A large-scale model for the at-sea distribution and abundance of Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) during the breeding season in coastal British Columbia, Canada

Review article: Thirty years of analysing and modelling avian habitat relationships using satellite imagery data: a review

“…The use of logistic and multiple regressions to predict species distribution has strongly increased since the 1990s (e.g. Avery and Haines-Young 1990, Lauga and Joachim 1992, Griffiths et al 1993, Austin et al 1996, Nøhr and Jørgensen 1997, Saveraid et al 2001, Huettmann and Diamond 2001, Osborne et al 2001, Meyer et al 2002, Jepsen et al 2002, SuarezSeoane et al 2002, Jeganathan et al 2004, Venier et al 2004, Yen et al 2004). …”

“…Mostly, simple counts of sightings of bird species or their nests were conducted. This was carried out in systematic and non-systematic ways, and sometimes with the help of tools such as aircraft (Briggs et al 1984, Hodgson et al 1987, 1988, Haney 1989b, helicopter (Wallin et al 1992, Herr and Queen 1993, Morrison 1997, Jenkins et al 2003a, boat (Briggs et al 1984, Haney and McGillivary 1985a, Briggs et al 1987, Haney 1989b, Huettmann and Diamond 2001, Yen et al 2004, canoe (Groom and Grubb 2002), radio telemetry (Young et al 1987, Hunsaker et al 2002, Fearer and Stauffer 2003 or satellite telemetry (Guinet et al 1995, Jouventin et al 1994, Rodhouse et al 1996. A direct link between bird breeding sites and satellite imagery was applied by Guinet et al (1995) and Schwaller et al (1984Schwaller et al ( , 1986Schwaller et al ( , 1989.…”

“…With the help of NOAA AVHRR imagery often the actual or integrated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was calculated to produce maps of primary production or to detect green biomass (Wallin et al 1992, Andries et al 1994, Hepinstall and Sader 1997, Verlinden and Masogo 1997, Osborne et al 2001, Saveraid et al 2001, in order to detect habitat change (Sader et al 1991, Debinski et al 2000, to map wetland distribution (Roshier et al 2001) or to explain the distribution of centres of bird endemism (Johnson et al 1998). The NOAA AVHRR Climate Data Set incorporating values of atmospheric temperatures and sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic and the Pacific, were used for instance by Haney (1989b), Jouventin et al (1994), Rodhouse et al (1996), Huettmann and Diamond (2001), Meyer et al (2002) and Yen et al (2004) to analyse seabird habitats or to model their distribution. A radar ERS image was applied by Thibault et al (1998) to investigate ice-cover on a river.…”

“…Except for nine studies (Priede 1983, Haney and McGillivary 1985a, Briggs et al 1987, Haney 1989b, Jouventin et al 1994, Guinet et al 1995, Rodhouse et al 1996, Huettmann and Diamond 2001, Yen et al 2004, the use of remote sensing imagery for bird habitat investigations deals with terrestrial habitats. Most studies do not provide an exact percentage of the different types of habitat that are investigated.…”

Estimating 30-year change in coastal old‑growth habitat for a forest-nesting seabird in British Columbia, Canada

“…It is estimated that British Columbia, the sole range of breeding marbled murrelets in Canada, is home to approximately 99 600 marbled murrelets (72 600-125 600, Bertram et al 2007). Details of the spatial distribution of the murrelet population within British Columbia are limited; marine environments have not been systematically surveyed across the province (but see Yen et al 2004), and their cryptic nesting behaviour makes them difficult to study, especially in remote terrestrial locations (Canadian Marbled Murrelet Recovery Team, CMMRT 2003). While marine surveys, along with historical anecdotes of abundance, have suggested a sharp decline in marbled murrelet populations in some areas, other data suggest some stable populations in British Columbia (e.g.…”