Southern Bird Geek flies again

Howdy folks,

Well, what a busy time it's been since I last wrote. The PhD is done and dusted and a second scientific paper from this work, Resource availability and foraging of Silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) in urban trees, is out in Emu: Austral Ornithology. I also spent seven months working for the Department of Conservation in the beautiful mountains and fiords of South West New Zealand, while maintaining my involvement with protection efforts for the critically endangered grand and Otago skinks (Oligosoma grande and O. otagense) in central Otago. Come the first snow dumps of the southern winter, however, I was ready to take flight and head north. Quite a ways north. A chance meeting with a colleague from Canada last  year has now culminated in the opportunity to visit the land of big skies and big lakes in Saskatchewan, Canada. While here I'll be participating in a few research projects, and engaging in valuable exchange of knowledge in wildlife management and research methods. 

While I will no doubt be exploring and writing about some of the more remote parts of the province, as usual my bird geeking activities began at my point of entry into the area: the city of Saskatoon. Much as I love getting out into wilderness areas, towns and cities can provide some rich wildlife viewing that is all too often overlooked despite being right under our noses (if you browse my earlier posts you'll find plenty along this line). From an ecological perspective urban areas are fascinating, with just about every imaginable component of the ecosystem being modified. For example hydrology is heavily impacted by the sealing of surfaces with concrete and asphalt, temperature is affected (the 'urban heat island' phenomenon), and the importation of ornamental garden plants results in a highly exotic plant community with all sorts of flow on effects through the various trophic levels. As these impacts are relatively constant no matter where in the world your town/city is, there are likewise many commonalities in the ecological communities in urban areas throughout the world.

This morning I took the opportunity to head out for a walk with my host Iain along the banks of the Saskatchewan River as it flows through Saskatoon and get my bird geek on. Unfortunately my binoculars suffered a fatal blow recently in the hills which made identification of some of the smaller species difficult, but even so a great time was had. As we don't have snakes in New Zealand, the chance to get acquainted with a couple of garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) was a highlight. 

Rivers through towns and cities are often bordered by strips of vegetation (riparian vegetation), as such areas are unsuitable for building on due to unstable substrates and flood hazard. These riparian zones are, however, a vastly under-utilised resource, and have the potential to provide some real neighbourhood gems. While urban riparian vegetation can provide oases for a range of wildlife, there is huge room for improvement. Such vegetation typically suffers from heavy infestations of exotic weeds, and while there certainly exceptions, exotic vegetation generally supports exotic arthropod and bird communities leading to further degradation of the conservation potential (a topic I touched on in a previous post, Globe trotting birds). 

So here's my vision for such riparian strips. Worldwide there is an increasing groundswell in conservation towards community led initiatives. Riparian vegetation not only along urban rivers, but also other features such as railways, is ideally suited to such community led projects. The land has little commercial or development value, and is immediately accessible to locals of all ages. Despite the weed infestations, the vegetation is often mature and as such contains the structural diversity needed to support a rich bird community, and allow movement of the birds through the landscape to access localised food resources. The inclusion of shared paths for cyclists and pedestrians can extend these benefits from the avian inhabitats to the human, resulting in options for cheap, healthy, and immediately available recreational opportunities. All in all a win-win situation promoting healthy lifestyles, healthy communities, and of course, healthy birds. 

So remember my ongoing message throughout all my posts: getting out into the wilderness is great, but don't forget the wildlife viewing opportunities right under your noses! Check back soon and hopefully I'll have a few tall tales and photographs from the Canadian wilderness.

Until next time, Southern Bird Geek out. 

Another tough day in the office in the depths of Fiordland National Park and World Heritage Area, south west New Zealand, during the southern summer.

The south branch of the Saskatchewan River as it flows through Saskatoon. The anthropogenic hydrological modifications, riparian vegetation containing infestations of exotic invasive weeds, and water quality issues are typical of urban rivers around the world. It ain't all bad news though.

Urban garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis), Saskatoon, Canada.

Globe trotting birds

Howdy folks,

Once again I find myself off jet-setting, this has been quite a big year for it. This time to England to attend the conference of the British Ornithologists' Union. I've been in the UK a few weeks now, having a long overdue catch up with some friends, and plugging away at the PhD thesis. A few milestones were met last week, I finished the first draft of my final data chapter, and the first publication to come out of my PhD "Arboreal arthropod sampling methods for urban trees" is now available online with the Journal of Insect Conservation. 

Naturally, it wasn't long after arriving in London before I was checking out the local avifauna. Given the paucity of bird habitat in highly developed areas, such as central London, features that may seem fairly 'rubbishy' habitat can play an important role in maintaining at least some biodiversity. Hence the vegetated railway-side vegetation provided a few opportunities for getting my bird geek on and spotting a few of the feathered locals (train-spotting?) on my way out of London. A few pigeons, some sparrows, chaffinches, blackbirds, starlings, thrushes, dunnocks... wait a minute... looks I'm not the only one who's been doing some jet-setting. In the past year I've been lucky enough to travel in both islands of New Zealand, Australia, southern Africa (SA and Namibia), and now England. In the towns and cities in all these areas, spanning three continents, there is a high degree of overlap in the bird communities. So what's the story?

This 'biotic homogenisation' is one of the byproducts of urban development. Worldwide, local species suffer from high rates of localised extinctions in urban areas, while concurrently cosmopolitan species, such as pigeons and sparrows move in. The precise details behind this shift remain unclear, as so many aspects of the environment are modified by urbanisation, at scales ranging from soil microbial activity right through to wholesale atmospheric and temperature changes. I'll save going into these in more detail for another post though. So should we be concerned about this biotic homogenisation? I argue yes, for several reasons, two of which I'll outline briefly.

First is species conservation. As the area of urbanisation spreads through urban sprawl, species of conservation concern are increasingly found in towns and cities. In such situations, there is the danger that what may have been a localised extinction could potentially become a total extinction. This is further exacerbated by the fact that urban centres tend to occur in biological hotspots, such as river mouths and estuaries (again, think London), largely due to historic trade reasons. 

Second is national identity. The avifauna of an area is one of its most visual and defining characteristics. Coincidently, I've just come from a lecture on the cultural value of Polish 'stork villages', where people travel from miles around to visit small villages, where the rooftop nesting storks can outnumber the human inhabitants. As a New Zealander travelling overseas, perhaps being known around the world colloquially as a 'kiwi' means this relationship between avifauna and national identity is particularly pertinent to me right now. 

So how do we go about reversing this biotic homogenisation? That's the six million dollar question. If anyone has a quick and easy solution, do let me know. In the meantime, I'll keep plugging away on my research on how urban tree-scaping may play a role. 

City birds... an urbanised ibis, a photograph instantly recognisable as Australian.