Long-term monitoring of Arctic birds at the East Bay Island Field Station, within the Qaqsauqtuuq Migratory Bird Sanctuary, 1996–2023
New publication by H. G. Gilchrist*, H. Hennin, E. I. Buttler, J. F. Provencher, J. Nakoolak, P. A. Smith, M. Janssen, M. R. Forbes, C. A.D. Semeniuk, K. Allard, J. Bety, N. Clyde, S. Descamps, F. Jean-Gagnon, D. A. Henri, P. Legagneux, C. Macdonald, F. R. Merkel, A. Mosbech, E. RichardsonC. Soos, C. Sonne, M. Wayland, O. P. Love
Abstract:
Northern common eider ducks (Somateria mollissima borealis, Linnaeus, 1758) are harvested throughout their range and represent an important resource of eggs, meat, and feather down. In the 1990s, there was growing Indigenous and international concern that eiders nesting in Arctic Canada were in decline. In response, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) established a field station on a small uninhabited island in East Bay, Southampton Island (64◦01′N, 81◦47′W), with the intention of developing a long-term study of eider demography that could inform harvest management. Throughout the nearly three-decade duration of the East Bay Island Field Station, field logistics revolved around regional sea ice conditions and how to maintain reliable transportation and access to the island. Despite these challenges, the gradual improvement of the field station facilitated a growing breadth of research as new issues emerged, many of which were unforeseen. Here, we provide an overview of the 28 years of research, including studies on the impacts of harvest, avian disease, contaminant levels and parasitology, details of bird migration, ecological trade-offs, and predator-prey dynamics. The breadth of these research topics reflects the diversity of expertise contributed by numerous university collaborators and graduate students, as well as Inuit ingenuity and Indigenous ecological knowledge that contributed to all stages of the research program.