. The plant absorbs nutrients from the prey that are not available from the acidic bog.

The prey are attracted to the pitcher by a sugar secretion on the lip of pitchers, as well as color and scent. Because of a waxy, slippery coating on the lip of the pitcher, they sometimes fall into the water inside the pitcher and find it difficult to climb out because of very fine, downward-angled hairs on the walls of the leaf.

Nicholas Gotelli from the University of Vermont and Aaron Ellison from Harvard Forest studied the effects of increased inputs of atmospheric nitrogen from acid precipitation. They discovered that as more nitrogen is added to bogs the pitcher plants shift from producing water-filled pitcher-shaped leaves to flat leaves that are used for photosynthesis. This is an amazingly fast morphological change.

There is a complex web of life living within each pitcher. The base of the food web is comprised of captured prey, mostly ants and flies. These are shredded and partially consumed by Pitcher Plant Midge (Metriocnemus knabi) and Pitcher Plant Fly (Fletcherimyia fletcheri) larvae. Shredded prey are processed by a host of bacteria and protozoa. These are in turn prey to a filter-feeding rotifer (Habrotrocha rosi) and a mite (Sarraceniopus gibsonii). Larvae of the Pitcher Plant Mosquito (Wyeomyia smithii) feed on bacteria, protozoa, and rotifers. Older mosquito larvae (third instar) eat rotifers and smaller mosquito larvae (first and second instar).

Gotelli and Ellison found that the web of life extends outside of the pitcher too. The leaves exude a sugar that attracts ants. Some ants forage successfully while a few fall into the pitcher. Two moths, the Pitcher Plant Moth (Exyra fax) and The Pitcher Plant Borer (Papaipema appassionata), only use the Pitcher Plant as a host plant for their caterpillars to feed and grow. The larvae of the Pitcher Plant Moth can drain and kill individual pitchers. The Pitcher Plant Borer feeds on the roots and can sometimes kill the entire plant. Repeated or heavy feeding by the moth larvae reduces the amount of available sugar to the ants.

Check out the hidden world of the Pitcher Plant the next time you are on a boardwalk though a bog.

Some bogs with boardwalks in Vermont are:
Springfield Bog
Mollie Beattie Bog
Peacham Bog
Colchester Bog

Source: One Square Meter, a blog by K.P. McFarland

Ontario Bobolinks adorned with geologgers

2013-06-09T14:53:00.000-04:00

Ontario farmer holding one of the captured Bobolinks

Unsettled weather and endless hospitality continue to be major themes as our Bobolink field work ensues in Ontario. With temperatures rarely above 20 degrees Celsius and showers often in the forecast, we have been forced to make hay while the sun shines, as the farmers say. The hot meals and showers awaiting us at our hosts’ farmhouse at the end of 12-hour days have made for luxurious field work conditions.

The hard work we put in to find 30 Bobolink nests has paid off. Strategically capturing females on their way to nests is fairly straightforward, and the males are quite easy to capture anywhere in their territory. Between the rain showers of the past week, we have closed in on our goal to deploy geologgers on 20 females and 20 males. Next week our partners in New Brunswick will search for Bobolink nests, which appear to be on a later nesting schedule, in order to deploy geologgers in the eastern Bobolink breeding range.

One afternoon we let one of our kind hosts release a Bobolink that we had captured in her hayfield. Before our visit, she hadn’t been aware of this R2-D2 imitator of a bird. Her beaming face as she held the Bobolink was fitting; her careful, thoughtful stewardship of the land is in part responsible for the bird’s existence.

With the trip home in sight, it’s worth taking a minute to appreciate the other wildlife of the Luther Wildlife Management Area. With the study fields surrounding a Great Blue Heron Rockery, the birding has been fabulous. We see Black Terns and Sandhill Cranes with every visit, American Bitterns are nearly ubiquitous, and we have spotted nine species of waterfowl, including nesting Trumpeter Swans. Even a few migrating Blackpoll Warblers made an appearance. Besides the avian distractions, a sleeping fawn, a giant Garter Snake, and a few uncommon bumblebees have filled in the slower moments. A valuable wildlife management area!

- Spencer Hardy and Rosalind Renfrew

VCE Launches 22nd Field Season on Mt. Mansfield

2013-06-08T08:16:00.000-04:00

Bicknell's Thrush recaptured from 2012

This week, VCE inaugurated our 22nd consecutive year of field work on the Mt. Mansfield ridgeline, monitoring Bicknell's Thrush (BITH) and other montane forest breeding birds. Our team had planned to go up for two nights, but punishing NW winds and cold temperatures caused us to cancel Monday evening's outing. We arrived Tuesday at 5 pm to steady but manageable winds and set up a dozen mist nets in sheltered spots, mainly on the east slope.

Avian activity was low, but at ~7:30 pm, a few BITH began to sound off, along with Yellow-rumped and Blackpoll warblers, and White-throated Sparrows. When darkness fell 90 minutes later, we had managed 15 captures overall. Five of these were BITH, 3 of them males we had originally banded in a previous year - 2 from last June, a third banded as a young-of-the-year bird on 13 September 2011, then recaptured three times in 2012 (including on 22 Sept.). The dusk chorus was solid, but somewhat muted for an early June evening, likely because of the cold and wind.

As hoped, the wind dropped overnight, but temperatures were downright chilly (~40 F) as we opened our nets at 4:15 am. The dawn chorus was almost nonexistent. Warming was slow, and activity never really cranked up. We captured another 19 birds total, including 2 BITH - one new male and a female banded last June. The most noteworthy bird was a male Blackpoll Warbler that we first captured on 24 June 2009 as a 2+ year old and have since recaptured at least once annually in 2010-2012, always on the same territory at the Amherst-Cliff Trail junction. Assuming it hatched in 2007 (it could have been earlier), the bird's minimum age is 6 years. That's a lot of trips to the Amazonian rain forest and back!

Banded Blackpoll Warbler on Mt. Mansfield (photo by Jeff Nadler)

Our capture totals:

Bicknell's Thrush - 7 (5 males, 2 females)
Blackpoll Warbler - 7 (5 males, 2 females)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 10 (8 males, 2 females)
White-throated Sparrow 9 (7 males, 2 probable females)
Dark-eyed Junco - 1 male

There were few other avian highlights, although 2 Pine Siskins calling in flight were of note. Numbers of Swainson's Thrush were significantly lower than a year ago - we heard only one singing male. However, BITH numbers (15 vocalizing individuals) on our ridgeline study plot were about "normal", so we're not drawing any conclusions at this stage. It's early in the season, and weather wasn't conducive. We'll report back after next week's trip.

Chris Rimmer and Kent McFarland

Beech Bark Disease: Tree Disease Could Spell Trouble for a Butterfly

2013-06-06T21:29:00.002-04:00

Walk through any forest around Vermont and your likely to see a beech in trouble. Most of the mature American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) trees have trunks pocked with cracks and scabs, the tell-tale sign of advanced Beech bark disease. And that spells trouble for a host of wildlife that depend on the tree.

Beech bark disease is caused by a unique relationship between an introduced insect called the Beech Bark Scale (Cryptococcus fagisuga), and Nectria fungi (Nectria coccinea var. faginataand N. galligena). This disease has been known in Europe since at least the 1840s, where it attacks European Beech (F. sylvatica). It was accidentally introduced to North American at Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1890 on a shipment of ornamental trees.

The infestation spreads about 10 miles per year, mainly from the dispersal of Beech Bark Scale by wind and animals. It first appeared in New England in 1929 when it was found in Maine. By 1950 it was found throughout the entire state, and by 1960 it was found across New England. Today it is as far west as Wisconsin and south into North Carolina and Tennessee.

Since there are few natural controls known, the disease is likely to become established across the entire range of American Beech. The native Twice-stabbed Ladybird Beetle (Chilocorus stigma), aptly named for the two bright red spots on each side of its black back, preys on Beech Bark Scale, but doesn’t appear to limit the population very much.

Beech Bark Scale is easy to see on infected trees in the fall. They exude small but noticeable white, waxy filaments on tree trunks. These wingless insects are parthenogenetic, egg growth and development occurs without fertilization by a male and all offspring are females. Adults lay eggs in the summer which soon hatch and the young nymphs, called crawlers, move into bark fissures or may be carried to other trees by wind or wildlife. Once the young crawlers settle down they push their stylet, a sharp needle-like mouthpart, into the bark and begin feeding and secreting the woolly wax cover that they use to help survive the winter season.

The minute wounds created by the stylets allow Nectria fungi to colonize. The fungal colonies cause cankers on the bark surface. This quickly leads to wilting of leaves and loss of twigs and branches. Eventually, the cankers cause enough damage around the tree that the trunk simply snaps in a wind storm. Beech snap is now common throughout the New England forest.

This is bad news for the wildlife that depends on beech for survival. Bear, deer and turkey rely on the energy rich beech nuts in the fall. The Early Hairstreak (Erora laeta), a tiny blue butterfly who’s caterpillars feed on beech flowers and in later stages on the leaves, is only found in beech forests. As its name implies, it is the earliest flying hairstreak in Vermont. Found in late May and June, it is often difficult to find, perhaps because it breeds high in the canopy of beech forests. They sometimes visit dirt roads or nectar from flowers in or near the beech groves, enabling us to catch a glimpse of the amazing blue wings. Populations may widely fluctuate with the masting of beech trees.

There is at least a glimmer of hope. Some resistant trees have been found and are now being produced in nurseries with the hope that they could be transplanted throughout the range to perhaps bring healthy beech slowly back to the forest.

Source: One Square Meter, a blog by K.P. McFarland

White-throated Sparrow Open Mic-- Mountain Birdwatch Opening Weekend Part II

2013-06-06T14:00:00.000-04:00

By midnight, the “slight chance of thunderstorms” predicted for northern New Hampshire had transformed into a spectacular lightning fest. My tent lit up over and over as lightning flashed across the sky, rolling thunder booming shortly afterwards, and the wind whipped my tent cover violently around me. Common sense won out and I abandoned ship, grabbing my rain gear and flashlight and sprinting back to my car. Fashioning a nest in the back seat, I settled down for the long haul. This was no small feat- my Honda Accord Coupe has bucket seats and little backseat to spare. Good thing my contortionist skills are still sharp. Almost as soon as I curled up in the car, the rain began pounding, and I finally fell asleep to the loud and steady drumming.

My Saturday nights aren’t usually spent on muddy, remote logging roads, curled up alone in my car and watching the dark silhouettes of fir trees sway in the raging wind. But June 2 was a special day- the second day of Mountain Birdwatch season. After my adventures on Magalloway Mountain, I headed to my second remote route in the Connecticut Lakes region- Roble Brook. Set along a largely-unused logging road, this route has not yet been adopted by a volunteer since we established it in 2010- and as a result, Roble Brook and I are old friends.

The obligatory self-portrait at Roble Brook

3:45 a.m. arrived in total darkness, with rain still pattering on the roof. I stretched- and stretched, and stretched- and dressed slowly, giving the rain time to subside. By the time I made my way to my first point, the steady rain had turned to a gentle drizzle, although the dirt and gravel roadway was streaming with water from four hours of steady rain. Fortunately, we can conduct Mountain Birdwatch surveys in drizzle- nothing heavier. In fact, cloudy, cool, damp mornings can be the best time to hear birds for extended periods, and this morning was no exception. Within five minutes of starting my count, I had heard four White-throated Sparrows, three Swainson’s Thrush, and one Winter Wren, all singing lustily. By eight minutes, I had added another White-throat and a fourth Swainson’s to the list- everyone was going strong. Despite my full-body rain gear and baseball cap, though, at this point I could no longer ignore the fact that the drizzle was no longer drizzling... is there such a thing as “torrential drizzle”? Protocol demanded that I call off the survey, somewhat against my will.

Once again, I returned to the car to wait out the rain, and just when I was beginning to give up, the rain quieted and the sky grew light. I sped to my second survey point and began listening. Surveying along a logging road has its benefits- while many MBW surveys occur in the dense spruce-fir forests where tightly packed vegetation obscures sight paths, the wide road and several cleared areas offer stunning opportunities to observe wildlife.

The wide logging roads offer views of the Connecticut Lakes, Canada, and diverse wildlife.

I saw a ruffed grouse cross the road, looking hurried and busy. Two American Robins argued in the middle of the road, chasing, coming together, flying at each other, separating. Wood frog tadpoles nibbled algae from spotted salamander egg masses in the “vernal ditches” along the sides of the road.

Wood frog tadpoles (left) feed on the green algae covering a spotted salamander egg mass. Although these frogs and salamanders spawn around the same time, the salamander eggs take ~3 weeks longer to emerge.

And White-throated Sparrows abounded- at three of my points, a White-throated Sparrow perched high up in a balsam tree at the road’s edge, throat pumping, singing for all he was worth.

Now, when you attend a performance, it’s not polite to laugh and boo if the singers are bad. But up on our Roble Brook route, those White-throated Sparrows are *terrible*. The normal White-throated Sparrow song roughly says, “Old Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody” (or if you’re north of the border, “Oh, Sweet, Canada Canada Canada) with two pure introductory notes (“Old Sam”) followed by three three-syllable phrases (“Pea-bo-dy, Pea-bo-dy, Pea-bo-dy”) with those three phrases sung on the same pitch. There is a lot of variation in the introductory notes, with some song variants holding these notes on the same pitch, others rising, others falling (the falling version reminds me of the first three notes of Sesame Street’s Intro- “Sunny Days”). But the final three phrases (Peabody Peabody Peabody) are generally a steady pitch, although it’s not uncommon for them to sound out of tune to human ears.

These Roble Brook White-throated Sparrows just could not get their acts together, though. As I mentioned in my last blog, sometimes young birds will practice their song, singing atypical variants before they perfect their repertoire. In some songbird species, males with diverse repertoires even appeal more to females. But these guys on Roble had a long way to go. One bird repeatedly cut himself off after singing his intro notes. Another male sounded like a balloon running out of air, deflating on his final phrases. A third individual couldn’t manage to separate his phrases into three syllables, producing instead a steady string of monotonous whistles.

Unless females of this species prefer males with unusual song variants, which is unlikely but not impossible, these individuals may be at a competitive disadvantage this year. Listening to neighboring males and practice, practice, practice should ensure that they get it together in time for next year’s competition! Come on, Old Sam Peabody- you can do it!

-Judith Scarl, Conservation Biologist

Mountain Birdwatch Season Opening- Magalloway Mountain

2013-06-03T09:17:00.000-04:00

The Mountain Birdwatch season opened on June 1, and I confess, I’ve been counting down the days for weeks. Months, maybe. MBW consists of 130 high-elevation survey routes in the spruce-fir forests of the northeastern United States, and our amazing team of volunteers surveys most of these routes in the month of June. In fact, this year, volunteers have adopted 120 of our routes, higher than any year since we revamped the project in 2010.

Of course, not all routes get adopted. Some routes languish in unpopulated areas of northern New Hampshire or western Maine; the distance from most major population centers makes these routes less attractive to volunteers. Other routes involve long drives along logging roads using a 4WD vehicle. And some routes are just peculiar- who’s ever heard of the Merrill Strip in northwestern Maine, and who wants to hike an old logging road that has grown in as a muddy, blackfly-infested wetland?

Throughout the year, my job as Mountain Birdwatch director involves recruiting and training volunteers, overseeing technicians and interns, analyzing data, securing funding, and writing papers and reports. But in June, I become the clean-up hitter. I embrace the rejects. Those unpopular routes that beg to be adopted- those are mine.

So it was with great anticipation that I headed to the Connecticut Lakes region of northern New Hampshire on Friday night to survey Magalloway Mountain, a route I had never before visited. Mountain Birdwatch surveys often involve strenuous hikes along steep trails to reach remote survey areas in the spruce-fir forest. Camping is not permitted near all of our routes, so many of our volunteers hike these trails in the dark, beginning at 2 or 3 a.m., to reach their first survey station 45 minutes before sunrise. Not so our Magalloway Mountain route, accessible by mountain road and with a parking lot 60 meters from our second point. In fact, despite the 800 feet of elevation gain over the .8 mile trail, I was thrilled to discover that this route is quite cushy. The second survey station boasts some of the comforts of home in the form of a toilet, and the third survey station offers a comfortable seat to enjoy during the 20 minute bird count.

All the comforts of home... or at least a toilet.

My luxurious chair at the third survey station

After a steep climb to point 6, a weary Mountain Birdwatcher can even meet a curious and engaging pair of Gray Jays who will buck you up after your tiring hike.

With my alarm set for 3:50 a.m., a painful number if ever I saw one, I fell asleep to the yelping and yowling of coyotes. The moon and stars beamed at me on this perfectly clear night. I anticipated my alarm and awoke at 3:48 (ouch), using only moonlight to navigate to my first point.

The surveys consist of 20 minute point counts at six survey stations spaced 250 meters apart, and the Magalloway route starts at 775 meters elevation and ascends to 1026m. At my first point, Swainson’s Thrush and White-throated Sparrow sang heartily through the darkness, joined by Winter Wren as dawn approached. As I climbed higher, these ubiquitous birds were joined by our spruce-fir specialists, a Blackpoll Warbler at our three highest points, and even a Bicknell’s Thrush, MBW’s flagship species, at point 5. Before I became the Mountain Birdwatch director, I specialized in animal vocal communication, and this particular Bicknell’s had a fascinating song. Most Bicknell’s Thrush sing a song with two parts- two introductory notes followed by 3-4 nasal, fluty notes that fall and then rise. This unusual bird sang his intro notes, produced a falling and then rising phrase, and then immediately sang the 3-note conclusion to his song again, this time in a different key. There is some individual variation in song even between songbirds of the same species, but young males of many species will practice their song as they learn, experimenting with less-than-perfect versions of a species-typical vocalization. This bird could have been a young scout, searching for a place to “set up shop”, or just an individual singing particularly vigorously.

Listening hard for our target species during my final survey at the top of the mountain, I heard a quiet mewling sound, followed by a gentle scuffling. Turning, I caught a glimpse of a flash of gray as a bird flew across the trail and landed in a tree only a few meters from me. Little noises across the trail revealed the second member of this Gray Jay pair, who hopped up to where I sat motionless on the trail. Talk about testing my abilities to focus- it was pretty tough to concentrate on my point count with these guys softly chattering away almost directly in my ear!

"Are you here to feed me?"

Point count concluded, I once again admired the fire tower, which I had climbed the previous afternoon. Magalloway is situated less than 20 miles from Canada to the north, 5 miles from Maine to the east, and 20 miles from Vermont to the west, so this fire tower offers views of three states and two countries, along with one of the Connecticut Lakes. Not a bad reward for getting up well before the crack of dawn!


Why hello there, Canada!

--Posted by Judith Scarl

Report from the field: Bobolink nest searching in Ontario

2013-06-01T20:42:00.001-04:00

One of the 21 Bobolink nests found so far.

It has felt like forty days and forty nights, but we’re still here, and a few of Ontario’s Bobolinks will soon sport new geologgers. Our search is on for Bobolink nests at Luther Lake Wildlife Management Area, in the currently very moist town of Monticello.

Our goal for the first few days in the field is to find at least 20 Bobolink nests. We’re deploying geologgers on 20 males and 20 females. By netting birds near their nests, we deploy geologgers on Bobolinks that are most likely to return to the field next year. We avoid the unpaired birds that may not return to the same field next year, and maximize the likelihood of re-trapping a bird to retrieve the logged data that will reveal the bird’s travels.

The Bobolinks have required some patience. Cold temperatures, rain, and winds in late May appear to have delayed nesting. Initial searches for nests were not productive; females were still building nests and laying eggs. In the last three days, however, we have managed to find the bulk of the 21 nests we are now following. The nests contain 5 or 6 eggs and are early in the incubation phase. Other birds are likely renesting after some recent, severe storms, and are just getting back to business, probably building new nests and perhaps laying eggs.

Severe storms have plagued the region since Spencer Hardy and I arrived, yet somehow we have managed to get our work done between storms. Our colleague Dan Kim (Oregon) just happens to know a local farm family, who offered us an opportunity to forego our noisy campground. They have welcomed us into their home like family, providing us with showers, hot meals, the internet connection to post this blog, and some very entertaining stories. We have been extremely fortunate. The family now has a keen enthusiasm for the Bobolinks nesting in their hayfields, and we have promised them a chance to see one up close. Their 11-year-old granddaughter said today that she didn't want to ride through the hayfield for fear of trampling a Bobolink nest.

Now we turn our sites to netting the Bobolinks associated with the nests we found at Luther, and fitting them with geologgers. We will net mornings and evenings to get them all done - weather permitting or not.

- Rosalind Renfrew, VCE Conservation Biologist

Four Wings and a Mission: Vermont Biologist Chases Butterfly Record

2013-05-30T07:32:00.000-04:00

NORWICH, VT -- Kent McFarland, a volunteer firefighter in Woodstock, would crawl into a burning building to save a life. But he's losing sleep over a little brown butterfly called Bog Elfin.

While gathering flowers recently for his daughter's senior prom, McFarland went rogue and chased the flashing blue wings of a Northern Azure.

And now he's planning an expedition to southern Vermont to locate Early Hairstreak, a rare, mint-green butterfly with garish orange patches.

McFarland, sturdy and athletic, is spending the year searching for as many butterflies as he can find in Vermont. In a blend of competition and science, education and enjoyment, McFarland's "Butterfly Big Year" is also a cautionary quest about the changing nature of the state.

"I brake for butterflies, I really do," said McFarland, senior conservation biologist at Vermont Center for Ecostudies, a non-profit conservation research group based in Norwich, Vermont. "But I'm more obsessed than normal this year."

That obsession takes planning. Vermont has 105 documented butterfly species, but most of them fly only in selected habitats at certain times of year. So McFarland will only find the drab Jutta Arctic in a remote spruce bog in June, for example, and he must wait until August to locate the rust-colored Leonard's Skipper darting in some scrubby field. He pursues them all with a camera and a net he's named "Big Papi," which McFarland swings with the skill and exuberance of the Red Sox slugger.

But motivating McFarland, 46, is something greater than the challenge of climbing mountains or mucking through wetlands in hot pursuit of butterflies.

"I'm doing it to call attention to the little things in Vermont," he explains. "And to raise awareness about the biodiversity of our state. Now's the time to do it. We could be on the brink of big changes."

Global warming, invasive species, habitat loss and other big-time environmental concerns are altering the biological diversity of Vermont. And McFarland himself may know better than anyone what this means for butterflies.

Working at VCE, which unites citizens and scientists in conservation, McFarland led a six-year inventory of butterfly diversity, involving hundreds of volunteers and producing a landmark report for the state in 2007. The Vermont Butterfly Survey (www.vtecostudies.org/VBS) established a baseline accounting of butterfly distribution and abundance. McFarland's "Big Year" is designed in part to encourage other Vermonters to enjoy butterflies and to continue reporting what they find.

VCE is a partner in a web portal called eButterfly (www.e-Butterfly.org) where anyone can report their sightings. McFarland documents and writes about his own discoveries on his blog, One Square Meter (www.onemeter2.wordpress.com).

McFarland's quest has motivated a few other butterfly enthusiasts to join the effort and compete for the biggest list at the end of the year.

"Bring it on," says McFarland. "It's the spirit of competition and the goals of conservation. That's a potent blend."

-Bryan Pfeiffer

Bobolinks in Canada to join the geologger generation

2013-05-27T15:49:00.001-04:00

Field work on Bobolinks in Canada has begun in an effort led by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) to determine the migratory routes, stops, and wintering areas for Bobolink populations across the country. VCE’s Roz Renfrew and Spencer Hardy are joining collaborator Dan Kim (Portland, OR) and Mike Cadman of CWS to deploy light-level geologgers on 40 Bobolinks on a preserve in Monticello, Ontario. Data logged on the units, to be collected next year, will tell biologists where the birds have traveled, and when.

Although populations of the grassland-dependent Bobolink have declined throughout their range, perhaps the biggest losses have been in Ontario. With 88% of the population disappearing since around 1970, and current declines continuing unabated, the province dubbed them officially Threatened. The designation triggered the development of a Recovery Strategy, with input from biologists, agronomists, farm interest groups, conservationists, economists, and government agencies. In an unprecedented collaborative effort brought on by a bird species that depends on agricultural habitats, all stakeholders have been sitting at the same table to balance the economic interests of farmers with the conservation needs of a species.

The Recovery Strategy calls for boosting our understanding of what threats are limiting Canada’s Bobolink populations throughout the year. Their non-breeding ecology has been a formidable black hole, and Cadman decided to do something about it.

Data from geologgers deployed by VCE and its partners on U.S.-breeding Bobolinks has revealed astounding new information about their travels, with important conservation implications. CWS wants to know whether “their” populations, which breed at higher latitudes, also synchronously funnel into bottlenecks in South America, and how their routes and timing may differ. This year they are deploying geolocators in Ontario and New Brunswick, with plans to deploy more on the western edge of the Bobolink’s range next year.

Stay tuned for reports from the fields - literally, the fields of Bobolinks!

Darwin's Worms in all the Wrong Places

2013-05-23T08:08:00.002-04:00

Charles Darwin loved earthworms. When he wasn’t messing around trying to figure out why animals were the way they were, he was pondering earthworms. In the 19^th century most folks thought worms were a pest. But Darwin was convinced otherwise.

Darwin believed they provided an important yet unnoticed service; worms slowly turned over the soil. So he conjured up an experiment. He spread small pieces of coal across a field behind his house outside of London and left them. Decades later, he dug a trench and looked in the walls of the trench to see how far down the pieces of coal had sunk through the action of the worms turning over the soil. The soil increased in depth by 0.2 of an inch per year. After 10 years a chunk of coal on the soil surface sinks two inches. Indeed, as Darwin believed, earthworms do add a layer of digested matter on the surface bit by bit.

In Darwin’s field, that was fine and dandy. The worms were native. Here in the glaciated Northeast, they are one ugly brute. There were no earthworms as the continental glacier left a clean slate some 12,000 years ago. Any native worm species are found far to the south and move northward very slowly.

Enter the European invasion. Worms from the old world hitchhiked and found an empty new world to colonize. Today, we continue to transport them to new areas, intentionally and unintentionally, through dumping of unused fishing bait, transport of compost and mulch, and moving topsoil around.

So what’s the big deal?

Earthworms literally eat tons of leaf litter when they are introduced to the northern hardwood forest. In worm-free forests, this is done very slowly by fungi, bacteria and other native detrivores resulting in a rich, thick layer of rotting material called “duff”. Many understory plants are dependent on duff. It protects seeds from predation, extreme cold and drought and adds lots of nutrients. Add earthworms to a thick duff layer, and as Darwin found out, soon it is eaten and turned into the soil. The forest floor completely changes.

Biologists are just now beginning to understand the ramifications of this. But already one thing is clear. These little wigglers are a big problem. A lot of native understory plants appear to be very sensitive to these changes, including economic powerhouses like sugar maple and red oak seedlings. Experimental plots with and without earthworms look drastically different. Those without worms have a thick, lush growth of understory plants and those with worms are comparatively barren.

And with introduced earthworms come introduced plants. Recently, scientists have found that earthworm invasions are facilitating non-native plant invasions, probably through alteration of soil nutrients and disruption of fungal mycorrhizae that are needed by plants to help absorb nutrients.

Change the duff layer and the understory plant community and of course you change the animal community too. Recently, studies in Pennsylvania and New York found that Red-backed Salamanders, usually the most abundant vertebrate in hardwood forests, are profoundly affected by the presence of earthworms. Red-backs rely on a thick duff layer with a healthy population of tiny invertebrates to eat, both of which decline with increasing worm densities.

In their native habitat the work of earthworms might have pleased Darwin, but in a northern hardwood forest it is becoming clear that these little wigglers are a big problem.

Source: One Square Meter, a blog by K.P. McFarland

“eButterfly” Can Change a Summer Hobby into a Scientific Venture

2013-05-21T15:41:00.001-04:00

First Vermont state record for White-M Hairstreak.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – With the arrival of sunny summer days and creation of a new “citizen science” project called eButterfly, every seven-year-old child in the United States and Canada just gained the ability to become a working scientist.

This project, which is now online at e-butterfly.org, is one of the first of its type, and will allow everyone from children to senior citizens to record the butterflies they see or collect, build a virtual butterfly collection, share their sightings with others, and contribute to a scientific record of global change.

It’s free, and all you need to get started are a sharp eye, an interest in nature and a computer.

“We expect global changes in climate and other forces to have serious impacts on butterfly populations around the world,” said Katy Prudic, a research scientist at Oregon State University and founder and director of this project in the U.S. “There are estimates of general declines over 30 percent and localized extinctions.”

Butterflies, an important part of many ecosystems, are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature, population growth, urban sprawl, changes in land and water use, and many other forces, Prudic said. Experts have the ability with powerful computers to interpret these changes and better understand how they are affecting biodiversity – but they don’t have the manpower to gather all the data.

“What we need, and what we believe eButterfly will provide, is thousands of individuals collecting data on butterfly sightings all over the U.S. and Canada, for decades to come,” Prudic said. “This will be a wonderful opportunity for people to get involved in science, appreciate nature and our changing world, and interact with and enjoy biodiversity.”

Because the project taps into the natural interests of children, both rural and urban, who have been chasing butterflies and making collections for centuries, it also offers an entry into the world of science at a very young age, organizers say. Their contributions will be just as valuable as those of an adult hobbyist or working professional, and in the process they can learn about ecology, botany, entomology, geography, computers, data management, global change issues, and other science disciplines.

Slight changes in temperature and other climate factors, experts say, cause changes in butterfly development, migration, eating habits, and other behavior. Butterflies are also a good indicator of the availability of certain plants on which various species depend. And changes are inevitable.

“With the amount of global warming expected in the next 20 years, almost all butterfly species will move somewhat, in location or elevation,” Prudic said. “There may be winners and losers as these changes take place, and some species will struggle more than others. With the data we gather from this project we can monitor those changes and understand the impact on biodiversity.”

The new web site offers a tutorial in how to use it, and simple features such as a map that you can zoom in on, to provide exact latitude and longitudes of butterfly sightings. Experts will review entries for accuracy, and people will be encouraged to take digital photos to help verify their sightings.

Data from new sightings will be combined in this project with historical information from a century of museum collections, organizers say, to provide some historic perspective almost immediately.

This project is being developed in collaboration with the Montreal Space for Life, the University of Ottawa, the University of Alberta, and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies. A system for recording butterfly sightings in Mexico is not yet available, organizers said.

Source: Oregon State University Press release

Invasives plants a problem for birds

2013-05-16T22:13:00.001-04:00

VCE biologist Roz Renfrew tours a Vermont field with WCAX News to capture some great footage of Bobolinks, and talk about a looming problem for nesting and migrating birds: invasive plants.

Watch WCAX News Video

Read WCAX news story

Ode to Migration

2013-05-14T20:39:00.003-04:00

What does a Wood Thrush, a Monarch butterfly and a Common Green Darner dragonfly have in common? Each spring they all migrate great distances to the Northeast from warm southern climates to breed. We’ve know where thrushes winter in Central America. We’ve known where Monarchs winter in Mexico for nearly 40 years now. But no one knows where the darners spend their winters or how they repopulate the Northeast each spring. We cannot manage and conserve a migratory animal without knowledge of its full annual cycle.

We have joined a group of biologists that are hot on the trail of discovery. VCE is part of the Migratory Dragonfly Partnership, a group of scientists from across the United States, Canada and Mexico trying to better understand dragonfly migration. We are conducting a ground-breaking study using stable-hydrogen isotopes in the wings of dragonflies to trace spring migrants back to their natal origins, unlocking the geographic scale and connectivity of these populations.

Dragonfly migrations have been observed on every continent except Antarctica, with some species performing spectacular long- distance mass movements. The Wandering Glider dragonfly is the global insect long-distance champion, making flights across the Indian Ocean that are twice the distance of Monarch butterfly migrations. In North America, dragonfly migrations are seen annually in late summer and early fall, when thousands to millions of insects move from Canada down to Mexico and Florida and the West Indies, passing along both coasts of the United States and through the Midwest. North America may have as many as eighteen migratory dragonfly species; some engage in annual seasonal migrations, and others are more sporadic migrants.

Spring movements northward by dragonflies are rarely seen, presumably because it occurs over a wider front, over a longer time period, and with fewer individuals than in the fall. We know it happens because dragonflies appear early in spring in places where nymphs have not yet emerged.

The best-known migrant dragonfly in North America is the Common Green Darner. This species appears in early spring at northern latitudes, often seen flying before any local dragonflies have emerged. These are migrants from the south, returning from perhaps Florida, the Caribbean, or Mexico. These individuals breed soon after they arrive in spring, and their nymphs develop quickly in wetlands warmed by the summer sun. Many adults emerge in August, and instead of maturing and breeding at the same site, they begin a southward movement that may take over a month. Their destination is at present unknown but presumably the same areas thought to produce spring migrants. Migrating individuals may breed at their final destination or along the way.

Although migration is common, it is not obligatory for Common Green Darner. Populations in more northern areas are known to contain both resident and migratory individuals. These phenotypes overlap in space, but exhibit strikingly different annual phenologies that appear to limit temporal overlap in breeding. Migrants arrive at breeding ponds in March – April and larvae develop into adults in 4-5 months. Residents begin their breeding cycle roughly one month later in June – July and larvae overwinter in ponds, finally emerging as adults in May-June in the following year.

There is some evidence that air temperature plays a role in the maintenance of this phenotypic variation. Final-instar larvae of migratory phenotypes reared in the laboratory required a minimum water temperature of 8.7^oC to develop into adults. In Ontario, resident phenotypes required 20% more accumulated degree-days than migrants to complete development. These thresholds suggest that the relative size of migratory populations could vary with latitudinal gradients and temperature.

Despite the fact that it spans several countries and has been documented since at least the 1880s, North American dragonfly migration is a poorly understood phenomenon. Knowledge about migratory cues, flight pathways, population connectivity and the southern limits of overwintering grounds is still seriously lacking. This knowledge gap prevents development of international management plans and coordinated conservation actions to sustain and protect the migration. None of the dragonfly species known to be migrants in North America is currently endangered, but identifying the habitats on which migrating dragonflies rely for their transcontinental flights may help us better protect these important systems. The threats to wetland habitats, including the effects of global climate disruption, could alter environmental cues for migration, affect larval development and adult emergence times, disrupt migratory corridors, or render overwintering habitat unsuitable.

The overarching goal of this study is to understand the geographic scale and connectivity of dragonfly migration. Remarkably, we can do this by examining the chemistry locked in the dragonfly’s wings.

Stable-hydrogen isotopes are ideal for inferring natal origins dragonflies because they reflect the latitude at which body tissues were grown and because they are chemically inert once bound. Vaporizing a tiny piece of a wing in a mass spectrometer gives us the figures we need to determine the latitude of the pond where they grew up. With the help of volunteers in the field and museum collections from the past, we are sampling Common Green Darners from Mexico to Texas, over to Florida and up the eastern half of North America into Canada in a quest to better understand what might be one of North Americas most amazing animal migrations.

You can help us! Join the Dragonfly Pond Watch project or add your dragonfly observation at Odonata Central. Your observations will join thousands of others across North America to help us understand dragonfly migration.

Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge Birding and Lecture

2013-05-14T15:34:00.001-04:00

Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge is having an Open House on Saturday May 18th from 730am to 3pm. There will be a bird count beginning at 745am , taking place by boat on the river as well as on all of the walking trails. Lunch will be provided at 1130am, with a presentation by VCE ornithologist Roz Renfrew on Bobolinks that is titled “They go WHERE?”

The Open House is also the opening event for Art on the Refuge, with paintings and photographs of the natural world, especially in connection with the wildlife, plants and landscapes of the lands on the Refuge.

The Refuge is at 29 Tabor Road in West Swanton, 6 miles west of Swanton Village. The event is free and open to the public. Please register for the boat bird count at 802-868-4781.

Tongue Wagging

2013-05-13T12:09:00.003-04:00

When it comes to tongue wagging, snakes beat even the best gossipers in town. They seem to flick them in, out and about incessantly. Like the ears of a gossiper, the snake’s tongue is searching for information.

Garter snakes have especially colorful tongues – a bright red base and glossy black forked tips. It’s also a highly sensitive chemical collector. With each wag of the tongue airborne molecules are captured for analysis. Even with its mouth closed, the snake can slide its tongue through a space in its upper jaw.

Inside the mouth the forked tips of the tongue deliver the captured molecules to the vomeronasal organ (VNO), also called the Jacobson’s organ, located in the palate of the mouth below the nasal cavity. In mammals the opening to this organ is to the nose, but in snakes it opens to the mouth via small ducts. The tips of the tongue are drawn over narrow grooves in the roof of the mouth, which pass the chemical information into the ducts and up to the VNO.

The VNO has two openings in the palate. The forked tongue may actually allow the snake to have stereo chemo-sensation. If the odor is stronger on one side, the snake can ascertain the direction to the source.

The chemo-sensation of the VNO in snakes is much greater than in most mammals. The next time you see a snake, don’t be alarmed at the tongue wagging. It’s just tasting your scent.

Source: One Square Meter blog - K.P. McFarland

New Study: Climate change will cause widespread global-scale loss of common plants and animals

2013-05-12T16:57:00.000-04:00

More than half of common plants and one third of the animals could see a dramatic decline this century due to climate change – according to research from the University of East Anglia.

Research published today in the journal Nature Climate Change looked at 50,000 globally widespread and common species and found that more than one half of the plants and one third of the animals will lose more than half of their climatic range by 2080 if nothing is done to reduce the amount of global warming and slow it down.

This means that geographic ranges of common plants and animals will shrink globally and biodiversity will decline almost everywhere.

Plants, reptiles and particularly amphibians are expected to be at highest risk. Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, Amazonia and Australia would lose the most species of plants and animals. And a major loss of plant species is projected for North Africa, Central Asia and South-eastern Europe.

But acting quickly to mitigate climate change could reduce losses by 60 per cent and buy an additional 40 years for species to adapt. This is because this mitigation would slow and then stop global temperatures from rising by more than two degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial times (1765). Without this mitigation, global temperatures could rise by 4 degrees Celsius by 2100.

The study was led by Dr Rachel Warren from theTyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at UEA. Collaborators include Dr Jeremy VanDerWal at James Cook University in Australia and Dr Jeff Price, from UEA’s school of Environmental Sciences and the Tyndall Centre. The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Dr Warren said: “While there has been much research on the effect of climate change on rare and endangered species, little has been known about how an increase in global temperature will affect more common species.

“This broader issue of potential range loss in widespread species is a serious concern as even small declines in these species can significantly disrupt ecosystems.

“Our research predicts that climate change will greatly reduce the diversity of even very common species found in most parts of the world. This loss of global-scale biodiversity would significantly impoverish the biosphere and the ecosystem services it provides.

“We looked at the effect of rising global temperatures, but other symptoms of climate change such as extreme weather events, pests, and diseases mean that our estimates are probably conservative. Animals in particular may decline more as our predictions will be compounded by a loss of food from plants.

“There will also be a knock-on effect for humans because these species are important for things like water and air purification, flood control, nutrient cycling, and eco-tourism.

"The good news is that our research provides crucial new evidence of how swift action to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases can prevent the biodiversity loss by reducing the amount of global warming to 2 degrees Celsius rather than 4 degrees. This would also buy time – up to four decades - for plants and animals to adapt to the remaining 2 degrees of climate change.”

The research team quantified the benefits of acting now to mitigate climate change and found that up to 60 per cent of the projected climatic range loss for biodiversity can be avoided.

Dr Warren said: “Prompt and stringent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally would reduce these biodiversity losses by 60 per cent if global emissions peak in 2016, or by 40 per cent if emissions peak in 2030, showing that early action is very beneficial. This will both reduce the amount of climate change and also slow climate change down, making it easier for species and humans to adapt.”

Information on the current distributions of the species used in this research came from the datasets shared online by hundreds of volunteers, scientists and natural history collections through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Co-author Dr Jeff Price, also from UEA’s school of Environmental Studies, said: "Without free and open access to massive amounts of data such as those made available online through GBIF, no individual researcher is able to contact every country, every museum, every scientist holding the data and pull it all together. So this research would not be possible without GBIF and its global community of researchers and volunteers who make their data freely available."

‘Quantifying the benefit of early climate change mitigation in avoiding biodiversity loss’ is published by the journal Nature Climate Change on Sunday May 12, 2013.

Source: University of East Anglia Press Release

Don't Eat Newts

2013-05-10T20:36:00.000-04:00

It’s hard to miss the bright Red Eft roaming the woods. With the recent rain ending the dry spring, they are now wandering widely. Efts are the terrestrial form of the Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens). Like most amphibians, they have to keep their skin moist so they are most often seen crawling around when the forest is wet. One person recently reported to the Vermont Atlas of LIfe that they found 70 of them on a walk in MIddlebury, Vermont after the recent rains.

In later summer aquatic larvae may transform either directly into the adult aquatic stage or become a terrestrial eft. Bright orange and red, the efts live on land for up to four years. They eat small insects, springtails, snails, and other arthropods. As they grow older they become darker and darker until they begin to look almost like an adult Eastern Newt. They return to the water where they will mate and live the rest of their lives.

Why such an obvious, bright orange color? This is called aposematic coloration, a warning coloration that makes a poisonous animal particularly conspicuous and recognizable to predators. Their tough skin contains high concentrations of tetradotoxin, a neurotoxin and strong emetic.

Tetrodotoxin is the most poisonous non-protein substance known to biologists and similar to that found in pufferfish. It blocks the conduction of nerve signals to muscles causing blood vessels to relax and leading to a sudden drop in blood pressure and then shock. In a nutshell, the toxin blocks the signals from your brain that tell your heart to beat and lungs to breath.

When approached or attacked by a predator, efts may assume the Unken reflex, a defense posture taken by many amphibians to show off the aposematic skin. The eft flexes its mid-section making the head and tail raised and curled over the back in the shape of a horseshoe.

Efts are about ten times more toxic than the aquatic adults. Just a small amount has been shown to kill mice in a mere 10 minutes, but both forms will kill mice if eaten in high enough concentrations. Blue Jays outright reject them as food. Efts swallowed by toads or snakes have been regurgitated after 30 minutes and recovered rapidly without lasting ill effects. But not all predators are deterred. Raccoons can apparently eat efts without any apparent toxic effects.

A few years ago VCE biologist Steve Faccio brought a duck in for examination. His wife was watching the mallard on their pond when suddenly the duck shuddered and died. Steve and I performed a quick necropsy to see what it might have in its digestive tract. What we found was a surprise. There were dozens of partially digested Eastern Newts. We'll never know for sure what killed the duck, but I sure was suspicious that it chose the wrong meal.

No matter how hungry you are on a hike, whatever you do, don’t eat the newts.

Source: One Square Meter blog, Kent McFarland

Vermont Atlas of LIfe April Photo-observation Winner

2013-05-09T11:04:00.002-04:00

April is the start of spring migration for many species and our monthly photo-observation winner was an exciting highlight. Fishnek (aka Tom) presented an action photo of a Rainbow Trout that immediately grabbed the attention of many voters.

See his photo-observation at http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/248747.

Congratulations to Tom. There are still thousands of undocumented Vermont species and locations to be reported. Maybe May is your month to win!

A big thanks to JoAnne Russo, our March winner, for serving as the contest judge for April. Who wants to be our honorable volunteer judge to select four fantastic photo-observations for the May contest?

More Tree Species Diversity in Sugarbushes Reduces Maple Pest Levels

2013-05-06T16:32:00.002-04:00

A well-managed sugarbush is a unique ecosystem, producing maple syrup and providing rich habitat with significant environmental benefits, which can include forest biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Historically, sugarbushes were monocultures of sugar maples with large crowns. These sugarbushes produced sweeter sap per tree but were more vulnerable to pests and diseases, impacting long term health and sustainability of the stand.

NSRC researchers compared abundance and impacts of insect and disease pests between traditional management (90-100% sugar maple) and ecological management (25% of the basal area non-sugar maple). At nine sites (three each in USDA plant cold hardiness zones 3, 4, and 5) in New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire, researchers quantified pear thrips, maple leafcutter, sugar maple borer, maple trumpet skeletonizer, maple anthracnose, and eutypella canker incidence. Researchers estimated stand health based on tree crown transparency ratings. They determined carbon sequestration using a USDA carbon calculation tool. Researchers also surveyed sugarmakers' attitudes towards non-traditional sugarbush management.

Increased tree species diversity in sugarbushes using ecological management significantly reduced presence and impact of sugar maple insect and disease pests. Differences were similar across cold hardiness zones and sites but not always by year due to normal yearly fluctuations in pest populations. Surveys indicated that sugarmakers favored the new management style if their trees were healthier and lived longer. There was no connection between stored carbon and increased stand biodiversity, but maintaining a biologically diverse forest reduces pest damage to maple, benefits wildlife, and may strengthen forest resistance to climate change.

Download printable version (PDF)

Download full final report (PDF)

Source: http://nsrcforest.org/project/more-tree-species-diversity-sugarbushes-reduces-maple-pest-levels

Waves of Bird Song

2013-05-03T21:40:00.003-04:00

Each year as the earth travels around the sun, migratory birds wintering in the tropics are in waiting. As the northern hemisphere passes from a cold winter, tilted ever so slightly away from the sun, into the longer and warmer days of spring, they get antsy.

After a quiet winter, a Wood Thrush sings at dawn in the rainforest of Belize. Earth’s orbit is bringing changes. One early spring evening, they all lift off into the darkening sky. Millions upon millions of songbirds stream northward like a river of feathers.

The lengthening days of spring sparks the rush of hormones. Higher and higher levels of testosterone and melatonin are produced in males. The high vocal center of the brain actually increases in volume. They begin to sing more and more as they arrive on the northern breeding grounds. By late spring with the length of daylight in the north near its maximum so are the testosterone levels of a male Song Sparrow. He’s feisty and he sings almost constantly on his territory. Other Song Sparrows beware; this is his patch of land.

Its May and around the world in the northern temperate zone songbirds are excited. The breeding season is here. As sunrise and sunset circle the temperate zone each day, a wave of bird song travels with it. As twilight barely glimmers in the east each morning songbirds are proclaiming their presence.

Imagine silently traveling in a hot air balloon at 700 to 900 miles per hour westward with the rising sun just above the temperate forests and grasslands. For 24 hours you’d hear nothing but the joyous songs of spring chorusing around the globe one mile after another, repeating itself day after day the entire breeding season. From a Winter Wren in Maine to a Hermit Thrush in Vermont, onto a Wood Thrush in Ohio, Kirtland’s Warbler in Michigan, Savannah Sparrows in North Dakota, Townsend’s Solitaire in Idaho, an American Dipper singing over the roar of a river in Washington. Just a few that you’d hear as you glide with the sun across North America. Millions of songbirds on continents to the west await the rising sun. Wave after wave of songbird chorus travels around the globe.

The chorus is music to our ears. For many of us in the north, we have had months of near bird silence. Our world is a cold and quiet one for much of the year. I once heard an ornithologist from the tropics exclaim that those of us in the temperate zone are such keen birders because each year we understand what it would be like to lose most of our birds only to be renewed each spring. Bird song is present year-round in the tropics. The strong sense of wonder of a morning bird chorus perhaps comes from not having it for most of the year. It’s the same excitement we get when we see the first fresh spring wildflower or the sudden appearance of green trees. It’s auditory wonder, scientific wonder, and spiritual wonder. It’s an annual miracle.

Source: One Square Meter - K.P. McFarland blog

Effects of European Buckthorn on Amphibian and Mammal Populations

2013-05-03T12:43:00.005-04:00

Two new studies slated to be published in upcoming editions of the Journal of Herpetology and Natural Areas Journal demonstrate how this non-native shrub is toxic to amphibian embryos, and affects habitat use by mammals by increasing prevalence of coyotes and other carnivores. Read the full article here.