[mou] Re: [mnbird] Hurricane risks for wildlife

[Laura Erickson]

One serious potential problem facing Whooping Cranes at Aransas will be in
the event of a serious oil spill or leak of one of the many chemical
plants in the area.  Fortunately, the largest chemical manufacturing
plants are fairly well designed to prevent hurricane damage and leaks. 
But there are a great many refineries and offshore oil rigs--a leak or
anything that harms water quality enough to impact blue crabs will affect
Whooping Crane winter survival--the blue crab numbers in winter are highly
correlated with Whooping Crane breeding survival the following summer.

Laura Erickson
Duluth, MN

Staff Ornithologist
Binoculars.com
www.birderblog.com

There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. 
There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of
nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the
winter.

			--Rachel Carson


> Hi Mark & other Mnbirders,
> It is true that remnant populations of Attwater's Prairie Chickens have
> suffered significant mortality from flooding due to hurricanes. There
> is no reason to worry about the Whooping Cranes, however, because they
> are still up in Canada at this time of year. The first whoopers don't
> arrive on the Texas coast until mid-October, with the bulk of the
> population arriving on the wintering grounds by early November.
> Hurricanes have significant destructive potential, but they also bring
> much-needed rain to dry areas and help recycle water and nutrients
> through estuaries and wetlands. Hurricanes may seem bad, but they are
> not all bad.
> The Whoopers will be fine. The main problem for the Attwater's Prairie
> Chickens is and has been for decades, that they have no remaining
> native habitat. With or without Hurricane Rita, APC is probably doomed.
> For those who believe in the continued existence of the Ivory-billed
> Woodpecker, however, this might be a good time to say a little prayer
> for them, because it looks like this storm may wind its way north
> through the forests of east Texas and western Louisiana and Arkansas.
> Birds with marginal populations like the APC and the IBWO are
> particularly vulnerable to the effects of a single destructive storm or
> other catastrophic event.
> Sincerely,
> Byron Stone, Austin (Tx)
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alt, Mark <Mark.Alt@bestbuy.com>
> To: mnbird@lists.mnbird.net; mou-net@cbs.umn.edu
> Sent: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 10:18:16 -0500
> Subject: [mnbird] Hurricane risks for wildlife
>
>     I am very familiar with the area to the south of Houston and
> Galveston,
> which it appears may be ground zero this Saturday. Birds who have
> existed at critical population levels for years may get cleaned out,
> namely the Whooping Cranes and Atwater Prairie Chickens.  A 25 foot
> tidal surge here would meet with no resistance...
>
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