Ecosystem changes in lakes linked to climate warming

Unparalleled warming over the last few decades has triggered widespread ecosystem changes in many temperate North American and Western European lakes, say researchers at Queen’s University and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

The team reports that striking changes are now occurring in many temperate lakes similar to those previously observed in the rapidly warming Arctic, although typically many decades later. The Arctic has long been considered a “bellwether” of what will eventually happen with warmer conditions farther south.

“Our findings suggest that ecologically important changes are already under way in temperate lakes,” says Queen’s Biology research scientist, Dr. Kathleen Ruhland, from the university’s Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL) and lead author of the study.

The research was recently published in the international journal Global Change Biology. Also on the team are Biology professor John Smol, Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change, and Andrew Paterson, a research scientist at the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and an adjunct professor at Queen’s.

One of the biggest challenges with environmental studies is the lack of long-term monitoring data, Dr. Ruhland notes. “We have almost no data on how lakes have responded to climate change over the last few decades, and certainly no data on longer term time scales,” she says. “However, lake sediments archive an important record of past ecosystem changes by the fossils preserved in mud profiles.”

The scientists studied changes over the last few decades in the species composition of small, microscopic algae preserved in sediments from more than 200 lake systems in the northern hemisphere. These algae dominate the plankton that float at or near the surface of lakes, and serve as food for other larger organisms.

Striking ecosystem changes were recorded from a large suite of lakes from Arctic, alpine and temperate ecozones in North America and western Europe. Aquatic ecosystem changes across the circumpolar Arctic were found to occur in the late-19th and early 20th centuries. These were similar to shifts in algal communities, indicating decreased ice cover and related changes, over the last few decades in the temperate lakes.

“As expected, these changes occurred earlier – by about 100 years – in highly sensitive Arctic lakes, compared with temperate regions,” says Dr. Smol, recipient of the 2004 Herzberg Gold Medal as Canada’s top scientist.

In a detailed study from Whitefish Bay, Lake of the Woods, located in northwestern Ontario, strong relationships were found between changes in the lake algae and long-term changes in air temperature and ice-out records. The authors believe that, although the study was focused on algae preserved in lake sediments, changes to other parts of the aquatic ecosystem are also likely (for example algal blooms and deep-water oxygen levels).

“The widespread occurrence of these trends is particularly troubling as they suggest that climatically-induced ecological thresholds have already been crossed, even with temperature increases that are below projected future warming scenarios for these regions,” adds Dr. Paterson. The authors warn that if the rate and magnitude of temperature increases continue, it is likely that new ecological thresholds will be surpassed, many of which may be unexpected.

“We are entering unchartered territory, the effects of which can cascade throughout the entire ecosystem,” concludes Dr. Smol.

The research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

From Queen's University Press Release

What We've Learned in 2008 about Climate Change

Amanda Leigh Mascarelli looks at how far our understanding of climate change has come in the past twelve months. Read the article on the Nature Reports: Climate Change web page.

Mountain Birdwatch Releases Peer-reviewed Monitoring Standards Document

We are pleased to announce the release of “Mountain Birdwatch: Protocol and Standard Operating Procedures for Monitoring High-elevation Landbirds in the Northern Appalachian and Laurentian Regions” (download PDF). This peer-reviewed document represents nearly two years of effort to increase the scientific and conservation value of high-elevation bird monitoring from the Catskills to Cape Breton.

The new program, developed by dozens of scientists and bird conservation professionals, builds on the success of previous mountain bird monitoring initiatives by:

* Establishing unified and measurable monitoring objectives linked to an international Bicknell’s Thrush conservation action plan;
* Standardizing field methods across four northeastern states and three eastern Canadian provinces;
* Adopting modern count procedures that enable estimates of avian density and occupancy; and
* Enhancing the management and exchange of survey results to provide more timely information to conservation decision-makers.

In addition, the new protocol emphasizes the importance of delivering useful conservation tools and increasing public understanding of mountain bird ecology.

The Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE), Bird Studies Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service will implement the program, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and state and provincial natural resource agencies playing vital supporting roles. Representatives of several other institutions made key contributions to this document, including American Bird Conservancy, North Carolina State University, the University of Massachusetts, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Vermont Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (USGS).

Beginning in January, John Lloyd will oversee VCE’s involvement in this international collaboration, with Julie Hart continuing to provide volunteer coordination and data management services in the U.S. After 10 years as VCE’s Mountain Birdwatch director, Dan Lambert will spend the next couple years at home with his kids - except in June, when he’ll head back into the mountains as a volunteer observer. In Canada, Yves Aubry of the Canadian Wildlife Service (Quebec) and Becky Whittam of Bird Studies Canada (Atlantic program) will lead the charge.

Scientists rearrange Hawaii's bird family tree

A group of five endemic and recently extinct Hawaiian songbird species were historically classified as "honeyeaters" due to striking similarities to birds of the same name in Australia and neighboring islands in the South Pacific. Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution, however, have recently discovered that the Hawaiian birds, commonly known as the oo's and the kioea, share no close relationship with the other honeyeaters and in fact represent a new and distinct family of birds—unfortunately, all of the in the new family are extinct, with the last species of the group disappearing about 20 years ago.

The findings of the study, conducted by Robert Fleischer, a molecular geneticist at Smithsonian's National Zoo and National Museum of Natural History and Storrs Olson and Helen James, both curators of birds at the National Museum of Natural History, were published in the international science journal Current Biology today, Dec. 11.

"The similarities between these two groups of nectar-feeding birds in bill and tongue structure, plumage and behavior result not from relatedness, but from the process of convergent evolution—the evolution of similar traits in distantly related taxa because of common selective pressures," said Fleischer, lead author of the study.

These five Hawaiian species of birds in the genera Moho and Chaetoptila, looked and behaved like Australasian honeyeaters of the family Meliphagidae, and no taxonomist since their discovery on Captain James Cook's third voyage to Hawaii in 1779 has ever classified them as anything else. However, there has been no rigorous assessment of their relationships using molecular data—until now.

Smithsonian scientists obtained DNA sequences from museum specimens of Moho and Chaetoptila that had been collected in Hawaii 115-158 years ago. Analyses show that these two Hawaiian genera descended from a common ancestor. Surprisingly, however, the analyses also revealed that neither genus is a meliphagid honeyeater, nor even in the same part of the evolutionary path of songbirds as meliphagids. Instead, these Hawaiian birds are divergent members of a group that includes deceptively dissimilar families of songbirds (waxwings, neotropical silky flycatchers and palm chats). The researchers have placed these birds in their own new family, the Mohoidae.

"This was something that we were not expecting at all," said Fleischer. "It's a great example of how much we can learn about systematics and evolution by applying new technologies like ancient DNA analysis to old museum specimens."

A DNA rate calibration suggests that these Hawaiian taxa diverged from their closest living ancestor 14-17 million years ago, coincident with the estimated earliest arrival of a bird-pollinated plant lineage in Hawaii. Convergent evolution is illustrated well by nectar-feeding birds, but the morphological, behavioral and ecological similarity of Moho and Chaetoptila to the Australasian honeyeaters makes these groups a particularly striking example of the phenomenon.

All five members of the family Mohoidae were medium-sized songbirds with slender, slightly downward curved bills with unique scroll-edged and fringed tongues, making them very specialized nectar-feeding birds. They inhabited undisturbed forests on most of the main Hawaiian islands.

Although the cause for the extinction of the Mohoidae species is not definitely known, disease, human development and introduced species like mosquitoes, mongooses and rats are thought to play a significant role. The last member of the family Mohoidae to be positively identified was a Kauai o'o (Moho braccatus) in the Alakai Swamp on Kauai in 1987.

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From Smithsonian Press Release

Vermont Osprey Population Soars

Vermont’s osprey population continues to thrive. In 2007 there were a total of 92 known nest attempts. In 2008, there were 119 nests detected out of 145 sites checked for activity. Seventy-eight nests were successful in 2007, and 94 in 2008. This year we had a 79% nest success rate. Last year approximately 164 chicks fledged. This year we estimate that there were close to 200. Therefore, the 2008 breeding season was quite a success, in spite of extremely rainy and stormy conditions in June. In 1988 there were only three active nests in all of Vermont. It is rewarding to think how far this species has come in 20 years.

The “Guidelines for Monitoring and Managing the Osprey Following Removal from the Vermont Endangered and Threatened Species List” (Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, 2007) calls for continued annual monitoring for at least 5 years post de-listing in 2005. Therefore, nest monitoring and the placement and maintenance of nest structures are still considered to be important for the well being of ospreys in Vermont.

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (VFWD) continues to enjoy excellent relations with many partners, particularly Vermont’s electric utilities which have given generously of their equipment, time and enthusiasm. Our focus for installing new nest platforms has shifted from any good habitat to either exceptional habitat or to accommodate “nuisance” osprey pairs – those that are building on power lines and other inappropriate structures.

Since we now have so many nests to track, this year we made a concentrated effort to recruit volunteer monitors. We had 21 volunteers who gave almost 200 hours of their time; together they monitored half of all the nests outside Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR). We are most grateful to these volunteers for their time and effort.

The osprey project continues to be funded by a Federal State Wildlife Grant that requires a 50% match. For this reason we are especially grateful to our electric utility partners and volunteers for helping us to fund efforts for the Vermont osprey population.\

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From report by Tina Scharf, Consulting Wildlife Biologist andVermont Fish and Wildlife Department Osprey Project Coordinator

Bush Relaxes Scientific Review

The Bush administration has made it easier for drilling, mining and major construction projects to go ahead without a full scientific assessment. Revised rules mean agencies will no longer have to consult scientists about whether projects, such as the building of dams or mines, would harm wildlife.

Environmentalists say the changes could take away protection for animals and plants facing possible extinction. Democratic President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to reverse the new rules.

Modifications to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) are expected to come into effect in about 30 days.

Republican supporters of the changes, along with developers and some federal agencies, argue the current system of environmental reviews causes delays to projects, pushing up costs.

Critics of President George W Bush say his administration is trying to rush through unpopular reforms during his last days in office, and correspondents say environmental groups are likely to challenge the changes in the courts.

Snowy owl -- a marine species?

Wildlife satellite studies could lead to a radical re-thinking about how the snowy owl fits into the Northern ecosystem.

"Six of the adult females that we followed in a satellite study spent most of last winter far out on the Arctic sea ice," said Université Laval doctoral student Jean-Francois Therrien, who is working with Professor Gilles Gauthier as part of an International Polar Year (IPY) research project to better understand key indicator species of Canadian northern ecosystems.

The finding flabbergasted the biologists who are now curious to find out if Inuit seal hunters ever encounter the large white birds on the ice in winter darkness.

"As for what the birds were doing there, they were possibly preying on seabirds," said Gauthier. "Bird researchers at coastal field sites have observed snowy owls attacking eiders in winter. This hypothesis will be strengthened if we can match up the locations of our birds with the position of open water leads in the ice as recorded by other satellite data."

The researchers find it intriguing that the top Arctic bird predator, like the top mammal – the polar bear, is also part of the marine ecosystem. The possible implications for the species will be discussed by Therrien this Wednesday in Quebec City at the Arctic Change Conference, one of the largest international research conferences ever held on the challenges facing the north.

It was very surprising, said Therrien, how far the individual birds migrated from where they were banded on their nesting grounds on Bylot Island, north of Baffin Island.

"The satellite data showed just how dramatic the owl movements are. They flew huge distances. One owl went to Ellesmere Island, another flew straight to North Dakota and a third ended up on the eastern point of Newfoundland," he said.

The researchers say that this winter should provide many southern Canadians with a better than normal opportunity to see the magnificent birds.

"We had the largest abundance of lemmings in many years in our study area this past summer," said Gauthier. "The owls had no problems raising young, so we were informally predicting a strong outward movement of young owls this winter."

And indeed, judging by numerous newspaper reports and naturalist sightings, that prediction has already come true.

In fact, if anyone has a really ingenious idea to keep them away from airports, there is at least one airport authority that would like to hear from you. One owl-plane collision has already been reported this year at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport in Dorval.

"The support from IPY and NSERC and the advances in satellite technology have given a huge impetus to what promises to be a revolution in our understanding of this key northern species," said Gauthier. That knowledge can't come soon enough, the two researchers said.

Imitation is not just flattery for Amazon butterfly species

Many studies of evolution focus on the benefits to the individual of competing successfully – those who survive produce the most offspring, in Darwin's classic 'survival of the fittest'. But how does this translate to the evolution of species? A new paper, published in this week's issue of PLoS Biology, studies an aspect of the natural world that, like survival of the fittest individual, is explained by natural selection: namely, mutualism – an interaction between species that has benefits for both. The work shows that some species of butterfly that live alongside one another have evolved in ways that, surprisingly, benefit both species.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Cambridge, the University of Wyoming and the Florida Museum of Natural History studied the behaviour of several species of colourful butterfly in the Amazon jungle. It is often theorised that similar species living in the same environment would best succeed by evolving different preferences and behaviours – to minimise the amount that they have to share resources and compete for survival.

However, this is not always the case. The researchers show that butterfly species that have evolved similar wing patterns – which act as a warning to predators that they are poisonous – are often not evolutionarily close to each other. Thus the similarity is not due to shared ancestry but is an evolutionary adaptation. The similar pattern benefits both species, as predators will only need to learn once to avoid the signal – 'learn', in this context, being a euphemism for eating a poisonous butterfly. The researchers found that species with similar warning patterns have evolved to live in the same territory – flying at the same height and preferring the same forest type - in order to maximise the benefits of their similar appearance. The new paper shows that issues other than pure competition, such as protection from predators, can play an important role in evolution.

Marianne Elias, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who led the research, said: "We knew that unrelated animals often develop a similar appearance to reinforce the warning to other animals not to eat them, but until now we didn't know that they would live alongside each other, reinforcing this message to predators to stay away."

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Citation: Elias M, Gompert Z, Jiggins C, Willmott K (2008) Mutualistic interactions drive ecological niche convergence in a diverse butterfly community. PLoS Biol 6(12): e300.doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060300

http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060300

What Determines Clutch Size?

Why do some species of birds lay only one egg in their nest, while others lay 10 or more?

A global study of the wide variation among birds in this trait, known as the "clutch size," now provides biologists with some answers. The study, published in the current issue of the journal PLoS Biology, combined data on the clutch sizes of 5,290 species of birds with information on the biology and environment of each of these species.

"With this approach, we were able to explain a major proportion of the global variation in clutch size and also to predict with high confidence the average clutch size for types of birds living and breeding in certain environments," said Walter Jetz, an associate professor of biology at UC San Diego and the senior author of the study. "For example, cavity nesters, such as woodpeckers, have larger clutches than open-nesting species. And species in seasonal environments, especially those living at northern latitudes, have larger clutches than tropical birds."

Clutch size in birds and reptiles has long been studied by biologists, who have found generally that species that are short-lived or have a low survival rate among their offspring tend to lay more eggs at one time to increase the chances of having surviving offspring. In contrast, longer-lived species or those with a higher survival rate among offspring tend to lay fewer eggs in their nests and invest more time and effort in raising their offspring. However, the reasons why one species of bird may lay one egg and another 10 are more complex because clutch sizes can vary widely between closely related species due to variations in their environment, nutrition, health and predation.

The authors of the study—who included Cagan Sekercioglu, a senior research scientist at Stanford University and Katrin Böhning-Gaese of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany-- were aided in their investigation by detailed records of the life histories of birds throughout the world.

"Humanity's fascination with birds since the dawn of time has meant that thousands of ornithologists and millions of bird enthusiasts have been collecting detailed data about birds' lives for centuries," said Sekercioglu. "Published in countless books, popular and scientific articles, these data have made birds the best known major group of organisms."

"In this study," he added, "we answer one of the most basic questions asked about birds: Why do bird species lay different numbers of eggs? The integration of geographic and life history datasets enabled us to simultaneously address the importance of ecological, evolutionary, behavioral and environmental variables in shaping the clutch size of world's birds. We show that increased environmental variation causes birds to lay larger clutches. Most ornithological research has taken place in the highly seasonal environments of North America and Europe, but most bird species live in less seasonal tropics. Therefore, the small clutch size seen in less-studied tropical birds is the norm, not the exception. Increased predation pressure experienced by open-nesting birds also causes them to lay smaller clutches than cavity-nesting birds, literally having fewer eggs in one basket to spread the risk."

The three biologists said they believe this information will become increasingly more important in efforts to protect these birds as rapid environmental changes due to global warming affect these species.

"Our results demonstrate not only where bird species live, but how the way they live their lives, specifically their reproduction strategies, has evolved in close association with climate, particularly seasonality," said Jetz of UC San Diego. "Rapid changes to the global geography of climate are likely to impact both aspects and to potentially perturb the long-evolved link between the 'where' of life and the 'way' of life in many species."

Sekercioglu added: "The majority of bird species live in the tropics. Tropical birds' smaller clutch size is greatly shaped by more stable climates and these birds' survival depends on the continuity of the weather conditions they have adapted to during millennia. Climate change and a potential increase in climatic fluctuations in the tropics may make these birds highly vulnerable. Hundreds of tropical bird species are already threatened with extinction and a potential clash between changing climate and their reproductive strategies may cause additional harm."

From UC San Diego Press Release

NH Ospreys Successful in 2008

CONCORD, N.H. -- The 2008 osprey breeding season in New Hampshire turned out to be another record breaker, and state wildlife officials couldn't be more pleased by the results. An impressive total of 87 young ospreys were raised at nests across the state in 2008, a 22% increase over the 71 young produced in 2007, which itself had been a record high. The number of successful nests was up 14%, from 35 in 2007 to a record 40 in 2008.

An estimated 68 territorial pairs of ospreys were present in the Granite State during the 2008 breeding season, according to Chris Martin, a raptor specialist for New Hampshire Audubon who coordinates osprey restoration efforts across the state. "This was the fourth year in a row that New Hampshire supported 50 or more osprey pairs, and the momentum behind their recovery has been increasing," said Martin. The state's osprey population doubled from 17 to 34 territorial pairs in 14 years from 1987 to 2001, and doubled yet again, from 34 to 68 pairs, in just seven years since 2001.

Ospreys, sometimes called fish hawks, are well known for their habit of hovering high over water, scanning for fish, and then plummeting feet-first to snag their prey. Pairs often build their nests atop dead standing trees in beaver ponds, but they are highly adaptable, and occasionally use utility poles, communications towers, construction cranes, or duck blinds instead.

During the 1980s, New Hampshire had only 10 to 20 breeding osprey pairs, all of which were located near the Androscoggin River in Coos County. But after nearly 30 years of careful monitoring and management by N.H. Fish and Game and N.H. Audubon staff and volunteers, and with assistance from other conservation partners such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Public Service of N.H., ospreys now nest from Pittsburg to Portsmouth to Jaffrey and in 38 additional towns in between.

The Merrimack River watershed, which had no osprey pairs at all in 1996, achieved top honors in 2008 for supporting the most active nests (20), while the Great Bay/Coastal region produced the most young (30) in 2008. For just the second time on record, of 669 documented osprey breeding attempts in New Hampshire since 1980, a nest in the state produced four young in 2008 - indeed a rare event!

Rapid growth in the state's breeding population has been aided by careful placement of nesting platforms, by slight modifications of some utility poles, by installing metal predator guards to reduce predation, and by the involvement of a small army of volunteer observers who monitor nests and advocate for better habitat protection.

The scope and speed of the osprey population rebound over the past decade has permitted the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department to remove ospreys from the state's List of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife, an action which officially took place on September 20, 2008, when Fish and Game readopted, with amendments, the endangered and threatened species lists, something it is required to do at least every eight years.

"The successful recovery of ospreys in New Hampshire is proof that with time, funding and dedicated people, we can bring back wildlife species from the brink," said John Kanter, coordinator of the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program for N.H. Fish and Game.

Management of the state's recovering osprey population is carried out by N.H. Audubon, working under contract with the N.H. Fish and Game's Nongame Wildlife Program.

Cacao and Conservation in Dominican Republic

Destruction of Dominican Republic forests could be offset by farmers growing organic cacao used for chocolate. View a National Geographic video about a region where VCE is studying bird conservation.

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Millions of Birds to be Lost from Tar Sands Development

Yesterday, the Boreal Songbird Network released a report on the impact of Alberta tar sands development on boreal songbirds.

Co-authored by Dr. Jeff Wells of BSI, Susan Casey-Lefkowitz and Dr. Gabriela Chavarria of NRDC, and Simon Dyer of Pembina, the report projects a cumulative impact over the next 30 to 50 years ranging from a low of about 6 million birds lost to as many as 166 million birds lost.

Download the report, see related maps, graphics and press, and find out more about the issue:

• BSI web site link: http://www.borealbirds.org/birdstarsands.shtml
• NRDC web site link: http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/borealbirds.asp
• Related action alert: http://www.savebiogems.org/birds/
• Flyover the Tar Sands in Google Earth: http://www.borealbirds.org/birdstarsands.shtml#googleearth
  

Press Release

Extraction and refining of heavy oil from Canada’s tar sands is taking a significant toll on migratory birds throughout North America, according to a report released today. DANGER IN THE NURSERY: Impact on Birds of Tar Sands Oil Development in Canada’s Boreal Forest is a new peer-reviewed policy and science document outlining the current and projected impacts the tar sands oil industry is having on migratory bird populations in the Boreal forest of Alberta and along the hemisphere’s flyways.

“At a time when bird populations are rapidly declining, this report puts into perspective the far reaching effects of tar sands oil development on North America’s birds,” said the report’s lead author Jeff Wells, Ph.D. of the Boreal Songbird Initiative. “The public needs to understand the real and long-term ecological costs of this development and determine if this is acceptable.”

Canada’s Boreal forest is a globally important destination for birds as a nesting area and breeding habitat, especially for an array of wetland-dependent birds. Unfortunately the rapidly expanding tar sands oil extraction industry increasingly puts these birds at risk. It is estimated that half of America’s migratory birds nest in the Boreal forest, and each year 22–170 million birds breed in the area that could eventually be developed for tar sands oil. The report projects that the cumulative impact over the next 30–50 years could be as high as 166 million birds lost, including future generations. The report suggests impacts will increase in the next 30–50 years, despite international treaties to protect these birds.

Almost every aspect of oil development affects migratory birds throughout the flyways of North America. In Alberta, tar sands mining and drilling causes significant habitat loss and fragmentation. Toxic tailing ponds result in 8,000 to 100,000 oiled and drowned birds annually (for example, this year 500 ducks died in a single incident after landing in one of the polluted water storage lakes). Tar sands mining is a water-intensive process, licensed to use more water than a city of 3 million people.

The threat to birds is not contained exclusively in Alberta. Increasing development of tar sands refinery and pipeline infrastructure is creating a direct pollution delivery system into the Great Lakes. The resulting decrease in air and water quality affects migratory birds, which will suffer elevated mortality numbers as a result of contaminants and toxins from refining. Most importantly, global warming changes already affecting Boreal birds are exacerbated by the tar sands, which account for Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.

The report was released by a group of concerned environmental and conservation organizations to highlight the growing problem. In the report, experts from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Boreal Songbird Initiative, and Pembina Institute outline potential policy changes that can be made on both sides of the border. The report was peer-reviewed by 10 scientists in the U.S. and Canada.

“This report is yet another wake up call to the government in Alberta, as it confirms that the cumulative impact of oil sands development is on an unsustainable trajectory,” said Pembina Institute’s Simon Dyer, a contributing author to the report. “It is clear that oil sands mining and in-situ development is already taking a toll on boreal birds. Alberta must move quickly to implement long overdue conservation planning and policies to address these impacts.”

“The loss of as many as 166 million birds is a wholly unacceptable price to pay for America’s addiction to oil,” said NRDC’s Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, a contributing author to the report. “Birds tell us so much about what is going on in the environment around us. This report makes it very clear that they are telling us it is time for a change in American energy policy. There are better energy options available in North America that do not foul our air, poison our waters, or kill our backyard birds.”

What Are Tar Sands?

The tar sands oil boom in Alberta has been fueled by an increasing market in the U.S. for the synthetic crude oil refined from bitumen. The bitumen is mixed in the sandy soil below the Boreal forest, and mining, extracting, and upgrading it into synthetic crude produces significant greenhouse gas pollution. Producing one barrel of synthetic crude generates three times the greenhouse gas emissions of a barrel of conventional oil. Tar sands crude has been the source of significant controversy on both sides of the border. The U.S. Conference of Mayors and United States federal government have both pledged to focus on fuel sources with lower emissions. In the Great Lakes region, there has been a public outcry over lax pollution permits granted to a number of high profile projects being undertaken to increase tar sands refining, such as the BP expansion in Whiting, IN. More information is available at www.oilsandswatch.org and www.nrdc.org/energy/dirtyfuels.asp