University of Rhode Island DigitalCommons@URI Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications Natural Resources Science 2012 Energy-Based Carrying Capacities of Bufflehead Bucephala albeola Wintering Habitats Richard A. McKinney Scott R. McWilliams University of Rhode Island,
[email protected] Creative Commons License Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/nrs_facpubs Citation/Publisher Attribution McKinney, R. A., & McWilliams, S. R. (2012). Energy-Based Carrying Capacities of Bufflehead Bucephala albeola Wintering Habitats. The Open Ornithology Journal, 5, 5-17. doi: 10.2174/1874453201205010005 Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1874453201205010005 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Natural Resources Science at DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Open Ornithology Journal, 2012, 5, 5-17 5 Open Access Energy-Based Carrying Capacities of Bufflehead Bucephala albeola Wintering Habitats Richard A. McKinney*,1 and Scott R. McWilliams2 1US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Atlantic Ecology Division, 27 Tarzwell Drive, Narragansett, RI 02882, USA 2Department of Natural Resources Science, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA Abstract: We present a model for calculating energy-based carrying capacities for bufflehead (Bucephala albeola), a small North American sea duck wintering in coastal and estuarine habitats. Our model uses estimates of the seasonal energy expenditures that incorporate site-specific energetic costs of thermoregulation, along with available prey energy densities to calculate carrying capacities in numbers of birds per winter.