Bald eagles as vectors of marine nutrients – Central Coast Islands (100 Islands study area) – May – July 2017

In this observational study, we quantify the relationship between eagle activity, soil chemistry, and vegetation composition. This dataset consists of plot description, eagle and reference tree information, vegetation data, and soil chemistry data. Data is in tabular form.

Based on foraging behavior and nesting habits, I propose that bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are an important vector of marine nutrient transfer. Although their diet is largely marine-based, bald eagles generally consume their prey on land. This behavior results in deposition of guano and prey remains that are likely chemically or nutritionally similar to seabird guano and may produce similar ecological responses. Altered soil characteristics may include increased concentration of marine-derived nitrogen (δ15N), total nitrogen, and phosphorous, and decreased pH. Previous research shows a correlation between changes in soil chemistry and an increase in plant biomass and decrease in plant species richness at seabird colony sites, presumably because certain plant species were able to dominate under high nutrient-low pH conditions. If long-term additions of nitrogen from bald eagle guano and prey remains do change soil chemistry, a shift toward more nitrophilous species may be most evident in the homogenous, salal-dominated understories of Central Coast islands.

Access and Use

Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Limitations: Appropriate credit must be given to Hakai Institute and the authors of the dataset.

Data and Resources

Hakai Data Access Online Request FormHTML Popular

Online form for requesting access to particular datasets owned by Hakai

Eagle and reference tree datasetHTML

This dataset consists of plot description, eagle and reference tree...

Citation

Keywords

Dataset extent

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Metadata Reference Date(s) January 13, 2022 (Revision)
January 24, 2022 (Publication)
Data Reference Date(s) May 20, 2017 (Creation)
Frequency of Update As Needed

Access full metadata here

Source last modified August 25, 2022 at 04:07

Other records harvested from Hakai Metadata Form data

Responsible Party 1
Name
Luba Reshitnyk
Affiliation
Hakai Institute
Email
luba.reshitnyk@hakai.org
Role
  • Custodian
  • Owner
  • Point of Contact
Responsible Party 2
Name
Becky Miller
Affiliation
University of Victoria
Email
beckymiller.uvic@gmail.com
Role
  • Distributor
  • Point of Contact

Field Value
Ocean Variables
  • Nutrients
  • Other
Scope Dataset
Status Completed
Topic Category oceans
Maintenance Note Generated from https://cioos-siooc.github.io/metadata-entry-form
Spatial Extent { "coordinates": [ [ [ -128.58323147, 51.38160352 ], [ -127.80979387, 51.38160352 ], [ -127.80979387, 52.09997599 ], [ -128.58323147, 52.09997599 ], [ -128.58323147, 51.38160352 ] ] ], "type": "Polygon" }
North Bounding Latitude 52.09997599
South Bounding Latitude 51.38160352
East Bounding Longitude -127.80979387
West Bounding Longitude -128.58323147
Temporal Extent
Begin
2017-05-20
End
2017-07-19
Vertical Extent
Min
0.0
Max
0.0
Default Locale English