Citizen Science Reveals an Extensive Shift in the Winter Distribution of Migratory Western Grebes.

ABSTRACT: Marine waterbirds have shown variable trends in abundance over the past four decades with some species displaying steep declines along the Pacific coast from British Columbia through California. One of the most dramatic changes has been that of western grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) in the Salish Sea. This region was a former core of the species wintering distribution but they have become increasingly rare prompting calls for conservation action. A more thorough understanding of this situation requires the analysis of trends at broader geographic scales as well as a consideration of mechanisms that might have led to a change in abundance. We used hierarchical modeling with a Bayesian framework applied to 36 years of Audubon Christmas Bird Count data to assess continent-wide and regiona

SUBMITTER: Wilson S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3686804 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature