This website is a class exercise for RenR 690 at the University of Alberta, and any conclusions discussed are preliminary in nature and may be based on modified datasets. The datasets used were obtained from Dr. Erin Bayne at the University of Alberta. Research was funded by Alberta Conservation Association (ACA), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Conoco-Philips, Alberta-Pacific Forestry Industries, Canadian Circumpolar Institute, Environment Canada, Shell Canada, Syncrude, Suncor Energy, EnCana, Petro-Canada, and True North. Please contact me, Erin Cameron, at [email protected] if you would like further information about this project.
The creation of narrow linear features such as seismic lines results in a relatively small amount of habitat loss, yet these features can cause extensive fragmentation of remaining habitat (Figure 1). This is a particularly important issue in northern Alberta, where oil and gas activity, and the resulting creation of seismic lines, is increasing rapidly. This project investigates the effects of seismic line density on forest songbirds, a group which is especially likely to be impacted by habitat fragmentation. It also examines whether correcting counts of bird species for differences in detectability can significantly affect the results of multivariate analyses. To address these questions, point counts of songbirds were conducted in aspen- and black spruce-dominated stands across a gradient of seismic line density in northern Alberta. Graphical exploration and multivariate analyses of this data suggest that seismic line density does not affect the abundance or density of most species in these forest types. However, black-throated green warblers and red-breasted nuthatches appeared to decrease significantly in abundance in aspen stands and Tennessee warblers and chipping sparrows increased in abundance in black spruce stands as seismic line density became higher. The effect of line density on community composition was slightly stronger in aspen than black spruce stands. Correcting for detectability had little influence on the multivariate results. In conclusion, seismic line density appears to have little effect on the composition of boreal forest songbird communities.
Figure 1. Seismic lines in aspen- and black spruce-dominated forest stands.