Overwintering Habitat of American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, Observed in an Arctic Groundwater Spring Feeding on Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma
Perennial groundwater springs along the Alaska and Yukon North Slope provide overwintering habitat for various organisms, including birds and fishes. We observed an American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, in the open water of a perennial spring situated in Fish Creek, Yukon, in Ivvavik National Park on...
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The Arctic Institute of North America
2019
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic67805 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/67805/51700 |
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crarcticinstna:10.14430/arctic67805 2024-06-09T07:42:14+00:00 Overwintering Habitat of American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, Observed in an Arctic Groundwater Spring Feeding on Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma Gallagher, Colin P. Lea, Ellen V. 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic67805 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/67805/51700 unknown The Arctic Institute of North America http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ARCTIC volume 72, issue 1, page 82-87 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 journal-article 2019 crarcticinstna https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic67805 2024-05-14T12:53:43Z Perennial groundwater springs along the Alaska and Yukon North Slope provide overwintering habitat for various organisms, including birds and fishes. We observed an American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, in the open water of a perennial spring situated in Fish Creek, Yukon, in Ivvavik National Park on 8 March 2018. The observation at Fish Creek was among the most northern documented sightings of an American Dipper during the winter in North America. Moreover, the observation was approximately 650 km farther north than where American Dippers have been documented overwintering in Yukon, making this the most northern Canadian observation documented for this species in any season. Additionally, the American Dipper was photographed feeding on a juvenile Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma. Although American Dippers are known to feed on small fish, our observation was a novel documentation of a trophic interaction between both species during winter. The open-water habitat in Fish Creek, which is important for both species and has not been previously described, was short (~730 m long), shallow (mean = 20 cm deep), narrow (mean = 2.8 m wide), and cold (mean water temperature = 0.34ºC). While there is little information regarding the ecological interactions of American Dipper overwintering in the Arctic, we note that all observations in the North Slope area during winter occurred in river systems also used by Dolly Varden, which indicates that juvenile Dolly Varden could be an important source of food for American Dipper in winter. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ivvavik national park north slope Alaska Yukon Arctic Institute of North America Arctic Varden ENVELOPE(7.656,7.656,62.534,62.534) Yukon ARCTIC 72 1 82 87 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Arctic Institute of North America |
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crarcticinstna |
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unknown |
description |
Perennial groundwater springs along the Alaska and Yukon North Slope provide overwintering habitat for various organisms, including birds and fishes. We observed an American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, in the open water of a perennial spring situated in Fish Creek, Yukon, in Ivvavik National Park on 8 March 2018. The observation at Fish Creek was among the most northern documented sightings of an American Dipper during the winter in North America. Moreover, the observation was approximately 650 km farther north than where American Dippers have been documented overwintering in Yukon, making this the most northern Canadian observation documented for this species in any season. Additionally, the American Dipper was photographed feeding on a juvenile Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma. Although American Dippers are known to feed on small fish, our observation was a novel documentation of a trophic interaction between both species during winter. The open-water habitat in Fish Creek, which is important for both species and has not been previously described, was short (~730 m long), shallow (mean = 20 cm deep), narrow (mean = 2.8 m wide), and cold (mean water temperature = 0.34ºC). While there is little information regarding the ecological interactions of American Dipper overwintering in the Arctic, we note that all observations in the North Slope area during winter occurred in river systems also used by Dolly Varden, which indicates that juvenile Dolly Varden could be an important source of food for American Dipper in winter. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gallagher, Colin P. Lea, Ellen V. |
spellingShingle |
Gallagher, Colin P. Lea, Ellen V. Overwintering Habitat of American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, Observed in an Arctic Groundwater Spring Feeding on Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma |
author_facet |
Gallagher, Colin P. Lea, Ellen V. |
author_sort |
Gallagher, Colin P. |
title |
Overwintering Habitat of American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, Observed in an Arctic Groundwater Spring Feeding on Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma |
title_short |
Overwintering Habitat of American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, Observed in an Arctic Groundwater Spring Feeding on Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma |
title_full |
Overwintering Habitat of American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, Observed in an Arctic Groundwater Spring Feeding on Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma |
title_fullStr |
Overwintering Habitat of American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, Observed in an Arctic Groundwater Spring Feeding on Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma |
title_full_unstemmed |
Overwintering Habitat of American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, Observed in an Arctic Groundwater Spring Feeding on Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma |
title_sort |
overwintering habitat of american dipper, cinclus mexicanus, observed in an arctic groundwater spring feeding on dolly varden, salvelinus malma |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic67805 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/download/67805/51700 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(7.656,7.656,62.534,62.534) |
geographic |
Arctic Varden Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Varden Yukon |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ivvavik national park north slope Alaska Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ivvavik national park north slope Alaska Yukon |
op_source |
ARCTIC volume 72, issue 1, page 82-87 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic67805 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
72 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
82 |
op_container_end_page |
87 |
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1801371129462390784 |