Eagle Hill Institute Conservation and Management ...

Eagle Hill Institute Conservation and Management Implications Regarding Local Avian Diversity Following the Deepwater Horizon Disaster Author(s): Orin J. Robinson, J. Curtis Burkhalter and John J. Dindo Source: Southeastern Naturalist, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2012), pp. G29-G35 Published by: Eagle Hill Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41679664 Accessed: 29-08-2016 16:22 UTC REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41679664?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms

Eagle Hill Institute is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Southeastern Naturalist

This content downloaded from 139.62.9.222 on Mon, 29 Aug 2016 16:22:34 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

2012 SOUTHEASTERN NATURALIST 11(2):G29-G35

Gulf of Mexico Natural History and Oil Spill Impact

Conservation and Management Impli Local Avian Diversity Followin the Deepwater Horizon Disaste

Orin J. Robinson,1'2'* J. Curtis Burkhalter2, and

Abstract - Coastal Alabama islands provide vital nesting wading birds, shorebirds, gulls, pelicans, and waterfowl coastal Alabama for overlap of species present and spec simulations. The observed numbers of species present and than predicted by the simulations, suggesting that local pr

coastline of Alabama. These findings also suggest that, in th

in the Gulf of Mexico, management along the coast of A assemblages rather than surrogates and apply a scale of

manage each local community individually rather than man Introduction

Nearly three quarters of the 2,500,000 ha of coastal marshes in the US are located along the shores of the Southeast and Gulf Coasts (Mitchell et al. 2006)

Along with this large swath of habitat comes a great deal of natural resource man agement by various governmental and non-governmental agencies. Managemen decisions aimed at conserving biodiversity are often born out of necessity, and as such, are often based on a subset of species that we feel represents the needs

of a multitude of species (Bestelmeyer et al. 2003). Action based upon a limited subset (e.g., a single functional group) may be appealing, but in actuality may or

may not address the complexity of a multi-species pool. Different species view

environments in a multitude of ways and thus react to environmental heterogene ity and landscapes in different ways (Wiens 2000), and translating the expanding boundaries of conservation into pragmatic and appropriate action is a continua struggle for any managing entity (Poiani et al. 2000).

The idea of using a single species or a subset of species, as an indicator of large-scale dynamics has been used for a long time in conservation biology. It appeal lies in gaining effective and efficient means to evaluate status and trends

of multiple species from monitoring a few surrogate species (Cushman et a 2010). The use of surrogate species has been proposed by some as an effective

way for monitoring (Wiens et al. 2008), but the risk of bias is great if the chosen indicator does not accurately represent the dynamics of the other species (Cushman et al. 2010). Populations of differing species typically vary and fluctuate in

'Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory, 101 Bienville Boulevard Dauphin Island, AL 36528. 2Current address - Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutger University, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8551. 'Corresponding author - [email protected].


G30 Southeastern Naturalist Vol. 11, No. 2

complicated ways, and sites managed for a conserve other critical components of the ec processes that may affect the species of co

The idea that habitat heterogeneity is im sity has been shown across a wide variety islands, forests, intertidal zones, deep se (Buhl-Mortensen et al. 2011, Horwitz et a and Lovette 1999, Williams et al. 2002). H when heterogeneity is considered; local s geneous habitats while larger scales have It is important to understand the scale at

species co-occurrence and diversity (Pea (2001) suggest that if local assemblages ar

random draw from the regional species pool

species assemblages. While the regional-s cies from which local communities are as the larger-scale patterns to create local d Failing to consider these local differences sity can cause a loss in local diversity (No The regional scale, as defined in our stud Alabama, but the regional scale could be f conditions that prevail along the entire N from Louisiana to Florida. The Gulf Co characterized by a diversity of habitats, s saltwater marshes and other near-shore habitats which are essential for the

annual cycles of many avian species (FWS 2010). The local scale consists seven islands on the coast of Alabama that reflect the diverse habitats found

along the Northern Gulf Coast. The obj ective of our study was to show the local diversity of three areas of coastal

Alabama represented by seven islands. This approach allowed us to determine the

role of local and/or regional processes in structuring the species assemblages in each

area. With this data, we can make better decisions regarding the scale of our manage ment efforts in coastal Alabama in the aftermath of the oil disaster. Methods

The study area consisted of seven islands on the coast of Alabama: Gaillard Island, Cat Island, Marsh Island, Isle Aux Herbes (also referred to as Coffee Island)

Robinson Island, Walker's Island , and Bird Island (Fig. 1). These seven island

represent the three areas (West, Central, and East) that were analyzed in the stud Cat Island, Marsh Island, and Isle Aux Herbes are situated in the Portersville Bay

area of the Mississippi Sound and make up the West sample. The Central sam is from Gaillard Island, a dredge spoil island in Mobile Bay and the East sample i from Robinson, Bird, and Walker's islands, located inside of the Perdido Pass. Se Robinson and Dindo (2008) for a detailed description of each island.


2012 O.J. Robinson, J.C. Burkhalter, and J.J. Dindo G31

Each island was surveyed at least twice each month from September 2007 (3-5 times each month after March 2007 species. Nest searches were done to determine the species ne The total species present and nesting represent the regio pools from which random samples were drawn for each Carlo simulations were conducted for each species pool species nesting), and the amount of overlap among areas amount of overlap observed (Figs. 2, 3). Results

The amount of overlap observed among the three areas for species observed was 25 species, outside of the critical values at the 95.0% level (27-39). The amount of overlap observed among the three areas for species nesting was 8 species, again, outside of the critical values at the 95.0% level (9-16). The amount of

species overlap for both species observed and species nesting was fewer specie than would be expected by a random sampling, suggesting that the species as semblages that we observed in each area were not there by chance and that local processes play an important role in forming these communities. Discussion

Having examined the patterns of co-occurrence for both observed spec and species nesting among the various islands of coastal Alabama using bo actual field data and the simulated Monte Carlo data, the need for managem

Figure 1. Coastal Alabama. Circles indicate areas included in the survey.



Figure 2. Example of 1000 Monte Carlo simulat three regions of coastal Alabama from Januar

was 43. The test statistic for this simulation is th

A species occurring at 2 or 3 areas is a co-occurre

critical values at the 95.0% level. The arrow in


2012 O.J. Robinson, J.C. Burkhalter, and J.J. Dindo G33

of discrete local communities, as opposed to managing f surrogate species, is supported. To lump all species acro gions of the Alabama coastline into one group is an over dynamics occurring within the region by discounting th as evidenced by the lower-than-expected rates of specie tween the different regions of the coastline. The inform this study highlights the continued need for detailed a accurately reflect true biological patterns and recogniz mogenous environments can result in different patterns at a smaller scale. An important implication for conserva

vital when attempting to extrapolate the dynamics of one a

sen and Urban 1992), and a "one size fits all" approach c necessary prerequisites for conservation of each local as the greater regional species pool.

This study provides insight into the local diversity of avi existed along the coast of Alabama before the Deepwater Ho Our analysis shows that the assemblages found in each area in ent than one would expect by a random draw from the regi finding suggests that management decisions should be made of scale in the wake of the recent oil disaster in the Gulf of M

so may result in the loss of local diversity of avian species th

Alabama. Future monitoring of these areas is required during oil spill to ensure that local diversity is preserved.

A number of specific oil spill mitigation strategies h and implemented in the wake of the DWH spill, e.g., be protect coastal marshes, but we are unsure of the longpacts of these measures (Martinez et al. 2011). Due to advocating for local-scale management, a better use of dedicated to restoring/conserving habitats and species for local and state governments to first conduct rapid bi post-spill to determine the biological value of an area. La Conservation International, have pioneered the approach assessments over the last 20 years and may provide a logi to gain information (Alonso et al. 2011). Once this initi it will be possible to then direct funds towards managem "hotspots" that are of high biological value, i.e., species d potentially productive in terms of ecological function, w long-term ecological sustainability of a number of diffe benefit the region as a whole.

Figure 3 (opposite page). Example of 1000 Monte Carlo simulati

lap of nesting species at three regions of coastal Alabama from J

2007. The species pool was 19. The test statistic for this simu co-occurrences of nesting species among sites. A species nestin occurrence. Lines at X = 9 and x = 16 indicate critical values at the 95.0% level. The arrow

indicates observed overlap.



Acknowledgments Funding for this project was provided in part

1972, as amended, administered by the Office ment, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adm Division, Department of Conservation and N Coastal Section. Literature Cited

Alonso, L.E., J.L. Deichmann, S.A. McKenna, R Naskrecki, and S.J. Richards. 2011.

Still counting . . . Biodiversity exploration for conservation. The first 20 years of the

Rapid Assessment Program. Available online at https://learning.conservation.org biosurvey/RAP/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed 12 January 2012. Bestelmeyer, B.T., J.R. Miller, and J. A. Wiens. 2003. Applying species diversity theory

to land management. Ecological Applications 13(6): 1750- 1761 . Blackburn, T.M., and K.J. Gaston. 2001. Local avian assemblages as random draws fro regional pools. Ecography 24:50-58. Blake, J.G., and B.A. Loiselle. 2009. Species composition of neotropical understory bi communities: Local versus regional perspectives based on capture data. Biotropic 4 1 ( 1 ):85- 94.

Buhl-Mortensen, L., A. Vanreusel, A.J. Gooday, L.A. Levin, I.G. Priede, P. Buh

Mortensen, H. Gheerardyn, N.J. King, and M. Raes. 2011. Biological structures as source of habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity on the deep ocean margins. Marine

Ecology 31:21-50.

Cushman, S.A., K.S. McKelvey, B.R. Noon, and K. McGarigal. 2010. Use of abu

dance of one species as a surrogate for abundance of others. Conservation Biolog 24:830-840.

Hansen, A. J., and D.L. Urban. 1992. Avian response to landscape pattern: The r species' life histories. Landscape Ecology 7(3): 163-1 80.

Hewitt, J.E., S.F. Thrush, J. Halliday, and C. Duffy. 2005. The importance of small-s habitat structure for maintaining beta diversity. Ecology 86(6): 1619-1626.

Horwitz, P., R. Rogan, S. Halse, J. Davis, and B. Sommer. 2009. Wetland inverte richness and endemisim of the Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia. Marin Freshwater Research 60:1006-1020.

Martinez, M.L., R.A. Feagin, K.M. Yeager, J. Day, R. Costanza, J.A. Harris, R.J. Hobbs, J. Lopez-Portillo, I.J. Walker, E. Higgs, P. Moreno-Casasola, J. Sheinbaum, and A. Yanez- Arancibia. 2011. Artificial modifications to the coast in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Quick solutions or long-term liabilities? Frontiers in Ecology

and the Environment 10:44-49.

Matias, M.G., A.J. Underwood, D.F. Hochli, and R.A. Coleman. 2011. Habitat identity influences species-area relationships in heterogeneous habitats. Marine Ecology Progress Series 437:135-145. Mitchell, L.R., S. Gabrey, P.P. Marra, and R.M. Erwin. 2006. Impacts of marsh management on coastal-marsh bird habitat. Studies in Avian Biology 32:155-175. Noss, R.F. 1983. A regional approach to maintain diversity. Bioscience 33(1 1):700-706. Pearman, P.B. 2002. The scale of community structure: Habitat variation and avian guilds

in tropical forest understory. Ecological Monographs 72(1): 19-39. Poiani, K.A., B.D. Richter, M. G. Anderson, and H. E. Richter. 2000. Biodiversity conservation at multiple scales: Functional sites, landscapes, and networks. Bioscience 50(2):133-146.


2012 O J. Robinson, J.C. Burkhalter, and J.J. Dindo G35

Ricklefs, R.E., and I.J. Lovette. 1999. The roles of island area per s

in the species-area relationships of four Lesser Antillean fau Animal Ecology 68:1142-1160.

Robinson, O.J., and J.J. Dindo. 2008. Survey for colonial nesting b

of coastal Alabama. Alabama Birdlife 54(2):37-43. US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). 2010. Beach-nesting birds online at http://www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/pdfs/DHBir cessed 12 January 2012.

Wiens J.A. 2000. Ecological heterogeneity: An ontogeny of concept

9-31, In M.J. Hutchings, E.A. John, and A. J. A. Stewart (Ed sequences of Environmental Heterogeneity. Blackwell Science Wiens, J.A., G. D. Hayward, R.S. Holthausen, and M.J. Wisdo rogate species and groups for conservation planning and ma 58(3):241-252. Williams, S.E., H. Marsh, and J. Winter. 2002. Spatial scale, s

habitat structure: Small mammals in Australian tropical 83(5):131 7-1329.
