FOOTWEAR TO ALLOW RESEARCHERS TO CROSS DENSELY BURROWED TERRAIN WITHOUT DAMAGE TO SEABIRD HABITAT

摘要

Damage to breeding burrows is an inevitable consequence of human activities on densely populated seabird colonies. Few of the ad hoc mitigation measures reported in the literature offer means of working freely and effectively in such environments without collapsing burrows. This paper describes a simple snowshoe-like attachment to footwear that enables individuals to walk relatively comfortably across terrain heavily burrowed by smaller seabird species (<=300 mm body length). We outline the design principles for these versatile, easily made fittings and discuss their benefits and limitations.