Volume 45, No. 1
Volumes > 38 (2010-->)
- Volume 52, No. 1, 2024
- Volume 51, No. 2, 2023
- Volume 51, No. 1, 2023
- Volume 50, No. 2, 2022
- Volume 50, No. 1, 2022
- Volume 49, No. 2, 2021
- Volume 49, No. 1, 2021
- Volume 48, No. 2, 2020
- Volume 48, No. 1, 2020
- Volume 47, No. 2, 2019
- Volume 47, No. 1, 2019
- Volume 46, No. 2, 2018
- Volume 46, No. 1, 2018
- Volume 45, No. 2, 2017
- Volume 45, No. 1, 2017
- Volume 44, No. 2, 2016
- Volume 44, No. 1, 2016
- Volume 43, No. 2, 2015
- Volume 43, No. 1, 2015
- Volume 42, No. 2, 2014
- Volume 42, No. 1, 2014
- Volume 41, No. 2, 2013
- Volume 41, No. 1, 2013
- Volume 41, Special Issue, 2013
- Volume 40, No. 2, 2012
- Volume 40, No. 1, 2012
- Volume 39, No. 2, 2011
- Volume 39, No. 1, 2011
- Volume 38, No. 2, 2010
- Volume 38, No. 1, 2010
Volumes 28-37 (2000-09)
- Volume 37, No. 3, 2009
- Volume 37, No. 2, 2009
- Volume 37, No. 1, 2009
- Volume 36, No. 2, 2008
- Volume 36, No. 1, 2008
- Volume 35, No. 2, 2007
- Volume 35, No. 1, 2007
- Volume 34, No. 2, 2006
- Volume 34, No. 1, 2006
- Volume 33, No. 2, 2005
- Volume 33, No. 1, 2005
- Volume 32, No. 2, 2004
- Volume 32, No. 1, 2004
- Volume 31, No. 2, 2003
- Volume 31, No. 1, 2003
- Volume 30, No. 2, 2002
- Volume 30, No. 1, 2002
- Volume 29, No. 2, 2001
- Volume 29, No. 1, 2001
- Volume 28, No. 2, 2000
- Volume 28, No. 1, 2000
Volumes 18-27 (1990-99)
- Volume 27, No. 1 & 2, 1999
- Volume 26, No. 1 & 2, 1998
- Volume 24, No. 1 & 2, 1996
- Volume 25, No. 1 & 2, 1997
- Volume 23, No. 2, 1995
- Volume 23, No. 1, 1995
- Volume 22, No. 2, 1994
- Volume 22, No. 1, 1994
- Volume 21, No. 1 & 2, 1993
- Volume 20, No. 1 & 2, 1992
- Volume 19, No. 1, 1991
- Volume 18, No. 1 & 2, 1990
Volumes 5-17 (1978-89) a.k.a 'Cormorant'
- Volume 17, No. 1 & 2, 1989
- Volume 16, No. 1, 1988
- Volume 16, No. 2, 1988
- Volume 15, No. 1 & 2, 1987
- Volume 14, No. 1 & 2, 1987
- Volume 13, No. 2, 1986
- Volume 13, No. 1, 1986
- Volume 12, No. 2, 1985
- Volume 12, No. 1, 1985
- Volume 11, No. 1 & 2, 1984
- Volume 10, No. 2, 1983
- Volume 10, No. 1, 1983
- Volume 9, No. 2, 1982
- Volume 9, No. 1, 1982
- Volume 8, No. 2, 1981
- Volume 8, No. 1, 1981
- Volume 7, 1980
- Volume 5, 1978
Search by author or title:
The ups and downs of ecosystem engineering by burrow-nesting seabirds on Triangle Island, British Columbia
Citation
RODWAY, M.S., WILSON, L.K., LEMON, M.J.F. & MILLIKIN, R.L. 2017. The ups and downs of ecosystem engineering by burrow-nesting seabirds on Triangle Island, British Columbia. Marine Ornithology 45: 47 - 55
Received 20 August 2015, accepted 13 December 2015
Date Published: 2017/04/15
Date Online: 2017/02/28
Key words: burrow nesting, Cassin's Auklet, ecosystem engineer, habitat selection, island restoration, population recovery, Rhinoceros Auklet, seabird
Abstract
Some plant communities develop as a result of chemical and physical perturbations by burrowing seabirds and are affected when those activities are reduced. Declines in burrow density and population size of Cassin's Auklets Ptychoramphus aleuticus at their largest breeding colony on Triangle Island, British Columbia, from 1989 to 2009, have been associated with decreases in tufted hairgrass Deschampsia cespitosa and increases in salmonberry Rubus spectabilis cover. These habitat changes may inhibit population recovery because Cassin's Auklets prefer tufted hairgrass and tend to avoid tall salmonberry for nesting. Surveys conducted in 2014 suggested a reversal in the population trend and provided an opportunity to compare vegetation changes during periods of increasing and decreasing burrow density. We hypothesized that decreased burrowing by seabirds allows salmonberry to invade and outcompete grass as the dominant cover and that increased burrowing reverses those trends. We related changes in vegetation composition to trends in burrow numbers within permanent plots established to monitor Cassin's and Rhinoceros Cerorhinca monocerata auklets on Triangle Island over a 25-year period. Trends in salmonberry cover and burrow numbers were negatively related. Decreases in salmonberry cover were directly correlated to increases in burrow numbers within plots, but, as found previously, increases in salmonberry cover were not directly correlated with decreasing numbers of burrows. There was no corresponding increase in grass cover with increasing burrow numbers. Vegetation damage and reduction due to seabird activities is probably more immediately apparent than establishment, spread or recovery of vegetation following seabird impacts. Our results confirm that biopedturbation by burrow-nesting seabirds negatively affects and reduces percent cover of woody shrubs, but only when burrow densities are increasing or high. At lower or declining burrow densities, seabird activities are inadequate to halt what may be the natural succession to mainly salmonberry cover on this non-forested island.
References
Bancroft, W.J., Garkaklis, M.J. & Roberts, J.D. 2005a. Burrow building in seabird colonies: a soil-forming process in island ecosystems. Pedobiologia 49: 149-165.
Bancroft, W.J., Roberts, J.D. & Garkaklis, M.J. 2005b. Burrowing seabirds drive decreased diversity and structural complexity, and increased productivity in insular vegetation communities. Australian Journal of Botany 53: 231-241.
Barker, O.E. & Derocher, A.E. 2010. Habitat selection by arctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus parryii). Journal of Mammalogy 91: 2151-1260.
Carl, G.C., Guiget, C.J. & Hardy, G.A. 1951. Biology of the Scott Island group, British Columbia. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Provincial Museum.
Chapuis, J.L., Frenot, Y. & Lebouvier, M. 2004. Recovery of native plant communities after eradication of rabbits from the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands, and influence of climate change. Biological Conservation 117: 167-179.
Croll, D.A., Maron, J.L., Estes, J.A., Danner, E.M. & Byrd, G.V. 2005. Introduced predators transform subarctic islands from grassland to tundra. Science 307: 1959-1961.
Donlan, C.J., Croll, D.A. & Tershy, B.R. 2003. Islands, exotic herbivores, and invasive plants: Their roles in coastal California restoration. Restoration Ecology 11: 524-530.
Durrett, M.S. & Mulder, C.P.H. 2011. The state of seabird island ecology: current synthesis and global outlook. In: MULDER, C.P.H., ANDERSON, W.B., TOWNS, D.R. & BELLINGHAM, P.J. (Eds.) Seabird Islands: Ecology, Invasion and Restoration. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 393-424.
Ellis, J.C. 2005. Marine birds on land: a review of plant biomass, species richness, and community composition in seabird colonies. Plant Ecology 181: 227-241.
Ellis, J.C., Bellingham, P.J., Cameron, E.K., ET AL. 2011. Effects of seabirds on plant communities. In: MULDER, C.P.H., ANDERSON, W.B., TOWNS, D.R. & BELLINGHAM, P.J. (Eds.) Seabird Islands: Ecology, Invasion and Restoration. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 177-211.
Fukami, T., Wardle, D.A., Bellingham, P.J., ET
AL. 2006. Above- and below-ground impacts of introduced predators in seabird-dominated island ecosystems. Ecology Letters 9: 1299–1307.
Furness, R.W. 1991. The occurrence of burrow-nesting among birds and its influence on soil fertility and stability. In: MEADOWS, P.S. (Ed.) The Environmental Impact of Burrowing Animals and Animal Burrows. London: Clarendon Press. pp. 53-67.
Gillham, M.E. 1956a. Ecology of the Pembrokeshire Islands: IV. Effects of treading and burrowing by birds and mammals. Journal of Ecology 44: 51-82.
Gillham, M.E. 1956b. Ecology of the Pembrokeshire Islands: V. Manuring by the colonial seabirds and mammals, with a note on seed distribution by gulls. Journal of Ecology 44: 429-454.
Grant-Hoffman, M.N., Mulder, C.P.H. & Bellingham, P.J. 2010. Effects of invasive rats and burrowing seabirds on seeds and seedlings on New Zealand islands. Oecologia 162: 1005-1016.
Hipfner, J.M., Lemon, M.J.F. & Rodway, M.S. 2010. Introduced mammals, vegetation changes, and seabird conservation on the Scott Islands, British Columbia, Canada. Bird Conservation International 20: 295-305.
Jones, C.G., Lawton, J.H., & Shachak, M. 1994. Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos 69: 373-386.
Jones, C.G., Lawton, J.H. & Shachak, M. 1997. Positive and negative effects of organisms as physical ecosystem engineers. Ecology 78: 1946-1957.
Jones, H.P., TOWNS, D.R., BODEY, T., ET AL. 2011. Recovery and restoration on seabird islands. In: MULDER, C.P.H., ANDERSON, W.B., TOWNS, D.R. & BELLINGHAM, P.J. (Eds.) Seabird Islands: Ecology, Invasion and Restoration. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 317-357.
Klinka, K, Krajina, V.J., Ceska, A. & Scagel, A.M. 1989. Indicator Plants of Coastal British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press.
Klinkenberg, B. (Ed.) 2014. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia. [Available online at: eflora.bc.ca. Accessed 21 April 2015].
McClary, M. 2014. Habitat selection. Encyclopedia of Earth. [Available online at: http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Habitat_selection. Accessed 13 January 2017]
McKechnie, S. 2006. Biopedturbation by an island ecosystem engineer: burrowing volumes and litter deposition by sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 33: 259-265.
Morris, D.W., Clark, R.G. & Boycec, M.S. 2008. Habitat and habitat selection: theory, tests, and implications. Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution 54: 287-294.
Mulder, C.P.H., Grant-Hoffman, M.N., Towns, D.R., ET AL. 2009. Direct and indirect effects of rats: does rat eradication restore ecosystem functioning of New Zealand seabird islands? Biological Invasions 11: 1671-1688.
Mulder, C.P.H., Jones, H.P., Kameda, K., ET AL. 2011. Impacts of seabirds on plant and soil properties. In: MULDER, C.P.H., ANDERSON, W.B., TOWNS, D.R. & BELLINGHAM, P.J. (Eds.) Seabird Islands: Ecology, Invasion and Restoration. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 135-176.
Roberts, C.M., Duncan, R.P. & Wilson, K.-J. 2007. Burrowing seabirds affect forest regeneration, Rangatira Island, Chatham Islands, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 31: 208-222.
RODWAY, M.S. 1991. Status and conservation of breeding seabirds of British Columbia. In: CROXALL, J.P. (Ed.) Seabird status and conservation: a supplement. ICBP Technical Publication No. 11. Cambridge, UK: International Council for Bird Preservation. pp. 43-102.
Rodway, M.S. & Lemon, M.J.F. 2011. Use of permanent plots to monitor trends in burrow-nesting seabird populations in British Columbia. Marine Ornithology 39: 243-253.
RODWAY, M.S., LEMON, M.J.F. & SUMMERS, K.R. 1990. British Columbia seabird colony inventory: report #4 — Scott Islands. Technical Report Series No. 86. Delta, BC: Canadian Wildlife Service.
Rodway, M.S., Lemon, M.J.F. & Summers, K.R. 1992. Seabird breeding populations in the Scott Islands, British Columbia, 1982 to 1989. In: VERMEER, K. & BUTLER, R.W. (Eds.) The ecology, status and conservation of marine and shoreline birds on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Occasional Paper No. 75. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Wildlife Service. pp. 52-59.
Rodway, M.S., Regehr, H.M. & Chardine, J.W. 2003. Status of the largest colony of Atlantic Puffins in North America. Canadian Field-Naturalist 117: 70-75.
Russell, J.C. 2011. Indirect effects of introduced predators on seabird islands. In: MULDER, C.P.H., ANDERSON, W.B., TOWNS, D.R. & BELLINGHAM, P.J. (Eds.) Seabird Islands: Ecology, Invasion and Restoration. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 261-279.
Smith, J.L., Mulder, C.P.H. & Ellis, J.C. 2011. Seabirds as ecosystem engineers: nutrient inputs and physical disturbance. In: MULDER, C.P.H., ANDERSON, W.B., TOWNS, D.R. & BELLINGHAM, P.J. (Eds.) Seabird Islands: Ecology, Invasion and Restoration. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 27-55.
THOMSON, R.E. 1981. Oceanography of the British Columbia coast. Special Publication No. 56. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
Vermeer, K., Vermeer, R.A., Summers, K.R. & Billings, R.R. 1979. Numbers and habitat selection of Cassin's Auklet breeding on Triangle Island, British Columbia. Auk 96: 143-151.
Wright, J.P & Jones, C.G. 2006. The concept of organisms as ecosystem engineers ten year on: progress, limitations, and challenges. Bioscience 56: 203-209.
Young, I.R., Zieger, S. & Babanin, A.V. 2011. Global trends in wind speed and wave height. Science 332: 451-455.