Design and Testing of a Monitoring Program for Beaufort Sea Waterfowl and Marine Birds.

摘要

The purpose of the project was to design and test a monitoring protocol for marine birds in the Jones-Return islands area of the central Alaska Beaufort Sea. The oldsquaw duck (Clangula hyemalis) was selected as the focal species for the study. Two null hypotheses were formulated concerning potential changes in the numbers and distribution of oldsquaws in relation to petroleum development in the Industrial area, compared to a Control area located about 50 km to the east. A 9-year historical database was analyzed using multivariate techniques to determine which of several predictor variables recorded during past aerial surveys were significantly related to oldsquaw density in the study areas. Based on results of regression analyses of historical data, an intensive program of aerial surveys and an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) statistical procedure were designed and tested in 1990 and 1991. Results of the ANCOVA indicated that, at least during the 2-year testing phase of the study, there was no evidence of a change in oldsquaw densities that may be attributable to OCS-related disturbance in the Industrial study area.