Avian Communities of the Northern Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada

Basic knowledge of the abundance and distribution of birds and their habitats and the relationships between them is limited for many parts of Arctic Canada, including montane regions. This information is important for conservation purposes as bird populations and habitats shift and as interest in development of northern areas increases. We characterized bird communities in the Mackenzie Mountains of the Northwest Territories by conducting point counts (n = 376) in June 2009 and 2010 and using community analysis metrics (multiple response permutation procedures, indicator species analysis, non-metric multidimensional scaling) to statistically and graphically describe bird data in six habitat types: coniferous forest, deciduous forest, shrub (short and tall), alpine tundra, and open water wetlands. Distinct habitats had significantly different bird communities, as shown by using multiple response permutation procedures (p < 0.005). Of 51 species, 32 had significant (p < 0.05) indicator values for one habitat type (n = 15) or groups of habitats (n = 17) in an indicator species analysis. The tall shrub habitat type had the most indicator species (six species) followed by alpine tundra (five species), then the combined conifer, deciduous, and wetland habitat group (four species) and the deciduous forest habitat types (three species). Species richness was highest in the tall shrub (n = 37), alpine (n = 30), and conifer and short shrub (n = 29) habitats. We also observed eight bird species not previously known to occur in the area, or which were outside published ranges. Our results highlight the variability in bird community composition between the major habitat types in the Mackenzie Mountains, serve as a baseline for future bird studies in the region, and underscore the need for more research in the area with impending anthropogenic changes.Pour de nombreuses parties de l’Arctique canadien, y compris les régions montagnardes, les connaissances de base portant sur l’abondance et la répartition des oiseaux et de leurs habitats, de même que sur leurs relations entre eux, sont restreintes. Ces renseignements revêtent de l’importance en matière de conservation, au moment où les habitats et les populations d’oiseaux changent et où l’on s’intéresse de plus en plus au développement des régions du nord. Nous avons caractérisé les communautés d’oiseaux des monts Mackenzie, dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest, en effectuant des dénombrements ponctuels (n = 376) en juin 2009 et 2010 et en recourant à diverses mesures d’analyse des communautés (test de permutations multiples, analyse des espèces indicatrices, analyse multidimensionnelle non métrique) afin de décrire à l’aide de statistiques et de graphiques les données relatives aux oiseaux de six types d’habitats : forêts de conifères, forêts de feuillus, arbustaies (petits arbustes et grands arbustes), toundra alpine et terres humides avec étendues d’eaux libres. D’après les tests de permutations multiples (p < 0,005), les communautés d’oiseaux diffèrent considérablement en présence d’habitats distincts. L’analyse des espèces indicatrices a également permis de démontrer que parmi les 51 espèces, 32 avaient des valeurs indicatrices importantes (< 0,05) pour un type d’habitat (n = 15) ou des groupes d’habitats (n = 17). L’habitat des grands arbustes comptait le plus grand nombre d’espèces indicatrices (six espèces), suivi de la toundra alpine (cinq espèces), puis du groupe composé de la forêt de conifères, de la forêt de feuillus et des terres humides (quatre espèces), et de la forêt de feuillus (trois espèces). La richesse des espèces était plus grande dans les habitats des grands arbustes (n = 37), de la toundra alpine (n = 30) et des conifères et petits arbustes (n = 29). Nous avons également observé huit espèces d’oiseaux qui n’avaient jamais été répertoriées dans la région ou qui se trouvaient en dehors de leur parcours naturel. Nos résultats mettent en évidence la variabilité de la composition des communautés d’oiseaux dans les principaux types d’habitats des monts Mackenzie. Ils serviront également de référence aux autres études d’oiseaux qui seront effectuées dans la région, et font ressortir la nécessité de faire d’autres recherches dans la région à la lumière des changements anthropiques imminents

Shorebird and Passerine Abundance and Habitat Use at a High Arctic Breeding Site: Creswell Bay, Nunavut

Shorebirds and passerines were surveyed at Creswell Bay, Somerset Island, in the High Arctic Ecozone (Canadian Arctic Islands) during the breeding season (June and July, 1995–97) and in August 1995 (post-breeding). The study area, situated on the north and south sides of Creswell Bay, consisted of sedge marsh and sedge wetland in the lowest areas, with shrub tundra dominated by Dryas spp. or Cassiope spp. and sparse herbaceous tundra over more upland areas. Surveys were carried out on 400 x 400 m plots distributed among the vegetation types according to their relative amounts within the study areas (34 plots in 1995; 33 plus 56 new plots in 1997). Eleven shorebird and three passerine species were observed during the surveys. Densities of breeding shorebirds were similar in 1995 and 1997 (37.3 and 33.1 birds/km2), while in 1996 a late spring with heavy snow cover resulted in reduced numbers of birds and no breeding. Shorebirds and passerines were much more numerous in sedge marsh and sedge wetland. White-rumped sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) and red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) were the most abundant shorebirds breeding at Creswell Bay, and Lapland longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) was the most abundant breeding passerine. White-rumped sandpiper and sanderling (Calidris alba) were the most numerous species present after the breeding period. American golden-plover (Pluvialis dominica), red phalarope, and white-rumped sandpiper showed significant habitat preferences. An estimated 10 341 (± 6596; 95% CI) shorebirds were on the north area in 1995 and 14 840 (± 10 744) on both areas in 1997. The estimated maximum numbers over both years of white-rumped sandpiper (6769 ± 3725) and buff-breasted sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis) (908 ± 1169) at Creswell Bay were more than 1% of the species’ estimated national populations (1.5% and 5.1%, respectively). This abundance, along with the relatively high species diversity at this high-latitude site, warrants its continued status as a Canadian Wildlife Service “key habitat site,” and every possible effort should be made to ensure its long-term protection.Les oiseaux de rivage et les passereaux ont fait l’objet d’une étude menée à la baie Creswell, dans l’île Somerset située dans l’écozone de l’Extrême-Arctique (archipel Arctique canadien) durant la saison de nidification (juin et juillet, 1995–97) et en août 1995 (période post-reproductrice). La zone d’étude, située sur les rivages nord et sud de la baie Creswell, consistait en des cariçaies de terrains marécageux et humides dans les terres les plus basses, avec une toundra arbustive dominée par Dryas spp. ou Cassiope spp. et une toundra herbacée clairsemée dans les terres plus hautes. L’étude a été effectuée sur des parcelles carrées de 400 m de côté réparties dans les divers types de végétation selon l’importance relative de ces derniers dans les zones d’étude (34 parcelles en 1995; 33 parcelles plus 56 nouvelles en 1997). On a observé 11 espèces d’oiseaux de rivage et trois espèces de passereaux durant l’étude. Les densités des oiseaux de rivage qui nidifiaient étaient semblables en 1995 et en 1997 (37,3 et 33,1 oiseaux/km2), alors qu’en 1996, un printemps tardif accompagné d’un important couvert nival a fait que le nombre des oiseaux a diminué et qu’aucun nid n’a été construit. Les oiseaux de rivage et les passereaux étaient beaucoup plus nombreux dans les cariçaies de terrains marécageux et humides. Le bécasseau à croupion blanc (Calidris fuscicollis) et le phalarope à bec large (Phalaropus fulicarius) étaient les oiseaux les plus nombreux à nidifier à la baie Creswell, et le bruant lapon (Calcarius lapponicus) était le passereau nidificateur le plus abondant. Le bécasseau à croupion blanc et le bécasseau sanderling (Calidris alba) étaient les espèces les plus nombreuses présentes après la période de nidification. Le pluvier bronzé (Pluvialis dominica), le phalarope à bec large et le bécasseau à croupion blanc affichaient une nette préférence quant à leur habitat. On a estimé à 10 341 (± 6596; intervalle de confiance à 95 %) le nombre des oiseaux de rivage présents sur la côte septentrionale en 1995, et à 14 840 (± 10 744) celui des oiseaux de rivage présents sur les côtes nord et sud en 1997. Au cours des deux années, le nombre maximal estimé pour le bécasseau à croupion blanc (6769 ± 3725) et celui pour le bécasseau roussâtre (Tryngites subruficollis) (908 ± 1169) à la baie Creswell représentaient plus de 1 % des populations nationales estimées de ces espèces (1,5 % et 5,1 % respectivement). Cette abondance, jointe à une diversité relativement forte des espèces dans cette région de haute latitude, justifie le maintien de son statut de «site d’habitat clé» du Service canadien de la faune, et toutes les mesures devraient être prises pour en garantir la protection à long terme

Materialising links between air pollution and health: How societal impact was achieved in an interdisciplinary project

Societal impact is an increasingly important imperative of academic funding. However, there is little research to date documenting how impact is accomplished in practice. Drawing on insights from Actor-Network Theory, we explore the research-policy interface within an interdisciplinary research project on the relationships between air pollution and human health. Health policy impact was important to the researchers for moral as well as pragmatic reasons but it was a goal that was seen as potentially in tension with that of doing science. In fields such as air pollution and health, networks of policymakers and researchers are inevitably entangled, and we found that processes of engagement operated to delineate science from policy. Health was initially black-boxed and under-explicated, used as a signifier in itself for societal impact. By mobilising networks of policy actors, brought together in workshops to rank the importance of policy scenarios for the research team, the connections between air pollution and health were materialised and made actionable. This was achieved by framing existing data sets, emission technologies, policy expertise, pollutant species and human health in particular ways and, in doing so, excluding others. The process of linking air pollution and health research to achieve societal impact not only influenced how these phenomena were known but, critically, enabled and constrained potential policy responses. Tracing these research arrangements made the material discursive processes of 'impact' visible and analysable as objects of social science scholarship, and therefore generated a productive site for critically engaging with processes of environment and health science and policy

Global Assemblages, Resilience, and Earth Stewardship in the Anthropocene

In this paper, we argue that the Anthropocene is an epoch characterized not only by the anthropogenic dominance of the Earth\u27s ecosystems but also by new forms of environmental governance and institutions. Echoing the literature in political ecology, we call these new forms of environmental governance “global assemblages”. Socioecological changes associated with global assemblages disproportionately impact poorer nations and communities along the development continuum, or the “Global South”, and others who depend on natural resources for subsistence. Although global assemblages are powerful mechanisms of socioecological change, we show how transnational networks of grassroots organizations are able to resist their negative social and environmental impacts, and thus foster socioecological resilience

Vulnerable warriors: the atmospheric marketing of military and policing equipment before and after 9/11

In this article, we analyse changes in the circulation of advertisements of policing products at security expos between 1995 and 2013. While the initial aim of the research was to evidence shifts in terrorist frames in the marketing of policing equipment before and after 9/11, our findings instead suggested that what we are seeing is the rise of marketing to police as “vulnerable warriors”, law enforcement officers in need of military weapons both for their offensive capabilities and for the protection they can offer to a police force that is always under threat

The Micropolitics of Obesity: Materialism, Markets and Food Sovereignty

This article shifts focus from an individualised and anthropocentric perspective on obesity, and uses a new materialist analysis to explore the assemblages of materialities producing fat and slim bodies. We report data from a study of adults’ accounts of food decision-making and practices, investigating circulations of matter and desires that affect the production, distribution, accumulation and dispersal of fat, and disclose a micropolitics of obesity, which affects bodies in both ‘becoming-fat’ and ‘becoming-slim’ assemblages. These assemblages comprise bodies, food, fat, physical environments, food producers and processing industries, supermarkets and other food retailers and outlets, diet regimens and weight loss clubs, and wider social, cultural and economic formations, along with the thoughts, feelings, ideas and human desires concerning food consumption and obesity. The analysis reveals the significance of the marketisation of food, and discusses whether public health responses to obesity should incorporate a food sovereignty component

Value-Driven Analysis of New Paradigms in Space Architectures: An Ilities-Based Approach

Current commercial, civil, and military space architecture designs perform exquisitely and reliably. However, today’s architecture paradigms are also characterized by expensive launches, large and expensive high-performance spacecraft, long development cycles, and wide variations in ground architectures. While current assets provide high-quality services, and future assets are slated to improve performance within the same design frameworks, proposed future architectures may not be capitalizing on technology improvements, system innovations, or policy alternatives explored during the last two decades. This paper identifies five “trends” along which space architectures may develop, aimed at granting systems several “ilities,” such as resiliency, robustness, flexibility, scalability, and affordability. The trends examined include: commercialization of space, significant reductions in launch costs and the development of hybrid or reusable launch systems, development of on-orbit infrastructure and servicing, aggregation or disaggregation of orbital assets, and the automation and standardization of ground architectures. Further refinement of these key technological and system trends could result in major paradigm shifts in the development and fielding of space operations as well as lead to space architecture designs in the future that are radically different from those today. Within the framework of systems engineering ilities and risk management, this paper reviews current literature surrounding these new change trends and justifies their potential to cause significant paradigm shifts. By examining the work and research conducted so far through an ilities-based approach, systems engineers can more fully appreciate the value being offered by these trends

Understanding the everyday designer in organisations

This paper builds upon the existing concept of an everyday designer as a non-expert designer who carries out design activities using available resources in a given environment. It does so by examining the design activities undertaken by non-expert, informal, designers in organisations who make use of the formal and informal technology already in use in organisations while designing to direct, influence, change or transform the practices of people in the organisation. These people represent a cohort of designers who are given little attention in the literature on information systems, despite their central role in the formation of practice and enactment of technology in organisations. The paper describes the experiences of 18 everyday designers in an academic setting using three concepts: everyday designer in an organisation, empathy through design and experiencing an awareness gap. These concepts were constructed through the analysis of in-depth interviews with the participants. The paper concludes with a call for tool support for everyday designers in organisations to enable them to better understand the audience for whom they are designing and the role technology plays in the organisation

Ideology and moral values in rhetorical framing:How wine was saved from the 19th Century Phylloxera Epidemic

Extant organizational research into crises has focused on the efforts of different actors to defend and legitimate their ideologies towards particular actions. Although insightful, such research has offered little knowledge about the moral reasoning underlying such action. In this paper, we explore how moral reasoning from different ideological viewpoints can lead to polarized debates and stalemate within the context of ecological crises. We apply our conceptual framework in an analysis of the 19th century French phylloxera epidemic. Drawing upon this analysis, we argue that, by adapting their moral reasoning, opposing stakeholder groups could maintain their underlying ideology, while at the same time pragmatically changing their actions towards the crisis. We discuss the theoretical implications of our analysis for historical research in organizational studies and research on organizations and the natural environment