Publications

In mist-net studies, it is often difficult to use capture-recapture methods to estimate number of birds present. Many investigators use number of birds captured as an index of population size. We investigate the consequences of using indices of bird abundance as surrogates for population size in hypothesis tests. Unless all of the birds present are captured, indices are biased estimates...

Distribution of resident giant Canada geese (Branta canadensis maxima) has changed markedly in the Atlantic Flyway in recent decades. This change may be related to habitat variation or to changes in hunting regulations. We attempt to assess impacts of hunting regulations on survival, movement, and harvest rate of Canada goose populations from Maine to South Carolina. During 15 June-31...

No abstract available.

Methane is an important atmospheric greenhouse gas that is emitted from many natural and anthropogenic sources. In order to evaluate the global methane budget, precise data are needed from the diverse sources including coastal wetlands. Over 100 time-series determinations of methane emissions from an oligohaline wetland (brackish marsh) in coastal Louisiana show large variability during...

Mercury contamination of the environment from historical and ongoing mining practices that rely on mercury amalgamation for gold extraction is widespread. Contamination was particularly severe in the immediate vicinity of gold extraction and refining operations; however, mercury, especially in the form of water-soluble methylmercury, may be transported to pristine areas by rainwater...

I identified sexual dimorphism in wing length (unflattened chord) of Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) within the central Mississippi Alluvial Valley (northeast Louisiana and west-central Mississippi) and used this difference to assign a sex to captured wrens. Wrens were identified as female when wing length was less than 57.5 mm or male when wing length was greater than 58.5 mm.

The EURING meetings and the scientists who have attended them have contributed substantially to the growth of knowledge in the field of estimating parameters of animal populations. The contributions of David R. Anderson to process modeling, parameter estimation and decision analysis are briefly reviewed. Metrics are considered for assessing individual contributions to a field of inquiry...

No abstract available.

The station was operated on fewer days than usual in 2003, opening a bit later, closing a week early, and missing several good days in September through mid-October, when the manager/lead bander was conducting research on migrating birds in Lower Delmarva. As a result, capture totals for many species are not comparable to other years, and totals for several species, including House Wren...

Freshwater impoundments at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), South Carolina, provide an important habitat for wildlife species, but degraded sediment quality in the Savannah River downstream of the discharge from two impoundments have caused concern about potential contaminant problems within the impoundments. The quality of sediments from five impoundments (impoundments no. 1, 2...

Ricefields are important foraging habitats for waterfowl and other waterbirds in primary North American wintering regions. We conducted a large-scale experiment to test effects of post-harvest ricefield treatment, winter water management, and temporal factors on availabilities of rice, moist-soil plant seeds, aquatic invertebrates, and green forage in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV...

Fourteen captive-reared greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) were conditioned to follow ultralight aircraft to promote migration between Wisconsin and Florida (USA) after release. Fecal samples were collected throughout the training period in Wisconsin and during a 1,977-km human-led migration to Florida to determine fecal corticosterone (FC) concentrations by...