Seabirds utilizing the Northeast Water polynya

A small seabird community depends on the resources of the Northeast Water (NEW) polynya. In spring, at least 1000 King Eiders and 2500 Common Eiders form pre-breeding congregations at Ob Bank before dispersing in mid June to breeding areas. The most abundant species is the Fulmar, which breeds in six colonies with a total of 2550 “apparently occupied sites”, corresponding to approx. 1475 active pairs in 1993. Kittiwakes occupied almost 900 sites at Mallemukfjeld, with an estimated 733 breeding pairs. The entire NEW area probably holds 400–500 pairs of Ivory Gulls, and about 500 individuals were associated with a colony on Henrik Krøyer Holme; this is one of the world's largest known colonies. Sabine's Gulls breed at the same islands and on Kilen (approx. 50 pairs in each place). Small colonies (total less than 1000 birds) of Arctic Terns are distributed along the edge of the polynya, with the largest colony of about 100 pairs on Henrik Krøyer Holme. The Black Guillemot is the only breeding auk species (< 20 pairs) in the area. Small numbers of Red Phalaropes were observed in the polynya in 1992 and 1993, and the species may have bred at Henrik Krøyer Holme in 1993; the polynya area may also serve as a staging area for transpolar migrants. In late summer a few hundreds of Ross's Gull—non-breeding adults and immatures—show up in and around the polynya, and in recent years a few cases of breeding have also been recorded. The relatively small seabird populations are evidence of a generally low carrying capacity of the polynya area.Apart from the benthic foraging eiders and the Black Guillemot, the seabird community of NEW consists of surface feeders—Fulmars and gulls—dependent on small fish and zooplankton. During their stay in the NEW area, the five most abundant surface feeders will annually consume approximately 243,000 kg (wet weight) of food, of which the Fulmars alone take 67%. Food demand in relation to area of open water in the polynya is highest in spring (approx. 0.2 kg/km²), which is     

Using the Ecopath with Ecosim Modeling Approach to Understand the Effects of Watershed-based Management Actions in Coastal Ecosystems

Resource managers are often tasked with identifying and assessing the potential impacts of management actions on the biotic communities under their care. When the management activities directly influence a single species of interest, managers can turn to a variety of models to aid in their understanding of potential changes to that population. However, as ecosystem-based management becomes more widely accepted, managers will have to understand how proposed actions will impact entire biotic communities, through both direct and indirect mechanisms. Thus, there is a need for ecosystem models that account for both trophic and non-trophic interactions, and that can be relatively easily used to assess a variety of management scenarios. We reviewed the available literature regarding incorporation of eutrophication and other anthropogenic impacts into Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE), one of the more widely used trophic ecosystem modeling frameworks. We found that a number of mechanisms of varying complexity have been used to include these stressors in models, providing managers with a suite of options that can be used to complement their existing management options as they seek to understand the impacts of human interactions on the natural environment.