Monitoring of the relative abundance of tundra bird and mammal species encountered daily on Bylot Island, Nunavut

We are unable to accurately estimate the absolute abundance of all vertebrates in the tundra communities we study, largely because of lack of time and also the low abundances of many species. However, these species may play a fairly prominent role in the food web, for various lengths of time. Our understanding of differences in the composition and dynamics of community interactions, especially between study sites or between years, will be enhanced by at least a relative abundance estimate for some of these species.