New Study Shows Climate Change Largely Irreversible

A new scientific study led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reaches a powerful conclusion about the climate change caused by future increases of carbon dioxide: to a large extent, there’s no going back.

The pioneering study, led by NOAA senior scientist Susan Solomon, shows how changes in surface temperature, rainfall, and sea level are largely irreversible for more than 1,000 years after carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions are completely stopped. The findings appear during the week of January 26 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Our study convinced us that current choices regarding carbon dioxide emissions will have legacies that will irreversibly change the planet,” said Solomon, who is based at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.

“It has long been known that some of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities stays in the atmosphere for thousands of years,” Solomon said. “But the new study advances the understanding of how this affects the climate system.”

The study examines the consequences of allowing CO₂ to build up to several different peak levels beyond present-day concentrations of 385 parts per million and then completely halting the emissions after the peak. The authors found that the scientific evidence is strong enough to quantify some irreversible climate impacts, including rainfall changes in certain key regions, and global sea level rise.

If CO₂ is allowed to peak at 450-600 parts per million, the results would include persistent decreases in dry-season rainfall that are comparable to the 1930s North American Dust Bowl in zones including southern Europe, northern Africa, southwestern North America, southern Africa and western Australia.

The study notes that decreases in rainfall that last not just for a few decades but over centuries are expected to have a range of impacts that differ by region. Such regional impacts include decreasing human water supplies, increased fire frequency, ecosystem change and expanded deserts. Dry-season wheat and maize agriculture in regions of rain-fed farming, such as Africa, would also be affected.

Climate impacts were less severe at lower peak levels. But at all levels added carbon dioxide and its climate effects linger because of the ocean.

“In the long run, both carbon dioxide loss and heat transfer depend on the same physics of deep-ocean mixing. The two work against each other to keep temperatures almost constant for more than a thousand years, and that makes carbon dioxide unique among the major climate gases,” said Solomon.

The scientists emphasize that increases in CO₂ that occur in this century “lock in” sea level rise that would slowly follow in the next 1,000 years. Considering just the expansion of warming ocean waters—without melting glaciers and polar ice sheets—the authors find that the irreversible global average sea level rise by the year 3000 would be at least 1.3–3.2 feet (0.4–1.0 meter) if CO₂ peaks at 600 parts per million, and double that amount if CO₂ peaks at 1,000 parts per million.

“Additional contributions to sea level rise from the melting of glaciers and polar ice sheets are too uncertain to quantify in the same way,” said Solomon. “They could be even larger but we just don’t have the same level of knowledge about those terms. We presented the minimum sea level rise that we can expect from well-understood physics, and we were surprised that it was so large.”

Rising sea levels would cause “…irreversible commitments to future changes in the geography of the Earth, since many coastal and island features would ultimately become submerged,” the authors write.

Geoengineering to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere was not considered in the study. “Ideas about taking the carbon dioxide away after the world puts it in have been proposed, but right now those are very speculative,” said Solomon.

The authors relied on measurements as well as many different models to support the understanding of their results. They focused on drying of particular regions and on thermal expansion of the ocean because observations suggest that humans are contributing to changes that have already been measured.

Besides Solomon, the study’s authors are Gian-Kasper Plattner and Reto Knutti of ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and Pierre Friedlingstein of Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Gif-Sur-Yvette, France.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

Source: NOAA - Earth Systems Research Laboratory

Emperor Penguins March toward Extinction?

Popularized by the 2005 movie “March of the Penguins,” emperor penguins could be headed toward extinction in at least part of their range before the end of the century, according to a paper by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers published January 26, 2009, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

The paper, co-authored by five researchers including WHOI biologists Stephanie Jenouvrier and Hal Caswell, uses mathematical models to predict the effect on penguins of climate change and the resulting loss of sea ice.

The research indicates that if climate change continues to melt sea ice at the rates published in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the median population size of a large emperor penguin colony in Terre Adelie, Antarctica, likely will shrink from its present size of 3,000 to only 400 breeding pairs by the end of the century.

What’s more, the researchers calculate that the probability of a drastic decline (by 95 percent or more) is at least 40 percent and perhaps as much as 80 percent.

Such a decline would put the population at serious risk of extinction.

“The key to the analysis was deciding to focus not on average climate conditions, but on fluctuations that occasionally reduce the amount of available sea ice,” said Hal Caswell, who is noted for his work in mathematical ecology.

Sea ice plays a critical role in the Antarctic ecosystem – not only as a platform for penguins to breed, feed, and molt, but as a grazing ground for krill, tiny crustaceans that thrive on algae growing on the underside of the ice. Krill, in turn, are a food source for fish, seals, whales, and penguins.

One fluctuation and subsequent sea ice reduction in Terre Adelie during the 1970s led to a population decline in emperor penguins of about 50 percent.

The team led by Caswell and Jenouvrier developed a series of models to incorporate the effect of the fluctuations on the penguin life history and population growth or decline. The models used data collected by French scientists working in Terre Adelie beginning in the 1960s. Then, working with climate scientists, Jenouvrier, Caswell and their colleagues looked at IPCC climate models and found that these fluctuations are likely to become much more frequent as the climate changes over the next 100 years.

Because Jenouvrier and Caswell’s models were based on fluctuations rather than smooth trends, and because different IPCC models differ in their forecasts of future Antarctic climate, the results of the analysis incorporate uncertainty in the details of the future population growth, but the conclusions are not uncertain. “If the future behaves anything like the IPCC models predict, the Terre Adelie population will decline, probably dramatically,” said Jenouvrier

Certain predictions even suggested that the geographic range of Antarctic penguins may shrink following climate warming because the continent limits their movement south. Over the last 50 years, climate change has been most pronounced in the Antarctic Peninsula, where Terre Adelie is located. In the future, the Ross Sea—where sea ice actually has increased in recent years—may be the last sanctuary for penguins.

The WHOI research raises several questions for Antarctic researchers and those interested in conservation of penguins. One is what the march of this population toward extinction tells us about the prospects for the emperor penguin throughout its range. “This analysis focuses on a single population—that at Terre Adelie—because of the excellent data available for it. But patterns of climate change and sea ice in the Antarctic are an area of intense research interest now. It remains to be seen how these changes will affect the entire species throughout Antarctica,” said Caswell.

Another is the mechanism by which changes in sea ice affect the penguins. “The mechanisms are complex, and are an active area of research,” added Jenouvrier.

Yet another question is whether the penguins might adapt to changing conditions, perhaps by changing the timing of their breeding cycle. However, this does not seem to be happening. “Unlike some other Antarctic bird species that have altered their life cycles, penguins don’t catch on so quickly,” Jenouvrier said. “They are long-lived organisms, so they adapt slowly. This is a problem because the climate is changing very fast.”

The research was a collaboration between the mathematical ecology group at WHOI, led by Caswell, a group of French scientists from Expeditions Polaires Francaises and Institut Paul Emile Victor, and climate scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Snow and Ice Data Center. “The project was truly interdisciplinary,” said Jenouvrier, “which is critical for this kind of research.”

In the more immediate future, the study even might impact legal protections available for the emperor penguin. In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a preliminary ruling declining to list the emperor penguin under the Endangered Species Act. Caswell said this ruling is still being evaluated and research presented in this paper will have to be considered.

He added that species threatened by climate change are among the most difficult conservation problems. Improving the situation will require global actions to address a truly global environmental problem.

Source: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Media Relations

Rare VT Birds - 2008

Greetings from the Vermont Bird Records Committee,

We would like to thank you for making 2008 an exciting year for birding in Vermont. Ocean-faring birds made an appearance on Lake Champlain, there were record numbers of Hoary Redpolls across the state, and we saw Black Vultures continue their northward expansion. The Vermont Bird Records Committee met in November to review all the rare bird reports submitted in the past year. We are excited to announce that you can now log on to http://www.vtecostudies.org/vbrc/vbrcreports.htm to view which species were accepted as state records.

Highlights from 2008:
Brown Pelican, first state record (observed in 2003)
Arctic Loon, first hypothetical state record
Long-tailed Jaeger
Dovekie
Barn Owl
Three-toed Woodpecker
Yellow-throated Warbler
American Wigeon (nesting)
Cerulean Warbler (nesting)
Orchard Oriole (nesting)
Clay-colored Sparrow (nesting)

We had an influx of reports for several species that are becoming more regular in the state. We no longer require reports for the following species:

Cackling Goose
Ross’s Goose
Harlequin Duck (not required on Lake Champlain, but requested elsewhere)
Tufted Duck (not required on Lake Champlain, but requested elsewhere)
Long-tailed Jaeger (not required on Lake Champlain, but requested elsewhere)
Northern Gannet (not required in Champlain Valley, but requested elsewhere)
Black Vulture
Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow
White-winged Crossbill
Hoary Redpoll
Orchard Oriole

Every year we receive rare bird reports that lack enough detail for conclusive identification, so we have posted an example of a poorly written RSD, which you can download from http://www.vtecostudies.org/vbrc/vbrcdocu.htm Send your completed (and detailed!) rare bird reports to: vbrc@vtecostudies.org

Finally, for 2009, our resolutions are to update the Vermont Daily Field Card and create regional filters for Vermont eBird. Both of these actions will make it easier for everyone to maintain daily checklists and report rare sightings.

May 2009 bring many birds your way!

Vermont Bird Records Committee:
Hector Galbraith
Julie Hart
Dick Lavallee
Kent McFarland (rare bird report police)
Julie Nicholson (non-voting member)
Judy Peterson (co-chair)
Chris Rimmer (non-voting member)
Allan Strong (co-chair)
John Sutton
Sue Wetmore

NEW HAMPSHIRE MID-WINTER BALD EAGLE COUNT FINDS NUMBERS UP

CONCORD, N.H. - Wildlife watchers participating in the New Hampshire portion of the 2009 National Mid-winter Bald Eagle Survey located a record-high total of 74 bald eagles during a two-week count period earlier this month. The statewide effort was coordinated by New Hampshire Audubon in collaboration with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program.

With binoculars in gloved hands and spotting scopes and tripods at the ready, a total of 88 observers -- nearly all volunteers -- turned out in winter gear on the official Survey Day on January 10 (January 8 in the Lakes Region). Observers looked for eagles in each of New Hampshire's 10 counties, from the Seacoast to the Connecticut River. This was the 29th consecutive year that N.H. Audubon has conducted the survey (since Winter 1980-81). "During that time, the wintering bald eagle population in New Hampshire has increased steadily from the lowest of lows," said Martin. On Survey Day in 1982, N.H. Audubon staff and volunteers located just two bald eagles statewide.

This year, observers tallied a record-high 61 eagles (32 adult birds, 29 immature birds) on Survey Day. That's up just slightly from the previous record of 59 birds counted on a single day last January. Another 13 eagles were found during the two-week "count period" surrounding Survey Day, yielding a grand total of 74 individual birds seen. "Like last year's results, our findings this month are very encouraging," said Chris Martin, a Senior Biologist in New Hampshire Audubon's Conservation Department.

"Here in New Hampshire, where the bald eagle was recently reclassified from endangered to threatened status, long-term monitoring studies like this one help us tremendously as we evaluate the success of our recovery efforts," said Michael Marchand, a wildlife biologist with N.H. Fish and Game's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program.

The official Mid-winter Survey Day occurs within a more inclusive two-week count period, which this year ran from December 31, 2008 to January 14, 2009. N.H. Audubon keeps records on the number of eagles seen during this two-week interval, combining Survey Day data with any additional individual birds that are distinguishably different and are seen during the week before and after, to get an overall total.

During the 2009 Mid-winter Survey, eagles were observed in New Hampshire five major eagle wintering areas (and a few elsewhere):

  * Androscoggin River - Total of 8 bald eagles seen, including 4 individuals (1 adult, 3 immatures) seen on Survey Day, plus 4 additional eagles (4 adults) confirmed during the two-week count period.

  * Connecticut River - Total of 13 bald eagles seen, including 8 individuals (7 adults, 1 immature) seen on Survey Day, plus 5 additional eagles (2 adults, 3 immatures) confirmed during the two-week count period. (To avoid double-counting, Vermont and New Hampshire "partition" the Connecticut River, with Vermont credited for all eagles seen upstream from of Wilder Dam, and New Hampshire credited for all eagles seen downstream from the dam.)

  * Great Bay/Coastal - Total of 20 bald eagles seen, including 18 individuals (4 adults, 14 immatures) seen on Survey Day, plus 2 additional eagles (2 adults) confirmed during the two-week count period.

  * Lakes Region - Total of 10 bald eagles seen, including 9 individuals (6 adults, 3 immatures) seen on Survey Day, plus 1 additional eagle (1 adult) confirmed during the two-week count period.

  * Merrimack River - Total of 18 bald eagles seen, including 17 individuals (10 adults, 7 immatures) seen on Survey Day, plus 1 additional eagle (1 adult) confirmed during the two-week count period.

  * Elsewhere in New Hampshire - Total of 5 bald eagles seen (4 adults, 1 immature), all seen in the Saco River and Ossipee River watersheds on Survey Day.

N.H. Audubon and N.H. Fish and Game will conduct another eagle count at the end of February to provide a better index of the abundance and distribution of bald eagles in the state near the end of the wintering season. The 5th annual Late Winter Bald Eagle Survey will take place on Saturday, February 28, 2009 (Thursday, February 26, 2009, in the Lakes Region only).

New volunteer recruitment and training for eagle survey participants occurs each year in November and December, prior to the winter eagle-watching season. If you'd like to get involved in next year's counts, please check the NH Audubon website this fall for training dates.

N.H. Audubon (http://www.nhaudubon.org) monitors bald eagle abundance and distribution throughout the state each year as part of an annual contract with Fish and Game's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program (http://www.WildNH.com/nongame).

The global impact of climate change on biodiversity

When three undergraduates set off on an expedition in 1965 to trap moths on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, little did they realize that they were establishing the groundwork for a study of the impacts of climate change.

New research led by the University of York has repeated the survey 42 years later, and found that, on average, species had moved uphill by about 67 metres over the intervening years to cope with changes in climate.

This is the first demonstration that climate change is affecting the distributions of tropical insects, the most numerous group of animals on Earth, thus representing a major threat to global biodiversity.

University of York PhD student I-Ching Chen – first author of the new study – said: "Tropical insects form the most diverse group of animals on Earth but to-date we have not known whether they were responding to climate change. The last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change AR4 Report showed a gaping hole in the evidence. Our new study is good in that it increases the evidence available, but it is potentially bad for biodiversity."

Professor Thomas added: "Large numbers of species are completely confined to tropical mountains, such as Mount Kinabalu: many of the species found by the expeditions have never been found anywhere else on Earth. As these species get pushed uphill towards cooler conditions, the amount of land that is available to them gets smaller and smaller. And because most of the top of the mountain is bare rock, they may not be able to find suitable habitats, even if the temperature is right. Some of the species are likely to die out."

The New Expedition in 2007 was joined by Henry Barlow, one of the members of the original survey, whose life-long enthusiasm for moths helped I-Ching Chen, who is from Taiwan, to come to terms with the sheer diversity of moths she had to identify.

The study is published in the latest edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Jeremy Holloway, a Research Associate at the Natural History Museum in London, and another member of the 1965 expedition, devoted his career to the identification (taxonomy) of moths from South East Asia, enabling the research team to identify the new samples. Armed with the data from 1965, moth-trapping equipment, tents, sleeping bags and rations, I-Ching and colleagues set out to repeat the original survey.

"Photographs from the 1965 expedition led us back to exactly the same sites sampled 42 years ago", said Dr Suzan Benedick, expedition member, and Universiti Malaysia Sabah entomologist.

The new survey involved climbing the mountain and catching moths up to an elevation of 3,675 metres above sea level. Once all of the specimens had been caught and identified, then the team compared the heights at which each species had been found in 1965 and again in 2007. The results revealed a highly statistically significant shift, indicating that the moths are now found higher on the mountain than previously.

There is a more positive note, however. As the highest and coolest location between the Himalaya and New Guinea, Mount Kinabalu represents an extremely important "climate change refuge". Species that begin to find conditions too hot (or dry) in the surrounding lowlands may be able to find suitable conditions by moving upwards on the slopes of this mountain. "The critical thing is to protect the forests surrounding the mountain, so that the lowland species are able to reach the cooler conditions that they may need," said Dr Jane Hill, expedition member, and one of I-Ching Chen's advisors.

From University of York Press Release

Slight changes in climate may trigger abrupt ecosystem responses

Some of these responses, including insect outbreaks, wildfire, and forest dieback, may adversely affect people as well as ecosystems and their plants and animals.

The U.S. Geological Survey led a new assessment of the implications of a warming world on "ecological thresholds" in North America. The report, which was commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and authored by a team of federal and academic climate scientists, is based on a synthesis of published scientific literature and addresses what research and steps are needed to help mitigate resulting effects.

An ecological threshold is the point at which there is an abrupt change in an ecosystem that produces large, persistent and potentially irreversible changes.

"One of our biggest concerns is that once an ecological threshold is crossed, the ecosystem in question will most likely not return to its previous state," said USGS Associate Director for Biology Susan Haseltine. "The existence of thresholds should be a key concern of scientists and natural resource managers."

The team also emphasized that human actions may increase an ecosystem's potential for crossing ecological thresholds. For example, additional human use of water in a watershed experiencing drought could trigger basic changes in aquatic life that may not be reversible. Researchers and decision makers need to develop the tools necessary to predict the effects of specific ecological disturbances and to understand early warning signals of impending ecological thresholds.

The report also concludes that although not enough is known about ecological thresholds, researchers do already know that ecosystems will differ significantly in their respective thresholds. More vulnerable ecosystems, such as those that already face stressors other than climate change, will almost certainly reach their threshold for abrupt change sooner.

The Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, Department of Energy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and National Science Foundation contributed to this report.

To view the full report, Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.2: Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems, visit http://climatescience.gov.

Shaky prospects for grassland birds

A paper in the most recent issue of Biological Conservation lays out a grim picture for grassland birds. Landscape ecologist Kimberly With (Kansas State University) and her colleagues studied three grassland bird species (Eastern Meadowlark, Grasshopper Sparrow, and Dickcissel) in the Flint Hills of Kansas, one of the largest intact tallgrass prairies in the world and considered an important “core” region for grassland bird species. They modeled population viability and found that “none of these species is demographically viable at a regional scale under realistic assumptions, with estimated population declines of 3–29%/year and a likelihood of regional viability of 0–45% over the two years of study.” The paper sets off an alarm: huge grasslands that were thought to be productive, reliable "sources" for grassland bird populations cannot be counted on to save the species.

Population levels may be dropping despite conservation efforts in part because grassland birds are experiencing an “extinction debt.” Although the most drastic land use changes that affect grassland birds occurred 70 to 100 years ago, populations may take generations to respond (e.g., “learning” not to nest in degraded, low-productivity habitats). “If the North American grasslands have been reduced in area below some critical habitat threshold,” the authors contend, “theory predicts that it may take many decades for an extinction debt to pay out, especially if this coincides with the individual extinction thresholds of many species. If this is the case with grassland birds, then we may be witnessing an unfolding conservation crisis.”

The authors go on to discuss how climate change will likely exacerbate this grave situation: “Changes in precipitation patterns, with less frequent but more severe precipitation events, are an expected consequence of global climate change in the Great Plains. Droughts may therefore become more common, and coupled with current land-management practices, may further exceed the ability of birds to persist in the face of such widespread environmental changes.”

Climate Change Could Add Extended Mercury Threat

Mercury pollution has already spurred public health officials to advise eating less fish, but it could become a more pressing concern in a warmer world.

So suggests a paper that appears in a recent issue of the journal Oecologia.

Sue Natali, a postdoctoral associate in botany at the University of Florida and the paper's lead author, compared mercury levels in soils under trees growing in air enriched with carbon dioxide to soil beneath trees in ambient air. Carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, has increased nearly 40 percent since the industrial revolution and is expected to continue climbing unless power plant and other emissions are restricted or curtailed.

Natali's main finding: Soil samples from the carbon dioxide-enriched soil contained almost 30 percent more mercury — apparently because the soil had greater capacity than soil in today's atmosphere to trap and hold on to mercury.

On the one hand, Natali said, that increased capacity could slow the mercury's release into water — its main conduit to aquatic wildlife and the fish that pose a hazard to people. On the other, it means that even if policy makers manage to ban or severely restrict mercury emissions, the metal will remain a source of pollution for a long time.

"From the time you cut off mercury emission to the time it positively affects fish, you might have this lag, because the soils hold on to the mercury better," Natali said.

Global mercury emissions today range from 4,400 to 7,500 tons per year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Natural sources such as volcanoes account for about half, with coal-fired power plants, smelters and incinerators contributing the remainder.

When mercury is belched into the air, it returns to Earth via rain, with bacteria and other natural processes converting it to methylmercury in lakes, rivers and oceans. Methylmercury builds up through the food chain, with the flesh of the biggest, most sought-after predator fish — tuna, swordfish, king mackerel and so on — containing the highest concentrations. That's why the federal government has advised pregnant women, children and other groups considered vulnerable to limit their consumption.

Natali said scientists have long recognized mercury levels in soil spike under trees, averaging four times the concentration in open areas.

That's because trees effectively scavenge the poison from the atmosphere. Leaves and stems collect rainwater, and with it mercury; trees drop mercury-laden leaves on the ground, and trees take in the metal through their stomata, or breathing pores on leaves.

Scientists also have shown repeatedly that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to increased plant and tree growth. Natali said she launched her research to find out whether that process would in turn have any effect on pollution from mercury and other metals.

Fortunately, two experimental sites were already in place: the free-air carbon dioxide enrichment experiments at forests in North Carolina and Tennessee, operated by Duke University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, respectively. These sites consist of plots in naturally growing forests surrounded by vertical pipes that constantly pump out carbon dioxide — and have done so since 1996, for the North Carolina site, and 1998, for the Tennessee site. The systems surround deciduous and coniferous trees in the plots with 200 parts per million more carbon dioxide than ambient air, or between 549 and 582 parts per million. That is the anticipated concentration in the air in 2050 without new emissions restrictions, Natali said.

Natali assessed mercury levels in rain that struck the canopy and then flowed down stems and trunks; in rain that fell directly from the canopy to the forest floor, and in leaves that fell below the trees, or "leaf litter."

To her surprise, none contained particularly elevated levels of the poison. In fact, although the trees in the enriched plots produced more leaf litter, mercury concentrations in the leaves actually decreased. The uptick in mercury in the soil apparently happened instead because of "changes in soil properties" that occur in the enriched environments, according to the paper. These changes increase the soils' mercury storage capacity.

Johan Varekamp, a professor of earth science at Wesleyan University who also studies mercury and the environment, agreed that Natali's results can be seen as both negative and positive. Mercury will stick around longer in a carbon-dioxide-enriched world, he said, but it also will remain bound to the soil for a longer period.

"I agree with her conclusion that with further cutbacks in mercury emissions, there will be a delay in delay in direct response," he said. That said, "the mercury fluxes to the coastal zone related to past emissions may then be less damaging to the ecosystems."

From University of Florida Press Release

Bicknell's Thrush Field Technicians Needed for Mountain Birdwatch 2.0

FIELD TECHNICIANS (10) needed for a monitoring program of high-elevation songbirds in the Northeastern U.S. from 30 May 2009 to 26 June 2009. An international monitoring program is being established in June 2009 targeting Bicknell’s Thrush and other high-elevation songbirds. Technicians will conduct point counts for ten target species at designated points along trails in the Adirondacks, Catskills, Green Mountains, White Mountains, and the mountains of central Maine. Learn more about Mountain Birdwatch here: http://www.vtecostudies.org/MBW/. Successful applicants will be eager to spend long summer days in this beautiful mountain region, are in good physical condition, and capable of early morning (4:00 am) starts. Must be comfortable backpacking and camping alone in remote locations. Familiarity with New England birds preferred, but training will be provided. Mosquitoes and black flies are prevalent at this time of year. High-elevation weather is highly variable and can be near freezing at night and in the 80s during the day. Thunderstorms and muddy trail conditions are inevitable. Compensation is $450/wk plus mileage reimbursement. Rustic housing is provided on days off. Applicants must be flexible to changes in daily/weekly schedules due to weather. Applicants should have their own vehicle, backpacking equipment, and binoculars. Application deadline is 15 Feb 2009 or until positions are filled. To apply, send letter of interest, resumé, and contact information for three references to: Julie Hart (EM: jhart AT vtecostudies.org), Mountain Birdwatch Coordinator, Vermont Center for Ecostudies, PO Box 420, Norwich, VT 05055.

Nightjar Monitoring Report

Whip-poor-will and Common Nighthawk populations have been declining sharply, disappearing from their former haunts in Vermont and elsewhere in the Northeast. Nobody knows why. Theories include the loss of rooftop nesting substrate for Nighthawks, and a decrease in the favorite food item of both species: moths.

A collaboration of organizations throughout the Northeast initiated a survey program for these species as well as their more southern relative, Chuck Will's Widow. The program's objectives are to establish long-term population monitoring and explore the possible factors underlying population declines. Monitoring is carried out by citizen scientists in an effort to learn more about the species and prevent them from further declines. VCE has been coordinating surveys in Vermont since the inception of the program 3 years ago.

For the latest results:

Highlights of Nightjar Monitoring 2007 and 2008