Pond Characteristics and Occupancy by Red-Necked Phalaropes in the Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada

Walpole, Bree; Nol, Erica; Johnston, Vicky

doi:10.14430/arctic50

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Lake drying, coupled with increased competition from a thriving Canada goose population, could contribute to this population decline, as adequate wetland and small lake habitat become more and more scarce. Additionally, red‐necked phalarope populations are highly reliant on shallow freshwater ponds for social interactions, copulation, and foraging, so a decline in small water bodies could jeopardize habitat availability (Walpole et al, ). However, to date, few, if any, studies have directly monitored migratory bird populations and distributions around the Kangerlussuaq area, so more research is necessary to understand the consequences of lake drying on these potentially vulnerable animal populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing Lake Dynamics Indicate a Drier Arctic in Western Greenland

et al. 2019

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The water balance of the Arctic tundra is shifting as permafrost stability, seasonality, and the ratio of precipitation to evaporation respond to amplified Arctic warming. While in some northern tundra locations there has been a notable increase in the number of water bodies, generally, the tundra landscape has experienced a decline in the number and area of lakes. We analyzed changes in small lake count (<10,000 m 2 ), large lake count (>10,000 m 2 ), and lake surface area across the periglacial tundra of western Greenland, using historical satellite and aerial imagery and weather data from the late 1960s to present. Overall, we found a decrease in lake count (21%) and surface area (2%) across our study region. Specifically, smaller ponds were particularly prone to change, with decreases of 28% in count and 15% in surface area. Shrinking lakes often became revegetated by both emergent aquatic and terrestrial vegetation, which captures potential successional trajectories following Arctic lake drying. Additionally, while annual precipitation may be increasing, it occurred primarily during the winter months in the form of snow, which may or may not contribute to the overall growing season water budget. Conversely, the peak growing season months of June, July, and August all have experienced significant increases in potential evaporation rates, thus likely creating a water deficit for much of the growing season. These results suggest that a large section of deglaciated Greenland appears likely to become drier in the summer months, which may result in widespread ecological consequences.Plain Language Summary Arctic tundra environments may become drier as the climate continues to warm, due to changes in precipitation and evaporation patterns, and losses of permanent ground ice. In many Arctic systems, lakes are widely distributed and thus can serve as an early indicator of drying conditions. We predicted that our study region of west Greenland would be particularly susceptible to drying due to low levels of precipitation and observed warming trends at a rate of approximately 0.5°C per decade. Using historical and modern satellite and aerial imagery, we observed a decrease in the number of small lakes by 28% and a 15% decrease in the total area of smaller water bodies between 1969 and 2017. Additionally, we found that many of the disappeared lakes from 1969 appeared to have become vegetated. An analysis of historical weather data suggested that water losses to the atmosphere via evaporation have likely increased, especially in the summer months, which may be contributing to observed lake decline. Declining small lake area across our study region and other parts of the Arctic can have landscape-wide effects such as changes to available animal habitat, increases in the risk of fire, and to the prevalence of drought conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing Lake Dynamics Indicate a Drier Arctic in Western Greenland

et al. 2019

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“…Log likelihood (-2Áln L), number of parameters (k), Akaike's information criterion (AIC), AIC adjusted for small sample size (AIC c ), difference in AIC c (DAIC c ), and Akaike weights (w i ) are provided for the subset of most parsimonious models (DAIC c 4) deduced from multiple, unconditional logistic regression analysis to predict Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) mesohabitat (home range) occupancy in (a) 2005 (use mesohabitat, n = 33; nonuse sites, n = 33) and (b) 2006 (use mesohabitat, n = 63; nonuse sites, n = 50). and a stage where prebreeding social interactions took place (Höhn 1971;Rodrigues 1994;Walpole et al 2008). Although we occasionally observed adult Red-necked Phalaropes seizing invertebrates from stalks of graminoid vegetation, the air, or damp and exposed mud, they typically spent the majority of their time feeding on surface invertebrates in freshwater ponds (Rubega et al 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breeding habitat preference and nest success of Red-necked Phalaropes on Niglintgak Island, Northwest Territories

2008

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Red-necked Phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus (L., 1758)) breed throughout arctic and subarctic wetlands. These wetlands provide Red-necked Phalaropes dense graminoid habitat that shelters and conceals nests, and freshwater ponds where phalaropes engage in social interactions and feed on small aquatic invertebrates. We studied breeding habitat preference of Red-necked Phalaropes at multiple scales and determined which, if any, nest-site characteristics influenced hatching success. Red-necked Phalaropes avoided habitat at the meso (home range) scale containing large areas of mud and shrub cover, and selected sites with greater cover of graminoids, aquatic emergents, and open water than that available in the environment. At the micro (nest) scale, phalaropes chose sites dominated by graminoids and water. In 2005, concealed nests experienced higher daily nest survival than exposed nests. In 2006, 40% of nests were destroyed during a summer storm surge and we detected no differences in habitat characteristics between the remaining successful and unsuccessful nests. We suggest that annual differences in the adaptive value of nest-site selection depend on the relative abundance of mammalian and avian predators. A habitat model using data at the meso scale correctly identified phalarope habitat and has the potential to be used broadly across the western Arctic.Résumé : Les phalaropes à bec étroit (Phalaropus lobatus (L., 1758)) se reproduisent dans l'ensemble des terres humides des régions arctique et subarctique. Ces terres humides procurent aux phalaropes à bec étroit un habitat de graminoïdes denses qui protège et dissimule les nids et des étangs d'eau douce dans lesquels les phalaropes mènent leurs interactions sociales et se nourrissent de petits invertébrés aquatiques. Nous étudions les préférences d'habitat de reproduction des phalaropes à bec étroit à plusieurs échelles et déterminons, lorsqu'il y a lieu, les caractéristiques des sites de nidification qui influencent le succès de l'éclosion. À l'échelle moyenne (du domaine vital), les phalaropes à bec étroit évitent les habitats contenant de grandes étendues de boue et une couverture de buissons et choisissent des sites avec une couverture plus importante de graminoïdes, de plantes aquatiques émergentes et d'eau libre que les sites généralement disponibles dans le milieu. À l'échelle fine (du nid), les phalaropes sélectionnent les sites dominés par les graminoïdes et l'eau. En 2005, les nids cachés ont connu une survie journalière des petits au nid plus élevée que les nids exposés. En 2006, 40 % des nids ont été détruits durant une vague de tempêtes estivales et nous ne détectons aucune différence de caractéristiques entre les nids restants qu'ils aient eu ou non du succès. Nous croyons que les différences annuelles de valeur adaptative du choix du site de nidification dépendent de l'abondance des mammifères et des oiseaux prédateurs. Un modèle d'habitat basé sur des données à l'échelle moyenne identifie correctement l'habitat des phalaropes et peut potentiellement ...

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Pond Characteristics and Occupancy by Red-Necked Phalaropes in the Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada

Cited by 2 publications

References 28 publications

Changing Lake Dynamics Indicate a Drier Arctic in Western Greenland

Changing Lake Dynamics Indicate a Drier Arctic in Western Greenland

Breeding habitat preference and nest success of Red-necked Phalaropes on Niglintgak Island, Northwest Territories

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