Arctic Project
Week 1		Arctic Project
Week 2		 Arctic Project
Week 3		 Arctic Project
Week 4		 Background on Shorebirds

Arctic Shorebird Project

Shorebirds: Champion Long-Distance Migrants
Shorebirds complete astounding pole-to-pole migrations each year, facing multiple threats to their survival along the way. Fourteen species breed on Alaska's North Slope, which includes the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska where drilling is already underway.
Six species are designated as high priority in the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan. One species, the American Golden-Plover, flies non-stop from eastern Canada to South America, covering over 2,500 miles in two days during their annual migration from arctic breeding sites to wintering grounds. Shorebirds need our help to protect critical breeding and migration sites

Manomet's Arctic Shorebird Project

Manomet is leading a project to fill in the huge information gaps about shorebird breeding requirements and to develop habitat protection and management protocols on the North Slope, working in cooperation with research, government, industry and conservation groups. We are working on two major projects. First, we are collaborating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to complete the first study of breeding shorebird distribution throughout the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

This study will help us understand which habitats within the Refuge are most important for breeding shorebirds. Second, we are playing a lead role in the development of a new shorebird monitoring program called the Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring, or PRISM. PRISM includes arctic and temperate monitoring projects. The overall goal of PRISM is determining the population size and trend for all of our shorebirds.

Shorebird Distribution in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

When the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was established, efforts were made to study the wildlife of the region, and a great deal is known about the large mammals using the area, including polar bears and caribou.But very little is known about the shorebirds using the Refuge.Our goal is to develop a habitat map and complete a survey of shorebird habitats throughout the coastal plain. Our work in collaboration with Arctic Refuge staff and US Fish and Wildlife Service biologists will provide the first complete survey of breeding shorebirds, showing what species are using each type of habitat, and the areas where they concentrate. This information will help protect the most important areas from disturbance.

The Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (PRISM)                                           This new program is a cooperative effort spearheaded by the U.S. Geological Survey to meet the monitoring goals of the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan, which Manomet coordinated. The overall goal is to determine the current population size of each species of shorebird, and the population trend, so that appropriate management and conservation efforts can be established. The program includes efforts to monitor migrating shorebirds in the lower 48, and extensive surveys to monitor breeding shorebirds in the arctic. The program is international, and involves the efforts of wildlife agencies in both the U.S. and Canada to implement the arctic surveys. Because the arctic is a vast area, we use helicopters to access remote areas. The survey uses a helicopter to access many remote locations where shorebirds are counted. Manomet is supporting PRISM in several ways: in the field as a field research partner; working on the design of the overall program; and organizing efforts to provide full funding to the US Fish and Wildlife Service to implement PRISM internationally.

Please Help!

Your contribution will support our staff, transportation, and equipment necessary to work in the Arctic. This work is urgently needed to protect shorebirds throughout this increasingly threatened region. Stephen Brown, Director of Manomet's Shorebird Conservation and Research Program, can provide more information about our projects and goals.

 

Stephen Brown

Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences

P.O. Box 1770

Manomet, MA 02345

508-224-6521

sbrown@manomet.org