DeLuca, William
Ph.D., W&FCON
Project:
Potential ecological stressors to populations of montane forest birds in the White Mountains, New Hampshire
Contact:
wdelucawdeluca(at)eco.umass.edu
Position:
Research Assistant
Web Links:
Northeast Coordinated Bird Monitoring – http://nebirdmonitor.org/
International Bicknell’s Thrush Conservation Group – http://www.bicknellsthrush.org/
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center – http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationandScience/MigratoryBirds/
Support:
White Mountain National Forest
USFS Northern Research Station
New Hampshire Fish & Game
Northeast Coordinated Bird Monitoring Partnership
Faculty Advisor:
Dr. David I. King
Project abstract:
High elevation, spruce-fir forests of the Northeast are ecologically distinct systems, providing habitat to a diverse and unique avian community. Unfortunately, declines of several high elevation bird species have been documented since 1993 in the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF). Our research evaluates several potential causes for these declines including; recreational trail use, atmospheric deposition, and climate change. We are using broad scale survey data in conjunction with demographic and reproductive information collected for blackpoll warblers (Dendroica striata) at a study site on Mt. Jefferson in the Presidential Mountain Range to assess the role of these potential stressors as causes of population declines.
Publications:
DeLuca, W.V., C.E. Studds, R.S. King, and P.P. Marra. In press. Coastal
urbanization and waterbird community integrity: threshold responses and the importance of scale. Biological Conservation.
Frey, S.J., W.V. DeLuca, and R.S. Butryn. 2007. Integrated modeling of habitat suitability and occupancy. In Donovan, T.M. and J. Hines. Exercises in occupancy modeling and estimation. http://www.uvm.edu/envnr/vtcfwru/spreadsheets/occupancy/occupancy.htm
King, R.S., W.V. DeLuca, D.F. Whigham, and P.P. Marra. 2007. Threshold effects of coastal urbanization on Phragmites australis (common reed) abundance and foliar Nitrogen in Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries and Coasts 30:469-481.
Deluca, W.V. and P.P Marra. 2006. Comparing restored and natural Delmarva Bays as habitat for breeding, migrating, and wintering birds. Technical Report, The Nature Conservancy: 1-35.
DeLuca, W.V., C.E. Studds, L.L. Rockwood, and P.P. Marra. 2004. Influence of land use on the integrity of marsh bird communities of Chesapeake Bay, USA. Wetlands 24:837-847.
Lopez-Ortiz, R., E.A. Ventosa-Febles, L.R. Reitsma, D. Hengstenberg, and W.V. DeLuca. 2002. Increasing nest success in the Yellow-shouldered Blackbird (Agelaius xanthomus) in southwest Puerto Rico. Biological Conservation 108:259-263.
Last updated October 13, 2011 by Roxann Cormier
