Many North American shorebird species are experiencing significant population declines, but we have incomplete information about the population sizes and trends for most species. Conservation efforts are underway throughout the Hemisphere to reverse these declines, but we cannot measure the success of those efforts until we have an accurate assessment of population sizes and trends. The Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (PRISM) is a broad-scale, multi-national effort to monitor both the sizes and trends of shorebird populations (https://www.shorebirdplan.org/science/program-for-regional-and-international-shorebird-monitoring/). PRISM also strives to describe the distribution and habitat relationships of shorebirds, monitor numbers of shorebirds at breeding, stopover, and wintering locations, and assist local managers in meeting their shorebird conservation goals. In this study, we conducted surveys at 196 rapid plots on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2019 and 2022. This survey provides critical information about the distribution and habitat use of shorebirds and waterfowl breeding in the area. These data will support both the range-wide population trend estimation goals of PRISM, and also provide important baseline data on shorebird status and trends in relation to any proposed oil and gas development, so that mitigation measures can adequately replace any lost habitat functions. The new population estimates for the entire Arctic National Wildlife will provide evidence on whether shorebird species are declining, remaining stable, or increasing. Because estimates are done at the species level, any declines observed will help target conservation actions both locally and range-wide for a given species. In particular, our objectives were to (1) document occupancy of avian species within defined areas, (2) estimate abundance, density, or species richness of shorebirds, (3) determine habitat associations and predictive models of shorebird distributions, and (4) estimate population sizes and monitor trends of breeding shorebirds within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
These data do not represent all locations within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge where specific avian species may be present, as surveys only occurred in discrete survey plots. Additionally, individual birds may have went undetected within survey plots, as detectability was likely less than 100%, and is a function of many variables, including differences in species, habitat, time-of-year, weather conditions, survey effort, and individual surveyor. The data providers have invested considerable effort in QA/QC, but it is possible that undetected errors remain. It is strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata file associated with these data to evaluate data set limitations, restrictions or intended use. The originators of this dataset shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein.
Potential users of these data should first contact the data authors listed below, as potential biases may occur within the data depending on the intended use. Therefore, potential users should contact the data authors to discuss intended use and how these data may or may not be applicable.
see 1) Saalfeld, S. T., H. R. Gates, S. C. Brown, K. M. Sowl, B. A. Andres, J. A. Johnson, J. E. Lyons, B. J. McCaffery, and R. B. Lanctot. 2022. Survey Protocol for the Arctic Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (PRISM). Version 1.0. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Bird Management, Anchorage, AK and 2) annual field protocol documents for specific methodologies.
