Blog Posts - The Tonra Lab of Avian Ecology

Welcome Kristie Stein!!

1/19/2016

The lab this month welcomed its newest member, Kristie Stein. Kristie worked for us this past Summer on our Black-crowned Night-heron project on Lake Erie. After a journey banding birds in Peru, we were lucky enough to recruit her to join the lab and take charge of the project, which will examine important factors limiting the population of this charismatic and regionally threatened bird in Western Lake Erie. Kristie is a Louisiana native, skilled field biologist, and avid hunter. We are so happy to have her join the family! Welcome Kristie!

ECOGRAPHY Blog Post on Recent Dipper PaperS

1/19/2016

Check out the blog post penned by Chris Tonra on our work on effects of dams on American Dipper life history on Ecography's webpage. Thanks Ecography!!

elwha dam removal work on dippers in the news

1/13/2016

Thanks to the outlets that carried the story on the two papers we published on the impacts of salmon barriers on American Dipper life history, and their response to the Elwha Dam removal! Find one example here.

New Paper on Elwha Dam Removals in Biological Conservation

10/6/2015

I am very happy to share our recent paper on the historic dam removals on the Elwha River, WA, USA has been published in Biological Conservation. "The rapid return of marine-derived nutrients to a freshwater food web following dam removal" reports results from our stable isotope work on American Dippers, salmon, and aquatic invertebrates before and after the removal of the Elwha Dam. Removal of that dam resulted in almost immediate recolonization of spawning habitat cut off to salmon for a century. We found that the removal restored a species interaction at the aquatic-terrestrial boundary, with American Dippers now receiving rich marine-derived nutrients from salmon, previously unavailable to them. These nutrients have dramatic positive impacts on the productivity of rivers and associated forests, and their return signifies an important step in the recovery of the ecosystem following dam removal. You can watch a short Audio Slides presentation on the work to the right, and contact me for a reprint. Many thanks to my co-authors: Kim Sager-Fradkin, Sarah Morley, Jeff Duda, and Pete Marra.

Seasonal Bias Paper in Biology Letters

9/4/2015

Visit the OSU School for Environment and Natural Resources web page for a story on our recent publication with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center on the bias in animal ecology towards single season studies, focused only on breeding, and the impacts this has on animal ecology and conservation. Many thanks to the studies other authors: Pete Marra, Emily Cohen, Scott Loss, and Jordan Rutter!
Artwork by Lauren diBiccari

New stable isotope paper on pied flycatcher

12/12/2014

Very excited to have a new paper in early view on using the new IsoMAP tool to develop stable hydrogen isotope (dD) feather base maps for pied flycatchers in Europe. We used this awesome tool to develop and validate long-term average and year specific isoscapes, and also examined the effects of random site variation. We found that the most accurate maps were those that were developed from long-term dD averages and did not included random site variation. Also, for the first time, we present an analysis of the relationship between annual variation in precipitation dD and those in bird feathers with a large repeated measures data set. We found that variation in precipitation only explains about 20% of the variation within individuals between years. Lastly, we used the base maps to assign wintering birds from Ghana to breeding possible locations (map below). Our paper is now in early view in the Journal of Avian Biology (contact me for reprint). Many thanks to my wonderful co-authors, Christiaan Both and Pete Marra, and all of the excellent researchers that provided feathers for the analysis.

flycatcher photo (c) Steve Garvie

elwha restoration in national geographic

8/26/2014

Photograph (c) Elaine Thompson, Associated Press

Another story about the amazing recovery of the Elwha River ecosystem from National Geographic, featuring a tidbit on our dipper study. The final pieces of the Glines Canyon Dam are coming out as I write this, opening the entire river to salmon for the first time in a century!! Read more about our bird research on the Elwha here.

Seattle times article on Elwha restoration

8/18/2014

Check out this great article by Lynda Mapes of the Seattle Times on the removal of the final dam sections for the Elwha River Restoration with a quote on our project.

Elwha dam removal and dipper study in the news

7/7/2014

Check out this excellent news story from the Associated Press (link) on the amazing changes to the Elwha River ecosystem as the benefits of dam removal are beginning to be realized. So happy to have our work on American Dippers featured!

Moving to the buckeye state!!

6/23/2014

(c) Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

I am very excited to announce that I will be moving to a new institution beginning this August. I have accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of Avian Wildlife Ecology in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. I am beyond thrilled to join the wonderful faculty at SENR and anxious to contribute to the outstanding research going on at OSU. I plan to continue working on my current research projects, while also initiating several new projects in Ohio to contribute to the management and conservation of the state's diverse wildlife.

This change is also bittersweet, as it means my time at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center is coming to an end. I have been affiliated with SMBC since I began my doctoral work in 2007, and this wonderful organization has shaped me as a scientist. I am excited to continue collaborating with the amazing ecologists here into the future to increase our knowledge of bird populations and their conservation.

I am now getting my research lab off the ground at OSU, so if you are interested in joining, please contact me here.