Investigation of nest predation of the purple sandpiper Calidris maritima; this work is part of a joint circumpolar project to measure and predict the cascading impacts of “Indirect Trophic Interactions” in arctic terrestrial vertebrate communities.
Project description
Temperature loggers will be placed in nests of incubating purple sandpipers in Adventdalen. Should these eggs be lost to predators, it will be noticed as a drop in temperature as the incubation ceases. Herbivory will be assessed by counting faecal samples of reindeer, geese and ptarmigan along 10m plots. The same design is applied at multiple locations across the Arctic. Our Svalbard location is particularly interesting for the network due to the lack of small mammals as food for avian predators and the Arctic fox.
Tasks
– Finding purple sandpiper nests (the most time-consuming task)
– inserting temperature logger in nests
– check-up on known breeding pairs
– retrieval of loggers after incubation
– measuring herbivory by counting faecal samples
Prerequesites:
Ability to do long walks in the tundra
The project involves:
Fieldwork
Starting date/period:
10.06.2019 – 01.08.2019
Experience/skills to be acquired:
Methods to find incubating waders, usage of temperature loggers and interpretation of measurements, experimental setup of herbivory assessment, bird identification skills.
Involvement:
Flexible
Interested by this project? Need more info? Contact
Christian Stolz
cst070@uit.no
Project number: 4