Oil Industry Infrastructures Providing Nesting Grounds for Predators of Nesting Bird Species
09.09.2009 - Flora & Fauna, Human Dimension, Other, Arctic
A joint study by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service, and other groups, recently published in EcologicalApplications, shows that oil industry infrastructure is having animpact on nesting bird populations by providing a place for theirpredators to live. These predators - mostly arctic foxes, ravens andgulls - use drilling platforms, culverts and other structures to buildtheir dens.
As a consequence, certain bird species have seen their numbers decline. Data shows that the Lapland longspur appears to be the most affected by this phenomenon. Data for other birds such as red and red-necked phalaropes seems to point towards a related decline as well, although the data is less strong. The levels of change in some nesting bird populations may simply be due to natural temporal and geographic variation in nesting success.
This collaborative study - the first to be specifically designed to evaluate the effect of oil development in the Arctic on nesting birds - is particularly relevant as birds migrate from five continents to the Arctic to nest every year. Researchers monitored about 2,000 nests of 17 passerine and shorebird species over a four-year period in this study.
Results of this study shed new light on the impacts of oil development in the Arctic on wildlife. Being some of the most undeveloped regions on the planet, evaluating where wildlife protection would be most effective before development occurs is key to finding a balance between wildlife protection and oil development.
