Oikonos - Ecosystem Knowledge

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What's New for March 2008 New Exhibit - Reuben Margolin Firecrown Results from the Juan Fernández Islands, Chile New Project - Northern Fulmars Track Marine Debris Student Reports from Vanderbilt High School in TN California Biogeographic Report Now Available New Field Office in Hawai'i

New Gallery Exhibit - Reuben Margolin, Kinetic Sculptures

Results
The future looks bright for an endangered Chilean Hummingbird - Juan Fernández Firecrown

Firecrowns should have a great year in 2008. Thanks to donations from the American Bird Conservancy and the Hummingbird Society, two local research technicians Paola Gonzalez de Rodt and Christian López Chamorro will be working year-round on Robinson Crusoe Island. In collaboration with ecologists and national park staff, they will focus on the timing of firecrown breeding, invasive plant control to improve nesting success, and other experiments to restore the native forest. The effectiveness of conservation is greatly improved with year-round attention. New Discovery Erin Hagen and Coral Wolf made a new discovery this season. They documented that females can lay a second clutch of eggs in the same season. It is important for habitat improvement efforts to know that the birds can have active nests into late November. The season was successful thanks to help from volunteers Libby Beckman, Shamini Bundell, and Kelly Jones, and project veterans Paola Gonzalez de Rodt, Erin Hagen, Christian Lopez Chamorro, Sara de Rodt Araya, and Coral Wolf. See main project page

Christian and Paola use a long pole with a mirror on the end to check the contents of a Firecrown nest.

New Project - Are efforts to reduce marine debris in the North Pacific working?

An abundant seabird, the Northern Fulmar, frequently ingests surface litter such as plastic, and is used as a biomonitor to measure trash in the open ocean.

	Fulmarus glacialis in flight. © Peter Hodum The goal of this new project is to measure surface pelagic debris in U.S. waters of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California using standardized methods from the successful project Fulmar Litter EcoQO Monitoring in the Netherlands (click downloads). Key partners include NOAA Fisheries, CA Dept. of Fish and Game, Moss Landing Marine Labs, Alaskan fishing fleets, the volunteer BeachCOMBERS, Wageningen IMARES, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.	Stomach contents of a Northern Fulmar that washed up on a beach in Monterey Bay, California. The indigestible matter is mostly plastic. Fulmars ingest items from the ocean surface in their search for food. Past studies in Alaska reported 58 - 84% of fulmar stomachs contained plastic trash. Photo: Hannah Nevins - BeachCOMBERS

Linking Land and Sea: Student Reports from Vanderbilt High School

Students investigated the amount of food versus trash in the diets of albatross chicks from Hawai'i.

	Oikonos' free classroom activities are spreading to new schools. Tracking Seabirds and Trash, piloted by the City of Benicia, uses the charismatic albatross to teach ocean conservation and the need for local action to prevent watershed pollution. Ninth grade students from Vanderbilt School for Science and Math in Tennessee shared their reports with us. They dissected and measured the number, mass, color and size of trash and natural food items in boluses - a mass of indigestible parts regurgitated by albatross chicks on the breeding colonies.	Results Natural Items: 38% by number Ingested Trash: 62% by number - mostly plastic pieces and fishing line Size: 77% of the plastic was smaller than 1 centimeter These stinky, fascinating boluses travel from albatross breeding colonies in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Guadalupe Island in Mexico. Thank you to the many people and agencies that give students this unique opportunity - view credits.

Completed Project - California Seabirds and Marine Mammals

New Field Office in Hawai'i

Oikonos projects range from the Juan Fernández Islands in Chile to the Bering Sea. Now there is a new field office in Hawai'i. Michelle Hester and other Oikonos people will be expanding collaborations with the State of Hawaii, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hawaii Pacific University, and other local government and community organizations.

Oikonos' Hawaii Address: PO Box 1918, Kailua, HI 96734

(808) 228-4463 or (415) 868-1399