The effects of seismic lines and drill pads on breeding migratory birds in the Kendall Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Northwest Territories.

摘要

There are concerns about the effects of hydrocarbon development on sensitive tundra ecosystems and the bird populations they support. I examined the effects of seismic lines and drill pads on breeding migratory birds in the Kendall Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary, NWT. I compared abundances and distributions of birds on paired seismic line and reference line transects for new and old seismic lines in upland tundra, low-centre polygon and sedge/willow habitats. Seismic lines negatively affected the abundance of all passerines (excluding savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis)), savannah sparrows, tree sparrows (Spizella arborea), common redpolls (Carduelis flammea), Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus ) and red-necked phalaropes (Phalropus lobatus ), and the abundance and distribution Lapland longspurs ( Calcarius lapponicus) and shorebirds. Obligate arctic species were more sensitive to seismic lines than non-obligate species. Savannah sparrows were more abundant and Lapland longspurs were less abundant on drill pads. As a result of these disturbances, there is an industrial footprint within the sanctuary that exceeds the 1% mandated by the Canadian Wildlife Service.