Publications

This is the fifth Supplement since publication of the 7th edition of the Check-list of North American Birds (American Ornithologists' Union [AOU] 1998). It summarizes decisions made by the AOU's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature between 1 January and 31 December 2004.

We propose a general framework for modeling anuran abundance using data collected from commonly used calling surveys. The data generated from calling surveys are indices of calling intensity (vocalization of males) that do not have a precise link to actual population size and are sensitive to factors that influence anuran behavior. We formulate a model for calling-index data in terms of...

Amphibians occupy a range of habitats throughout the world, but species richness is greatest in regions with moist, warm climates. We modeled the statistical relations of anuran and urodele species richness with mean annual climate for the conterminous United States, and compared the strength of these relations at national and regional levels. Model variables were calculated for county...

New England salt marsh pools provide important wildlife habitat and are the object of on-going salt marsh restoration projects; however, they have not been quantified in terms of their basic geomorphic and geographic traits. An examination of 32 ditched and unditched salt marshes from the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound to southern Maine, USA, revealed that pools from ditched and...

No abstract available.

Vernal pool wetlands are at risk of destruction across the northeast United States, due in part to their diminutive size and short hydroperiolds. These characteristics make it difficult to locate vernal pool habitats in the landscape during much of the year, and no efficient method exists for predicting their occurrence. A logistic regression procedure was used to identify large-scale...

Interest in seasonally flooded pools, and the status of associated amphibian populations, has initiated programs in the northeastern United States to document and monitor these habitats. Counting egg masses is an effective way to determine the population size of pool-breeding amphibians, such as wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) and spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum). However, bias is...

No abstract available.

Effectiveness of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, for controlling nymphal Ixodes scapularis, was tested in laboratory and field trials. In the laboratory, M. anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin strain ESC1 was moderately pathogenic, with an LC50 of 107 spores/ml and induced 70% mortality at 109 spores/ml. In a field study, however, 109 spores/ml M. anisopliae did not...

We conducted two studies of Se exposure in captive common eiders (Somateria mollissima). In Study 1, eiders were fed diets with added Se (as L-selenomethionine) in concentrations increasing from 10 ppm to 80 ppm. In Study 2, eiders received control, low exposure (20 ppm Se), and high exposure (60 ppm Se) diets. One duck in the high exposure group in Study 2 died after 36 days. Remaining...

Due to the difficulty of conducting range-wide surveys of either breeding or wintering populations, few data are available to assess the population trends of sea ducks with confidence. We analyze sea duck data from the Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) using hierarchical modeling methods that control for varying effort among circles and over time. These procedures allow us to assess...

Survey design for wintering scoters (Melanitta sp.) and other sea ducks that occur in offshore waters is challenging because these species have large ranges, are subject to distributional shifts among years and within a season, and can occur in aggregations. Interest in winter sea duck population abundance surveys has grown in recent years. This interest stems from concern over the...