PARENT SESSION
Symposium 20: Defining and Applying Environmental Indicators in Coastal Ecosystems
Organized by: R Howe and G Niemi
Thursday, August 7. 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM, SITCC Chatham Ballroom B.
What can birds and amphibians indicate about the ecological condition of coastal ecosystems?
Hanowski, JoAnn*,1, Howe, Robert2, Smith, Charles3, Marks, David2, Price, Steve2, 1 University of Minnesota-Duluth, Duluth, MN2 University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI3 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
ABSTRACT- Birds have a long and successful history as being useful indicators of environmental condition in many ecosystems. In contrast, we are just beginning to understand amphibian ecology and their potential response to environmental disturbances. Individually, or together, these two animal groups likely respond to anthropogenic disturbance type and severity differently from each other. Birds are sensitive to habitat alteration within small and large areas, while amphibians may be better indicators of chemical stressors in the environment. Our objective was to develop a suite of indicators derived from monitoring amphibian and bird populations in wetland and upland systems that could be used to document the condition of coastal ecosystems of the Great Lakes. We selected wetlands and adjacent upland sampling areas along a disturbance gradient defined by physical, chemical, and biological stressor data from the study area. Surveys for calling anurans and breeding birds were conducted in over 200 coastal wetlands throughout the Great Lakes Basin in 2002 and 2003. In addition, coastal upland breeding birds surveys were completed in 180 shoreline segments during the same time period. Breeding bird and amphibian indicators were developed and their response to the disturbance gradient was used to assess their usefulness. Preliminary results suggest that breeding birds (upland and wetland) are excellent indicators of physical land-use stressors in the coastal region. It was more difficult to develop indicators for calling anurans because few species occur in the coastal wetlands surveyed. However, combining wetland bird and amphibian parameters shows promise for their usefulness in indicating condition of coastal ecosystems.
Key words: birds, great lakes, indicators, amphibians