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Distribution patterns of wintering sea ducks in relation to the North Atlantic Oscillation and local environmental characteristics

  • Population ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Twelve species of North American sea ducks (Tribe Mergini) winter off the eastern coast of the United States and Canada. Yet, despite their seasonal proximity to urbanized areas in this region, there is limited information on patterns of wintering sea duck habitat use. It is difficult to gather information on sea ducks because of the relative inaccessibility of their offshore locations, their high degree of mobility, and their aggregated distributions. To characterize environmental conditions that affect wintering distributions, as well as their geographic ranges, we analyzed count data on five species of sea ducks (black scoters Melanitta nigra americana, surf scoters M. perspicillata, white-winged scoters M. fusca, common eiders Somateria mollissima, and long-tailed ducks Clangula hyemalis) that were collected during the Atlantic Flyway Sea Duck Survey for ten years starting in the early 1990s. We modeled count data for each species within ten-nautical-mile linear survey segments using a zero-inflated negative binomial model that included four local-scale habitat covariates (sea surface temperature, mean bottom depth, maximum bottom slope, and a variable to indicate if the segment was in a bay or not), one broad-scale covariate (the North Atlantic Oscillation), and a temporal correlation component. Our results indicate that species distributions have strong latitudinal gradients and consistency in local habitat use. The North Atlantic Oscillation was the only environmental covariate that had a significant (but variable) effect on the expected count for all five species, suggesting that broad-scale climatic conditions may be directly or indirectly important to the distributions of wintering sea ducks. Our results provide critical information on species–habitat associations, elucidate the complicated relationship between the North Atlantic Oscillation, sea surface temperature, and local sea duck abundances, and should be useful in assessing the impacts of climate change on seabirds.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the many pilots and observers working with the Migratory Bird Survey Branch of the Division of Migratory Bird Management (USFWS) for their hard work in conceiving of and carrying out the survey, especially Jim Goldsberry. We thank Robert Raftovich (USFWS) for his efforts managing and summarizing the data. We also thank Matt Perry, Alicia Berlin, Bill Fagan, the theoretical ecology lab group at the University of Maryland, Ola Olsson, Richard Veit, and an anonymous reviewer for many useful comments that helped improve the quality of the manuscript. The Sea Duck Joint Venture (USFWS), Science Support Partnership (USGS) and the Minerals Management Service provided funding to develop models for analysis of the AFSDS. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 12100 Beech Forest Rd., Laurel, MD, 20708, USA

    Elise F. Zipkin, Beth Gardner & J. Andrew Royle

  2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 196 Whitten Rd., Augusta, ME, 04330, USA

    Andrew T. Gilbert

  3. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, BARC East, Bldg. 308, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA

    Allan F. O’Connell Jr.

  4. USFWS Division of Migratory Bird Management, 11510 American Holly Dr., Laurel, MD, 20708, USA

    Emily D. Silverman

Authors
  1. Elise F. Zipkin
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  2. Beth Gardner
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  4. Allan F. O’Connell Jr.
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  5. J. Andrew Royle
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  6. Emily D. Silverman
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Correspondence to Elise F. Zipkin.

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Communicated by Ola Olsson.

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Zipkin, E.F., Gardner, B., Gilbert, A.T. et al. Distribution patterns of wintering sea ducks in relation to the North Atlantic Oscillation and local environmental characteristics. Oecologia 163, 893–902 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1622-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1622-4

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