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Status and trends of circumpolar peregrine falcon and gyrfalcon populations

  • Terrestrial Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing Arctic
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A Correction to this article was published on 21 January 2020

This article has been updated

Abstract

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and the gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) are top avian predators of Arctic ecosystems. Although existing monitoring efforts are well established for both species, collaboration of activities among Arctic scientists actively involved in research of large falcons in the Nearctic and Palearctic has been poorly coordinated. Here we provide the first overview of Arctic falcon monitoring sites, present trends for long-term occupancy and productivity, and summarize information describing abundance, distribution, phenology, and health of the two species. We summarize data for 24 falcon monitoring sites across the Arctic, and identify gaps in coverage for eastern Russia, the Arctic Archipelago of Canada, and East Greenland. Our results indicate that peregrine falcon and gyrfalcon populations are generally stable, and assuming that these patterns hold beyond the temporal and spatial extents of the monitoring sites, it is reasonable to suggest that breeding populations at broader scales are similarly stable. We have highlighted several challenges that preclude direct comparisons of Focal Ecosystem Components (FEC) attributes among monitoring sites, and we acknowledge that methodological problems cannot be corrected retrospectively, but could be accounted for in future monitoring. Despite these drawbacks, ample opportunity exists to establish a coordinated monitoring program for Arctic-nesting raptor species that supports CBMP goals.

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Change history

  • 21 January 2020

    While collating contributions and comments from 36 researchers, the coordinating authors accidentally omitted Dr. Suzanne Carrière from the list of contributing co-authors. Dr. Carrière’s data are described in Tables 1 and 3, Figure 2 and several places in the narrative.

    The new author list is thus updated in this article.

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Acknowledgements

Support to coordinate data acquisition and compilation, and manuscript preparation was provided to AF by Environment and Climate Change Canada, and to KF by the Danish Cooperation for Environment in the Arctic (DANCEA) of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (MST-112-00276). We thank all members of the Arctic Falcon Specialist Group for freely sharing their data, and for contributing to the development of this manuscript. We are particularly grateful to the volunteer field staff. AS, VS, and IF were supported by Russian Fund for Basic Research and Yamal Government; other funding agencies and permitting authorities of each of the monitoring sites are too numerous to name; none of the work presented here would be possible without their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Bldg., Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada

    Alastair Franke

  2. Arctic Raptor Project, P.O. Box 626, Rankin Inlet, NT, X0C 0G0, Canada

    Alastair Franke

  3. Stockholm, Sweden

    Knud Falk

  4. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

    Kevin Hawkshaw

  5. Fairbanks, USA

    Skip Ambrose

  6. The Peregrine Fund, 5668 W. Flying Hawk Lane, Boise, ID, 83709, USA

    David L. Anderson

  7. Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Juneau, USA

    Peter J. Bente & Travis Booms

  8. High Arctic Institute, 603 10th Avenue, Orion, IL, 61273, USA

    Kurt K. Burnham

  9. Tavelsjö, Sweden

    Johan Ekenstedt

  10. Arctic Research Station of Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Zelenaya Gorka Str., 21, Labytnangi, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, Russia, 629400

    Ivan Fufachev & Aleksandr Sokolov

  11. Center for Rescue of Wild Animals (Independent Non-profit Organization), Moscow, Russia

    Sergey Ganusevich

  12. Raptor Group Finnmark, Alta, Norway

    Kenneth Johansen

  13. Department of Biological Sciences, Advanced Environmental Research Institute, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle, #310559, Denton, TX, 76203, USA

    Jeff A. Johnson

  14. Bird Ringing Centre of Russia IEE RAS, Moscow, Russia, 117312

    Sergey Kharitonov

  15. Kirkkonummi, Finland

    Pertti Koskimies

  16. Institute of Biological Problems of the North, 18 Portovaya Street, Magadan, Russia, 685000

    Olga Kulikova

  17. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden

    Peter Lindberg

  18. Boden, Sweden

    Berth-Ove Lindström

  19. Conservation Research Foundation, 702 S. Spelman Ln, Meridian, ID, USA

    William G. Mattox

  20. US National Park Service, Alaska, USA

    Carol L. McIntyre

  21. I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), 119991 Trubetskaya 8, Moscow, Russia

    Svetlana Mechnikova

  22. Yukon Research Centre, Whitehorse, Canada

    Dave Mossop

  23. Roskilde University, P.O. Box 260, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Søren Møller

  24. Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Garðabær, Iceland

    Ólafur K. Nielsen

  25. Metsähallitus, Parks and Wildlife Finland, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Tuomo Ollila

  26. Raptor Group Finnmark, Alta, Norway

    Arve Østlyngen

  27. Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany

    Ivan Pokrovsky

  28. Laboratory of Ornithology, Institute of Biological Problems of the North FEB RAS, 18 Portovaya Str., Magadan, Russia, 685000

    Ivan Pokrovsky

  29. Arctic Research Station, Institute of Plant & Animal Ecology, UD RAS, 21 Zelyonaya Gorka, Labytnangi, Russia, 629400

    Ivan Pokrovsky

  30. Aurora Wildlife Research, Nelson, Canada

    Kim Poole

  31. St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, USA

    Marco Restani

  32. The Peregrine Fund, and Ornithologi, Boise, USA

    Bryce W. Robinson

  33. University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, Stevens Point, USA

    Robert Rosenfield

  34. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg, Russia

    Vasiliy Sokolov

  35. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska, USA

    Ted Swem

  36. Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark

    Katrin Vorkamp

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Correspondence to Knud Falk.

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Franke, A., Falk, K., Hawkshaw, K. et al. Status and trends of circumpolar peregrine falcon and gyrfalcon populations. Ambio 49, 762–783 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01300-z

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