Research
Additional
information
about
Marbled Murrelets
PNW
Funded Projects
2001
2000
1999
1998
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1996
1995
PNW Project Overview 1999
Are Forest Buffers Sufficient & Necessary for Reducing Predation on Marbled Murrelet Nests?
Principal
Investigator:
Dr.
John Marzluff, University of Washington, College of Forest Resources
Awarded: $26,424
Project
Description:
The temperate rainforests of western North America,
specifically those along the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and northern
California, provide critical habitat for a variety of species.
They also support a major human socio-economic base of the region:
timber harvest.
Conflict between the needs of humans and the needs of wildlife are
inevitable and complex.
An example of such a conflict involves the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus
marmoratus) and its apparent dependence on mature forest for nesting.
Current regulations call for an average buffer width of 300 feet
around nest stands to mediate possible “edge effects” (increased
vulnerability to climatic and biological changes along forest edges) on
Marbled Murrelet nesting habitat.
This project continues work funded by ONRC in 1998 to assess the
effectiveness and necessity of buffers around murrelet nesting habitat and
to determine the conditions under which conservation is and is not
enhanced by the creation of buffers.
The project studies the influence of stand and landscape attributes
on nest predation and nest predators in the coastal forest of the Olympic
Peninsula and central Oregon.
Approximately 80 stands ranging in size from 5-200 acres will be
studied.
This research addresses three questions:
1.
How is predation rate in a nest stand influenced by buffer width
and surrounding habitat?
2.
Do stand size and shape influence predation rates?
3.
How is corvid abundance related to stand size, amount of edge,
surrounding landscape, and rate of predation?
Project Status:
A manuscript for this
project has been prepared and is currently in review.
ONRC funded subsequent work to this project in 2000.