Monitoring of the relative abundance of tundra bird and mammal species encountered daily on Bylot Island, Nunavut

• Main Authors: Gauthier, Gilles, Cadieux, Marie-Christine, Centre D'études Nordiques
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Cryospheric Information Network 2015
• Subjects: Abundance; Birds; Bylot Island; Mammals; Tundra; Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program, Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna - Terrestrial; International Polar Year-Arctic Wildlife Observatories Linking Vulnerable EcoSystems; Arctic; Nunavut; Pacific; Arctic tern; Circumpolar biodiversity monitoring program; Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna; International Polar Year; King Eider; rock ptarmigan
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5443/1627; https://www.polardata.ca/pdcsearch/?doi_id=1627

The relative abundance of species is recorded as the number of individuals seen per hour spent in the field per observer. Each observer records the animal species encountered in the field and the number of individuals observed daily. To correct for any potential biases, the activities and the mode of transportation of observers is also taken into account. We also monitor the nests of bird species that are not part of our long-term monitoring and are found opportunistically, such as Arctic Tern, King Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Red-throated Loon, Pacific Loon, Rock Ptarmigan and Horned Lark. : Purpose: We are unable to accurately estimate the absolute abundance of all vertebrates in the tundra communities we study, largely because of lack of time and also the low abundances of many species. However, these species may play a fairly prominent role in the food web, for various lengths of time. Our understanding of differences in the composition and dynamics of community interactions, especially between study sites or between years, will be enhanced by at least a relative abundance estimate for some of these species. : Summary: Not Applicable