WERC Highlights -- October 2001

Human Disturbance Makes Shorebirds Flighty: Disturbance by people and their pets is causing shorebirds like the threatened western snowy plover to wing it to more remote locations where human disturbance is less. Protection of small areas of special habitat can provide important sanctuaries for these birds, however, with relatively little impact to the beach-going public, according to Kevin Lafferty, a marine ecologist with the USGS Western Ecological Research Center. Lafferty measured rates of disturbance on beaches at Coal Oil Point Reserve in Santa Barbara, Calif., providing managers information that they in turn could use to reduce disturbance. Lafferty then evaluated the success of their actions. This research is the subject of Lafferty’s recent articles in the journals Biological Conservation and Biodiversity and Conservation, and a presentation he will make at the Western Society of Naturalists 82nd Annual Meeting in Ventura, Calif., Nov. 12. (Kevin Lafferty, Santa Barbara, CA, 805-893-8778)

How Might Global Warming Affect Sonoran Desert Species? Cecil Schwalbe, a research ecologist at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center was interviewed by the Arizona Daily Star on possible effects of global warming on species included in the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Schwalbe discussed what might happen theoretically under a scenario of local warming with more precipitation or one with warming and less precipitation. The story should appear late this week or this weekend. (Cecil Schwalbe, Tucson, AZ, 520-621-5508)

Japanese Scientists to View USGS Sediment Monitoring Techniques: Mary Ann Madej, a research geologist at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center, will host a team of six Japanese scientists sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The Japanese scientists are part of a "Source-to-Sink Sedimentary Cascades" program that looks at sediment routing from mountainous headwaters to the ocean. They will spend eight days in the field with Madej (November 8 through 17) to find out how sediment sources and sediment transport are monitored and analyzed in the Redwood Creek basin, in north coastal California. (Mary Ann Madej, Arcata, CA, 707-825-5148)