WaterbirdsWaterbirds onon differentdifferent wetlandwetland typestypes

Result: (waterbird abundance) Result: (shorebirds & tides)

700 300 15 51 600 51 250 500 200 400 150 300 50 100 200 14 51 50 100 22

51 Mean shorebird number

Mean waterbird abundance waterbird Mean 0 0 Introduction Treatment Brackish Freshwater Mudflats Saltmarsh Completely covered Partially covered Barely covered Arcata Marsh wetland types Amount of water on mudflat Discussion Wetlands have many ecological roles and are of vital importance to birds (Gill 1995). ¾ A great diversity of wetland birds make • Treatment and brackish habitats attracted most waterbirds. use of the Arcata Marsh. Waterbirds may utilize different • Tidal patterns influenced shorebird numbers. wetland types in accordance with their ¾ Plans to create additional wetlands are ability to capture prey, their need for cover currently under consideration. from wetland plants and their salinity • Different kinds of waterbirds favored different wetland types. tolerance (Owen & Black 1990, Weller 1999). ¾ Our counts in October indicate that Result: (waterbirds & wetland types) waterfowl and shorebirds were the The HSU Wildlife Techniques class (Fall ’’02) most abundant bird types. launched a study to determine: Treatment water Spartina saltmash Key habitat for ¾ Additional treatment ponds may attract ¾ Which of the wetlands at the Arcata Marsh Attracts few waterfowl larger numbers of wetland birds, attract most wetland birds? waterbirds particularly waterfowl.

¾ Factors influencing waterbird abundance? ¾ Additional brackish and freshwater sites, complete with central islands, may ¾ Which bird types favor which wetland type? attract most wetland bird diversity. Freshwater Methods Key habitat for ¾ We observed waterbirds on 5 wetland types: waterfowl & large Literature Cited treatment, brackish, freshwater, mudflat, wading birds Spartina and Spartina saltmarsh. Gill FB 1995. Ornithology. W.H. Freeman New York.

¾ We conducted 51 counts at each site - spread Owen M & Black JM 1990. Waterfowl Ecology. evenly among daylight hours and tidal conditions Blackie Publishers, Glasgow, Scotland. - for 17 days in Oct 2002. - for 17 days in Oct 2002. Brackish Weller M 1999. Wetland birds : habitat resources Mudflat Key habitat for and conservation implications. Cambridge ¾ Key habitat for University Press, Cambridge, England. ¾ Waterbirds were categorized as: shorebirds, waterfowl shorebirds & waterfowl, shorebirds, large wading birds, & some seabirds. seabirds, and gulls/terns. some waterfowl

Reference to this poster: Black, J.M. 2002. Waterbirds on different wetland types. http://www.humboldt.edu/~jmb7002/c_311.html/posterf02 (your date of viewing). Students: Charles E Ables, Kurt Bainbridge, Daniel S Battaglia, Sandra L Bedynek, Joshua L Chapman, Lindsay S Dembosz, Nicole R Edmison, Stacy M Gustin, Braden C Hogan, Nicholas Kerhoulas, Rhiannon Klingonsmith, Keith E Lackeyy,, Kelly D Lesher, Brendan R Lynch,nch, Katie Moriartyy,, Marc G Muller,Muller, Matthew T Nannizzi, Timothy P Nelson,Nelson, Eric G Nolte,Nolte, Melissa C Odell,Odell, Steven A Quartieri, Stanley H Roberts,JacobRoberts,Jacob C Robinson,MarcRobinson,Marc D Schmidt,Schmidt, Timothy J Searl,JoellenSearl,Joellen Sims,Sims, Theresa M Spang, Jeremy P Todoroff,ChristoTodoroff,Christopher M Tonra, Darren K Trawick, and Steve J Tucker