Whimbrel Tracking in the Americas (aggregated per 1-degree cell)

Original provider:
The Center for Conservation Biology

Dataset credits:
Data provider: Center for Conservation Biology; Originating data center: Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT); Project sponsor or sponsor description: The Center for Conservation Biology

Abstract:
The whimbrel is a large, holarctic, highly migratory shorebird. The North American race includes two disjunct breeding populations both of which winter primarily in Central and South America. The western population breeds in Alaska and the Northwest Territories of Canada. The eastern population breeds south and west of Hudson Bay in Manitoba and Ontario. It has generally been believed that the western population follows a Pacific Coast migration route between breeding and wintering areas and that the Hudson Bay population follows an Atlantic Coast route. Both populations are of high conservation concern due to dramatic declines in recent decades. <br><br>For more than a decade, scientists have believed that the seaside of the lower Delmarva Peninsula in Virginia played a significant role in the life cycle of the whimbrel. During spring migration in the mid-1990s, Bryan Watts from the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary and Barry Truitt of The Nature Conservancy documented the densest concentration of whimbrels ever recorded in the western hemisphere within the barrier island lagoon system of the lower Delmarva Peninsula. Since that time, it has been believed that the Eastern Shore of Virginia represents a critical, coastal staging area where birds feed on the staggering numbers of fiddler crabs that inhabit the lagoon system and build up energy reserves before making their last overland flight to the breeding grounds. However, it has always been assumed that the birds staging along the lower Delmarva were exclusively from the Hudson Bay population. The flight documented in spring 2008 (see Winnie's map) has forced a change in thinking regarding the origin of birds using this stopover site. <br><br>Beginning in 2008, the Center for Conservation Biology collaborated with The Nature Conservancy to investigate the stopover ecology of whimbrels along the Delmarva Peninsula. The study includes aerial surveys to estimate seasonal numbers, traditional transmitters to examine stopover periods, and satellite transmitters to document migration pathways and breeding destinations for birds leaving the site. The seaside of the Delmarva Peninsula has been recognized as a globally important bird area, a hemispheric shorebird reserve, and a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The discovery that whimbrels use the site as a terminal staging area before embarking on a transcontinental flight suggests that the site is uniquely suited to provide the tremendous amount of energy required to prepare birds for such a flight. <br><br>Continued research planned by CCB and TNC in Virginia will investigate whimbrel stopover ecology and the broader strategic importance of this site to whimbrel populations.<br><br>In 2010, Georgia Department of Natural Resources began tracking Whimbrel from another important migration stopover on the east coast of North America. Georgia's barrier island and salt-marsh complex provide excellent stopover habitat for refueling on their migration from their wintering grounds in South America to the breeding grounds in the Arctic. <br><br>Names for the Vriginia Whimbrels are landmarks near where the Whimbrel congregate on the Eastern Shore of Virginia (Hope Creek, Box Tree, Fowling Point, Elkins Marsh, Hope Creek, Indian Creek, town of Machipongo, Webb Island, Ramshorn Channel, Mill Creek, and Kitt Creek).<br>
This dataset is a summarized representation of the telemetry locations aggregated per species per 1-degree cell.

原始提供方：保护生物学中心（Center for Conservation Biology）

数据集说明：数据提供方：保护生物学中心（Center for Conservation Biology）；原始数据中心：卫星跟踪与分析工具（Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool, STAT）；项目资助方或资助说明：保护生物学中心（Center for Conservation Biology）

摘要：白腰杓鹬（whimbrel）是一种体型较大的全北界高度洄游涉禽。北美亚种包含两个不连续的繁殖种群，二者均主要在中美洲与南美洲越冬。西部种群在阿拉斯加及加拿大西北地区繁殖，东部种群在哈德逊湾以南、以西的曼尼托巴省与安大略省繁殖。此前学界普遍认为，西部种群沿太平洋海岸迁徙路线往返繁殖地与越冬地，而哈德逊湾种群则沿大西洋海岸路线迁徙。近数十年来，两个种群的数量均出现大幅下降，因此均受到高度的保护关注。

十余年来，学界一直认为弗吉尼亚州下德尔马瓦半岛的滨海区域在白腰杓鹬的生命周期中扮演着关键角色。1990年代中期的春季迁徙期间，威廉与玛丽学院保护生物学中心的布莱恩·沃茨（Bryan Watts）与大自然保护协会（The Nature Conservancy）的巴里·特鲁特（Barry Truitt），在弗吉尼亚州下德尔马瓦半岛的障壁岛泻湖系统中记录到西半球有史以来密度最高的白腰杓鹬聚集群。自此，学界便认定弗吉尼亚东海岸是一处关键的滨海停歇地：这些鸟类以栖息于泻湖系统中的海量招潮蟹为食，积累能量储备，随后开展前往繁殖地的最后一段跨陆飞行。但此前人们一直认为，在德尔马瓦半岛停歇的白腰杓鹬均来自哈德逊湾种群。2008年春季记录到的飞行轨迹（参见温妮地图），则改变了我们对该停歇地停歇鸟类起源的认知。

2008年起，保护生物学中心（Center for Conservation Biology, CCB）与大自然保护协会（The Nature Conservancy, TNC）合作，针对德尔马瓦半岛沿岸白腰杓鹬的停歇生态学展开研究。该研究涵盖航空调查以估算季相种群数量、使用传统遥测发射器研究停歇时长，以及搭载卫星发射器以记录离开该停歇地的鸟类的迁徙路径与繁殖目的地。德尔马瓦半岛的滨海区域已被认定为全球重要鸟类区域、半球性涉禽保护区，以及联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）生物圈保护区。此次发现表明，白腰杓鹬将该区域作为跨大陆飞行前的终端停歇地，这意味着该区域能够为鸟类准备此类长途飞行提供所需的巨额能量储备，其适配性独一无二。

保护生物学中心（CCB）与大自然保护协会（TNC）在弗吉尼亚州的后续研究计划，将进一步探究白腰杓鹬的停歇生态学，以及该停歇地对白腰杓鹬种群的更广泛战略价值。

2010年，佐治亚州自然资源部开始对北美东海岸另一处重要迁徙停歇地的白腰杓鹬进行追踪。佐治亚州的障壁岛与盐沼复合体为这些鸟类提供了优质的停歇栖息地，使其能够在从南美洲越冬地飞往北极繁殖地的迁徙途中补充能量。

弗吉尼亚州白腰杓鹬的命名取自弗吉尼亚东海岸白腰杓鹬聚集点附近的地标，包括霍普溪（Hope Creek）、箱树（Box Tree）、猎点（Fowling Point）、埃尔金斯沼泽（Elkins Marsh）、霍普溪（Hope Creek）、印第安溪（Indian Creek）、马奇庞戈镇（Machipongo）、韦伯岛（Webb Island）、盘螺水道（Ramshorn Channel）、米尔溪（Mill Creek）与基特溪（Kitt Creek）。

本数据集为按物种聚合、以1度网格为单元的遥测位置汇总后的简化呈现形式。