Status of the volcanically threatened Montserrat Oriole <i>Icterus oberi</i> and other forest birds in Montserrat, West Indies. Arendt, W. J., Gibbons, D. W., & Gray, G. Bird Conservation International, 9(4):351–372, USDA Forest Service, Intl. Institute of Tropical Forestry, Sabana Field Research Station, PO Box 490, Palmer, 00721, Puerto Rico, 1999.
abstract   bibtex   
The Montserrat Oriole Icterus oberi is endemic to the Caribbean island of Montserrat where, prior to 1995, it was widely distributed across the island's three main interior mountain ranges: the Centre, Soufriere and South Soufriere Hills. In July 1995, a long-dormant volcano on Chances Peak in the Soufriere Hills began to erupt. Since then the forest habitat of the oriole on the Soufriere and South Soufriere Hills has been devastated by pyroclastic flows and surges, heavy ash eruptions and rock falls. The Montserrat Oriole populations that inhabited these two mountain ranges have probably been lost. In December 1997, a census of the remaining Centre Hills population was undertaken to assess its status in the face of the heavy ash fall that occurred earlier the same year. To do this, a systematic grid of 140 sample points was overlaid on an area of 1,437·5 ha encompassing the Centre Hills, and a 10-minute count of all bird species was undertaken at 137 of these points during an eight-day survey period. The distance from the point to each oriole detected was measured and records of all other species were allocated to one of five distance bands radiating out from the point. Distance sampling was used to model densities, and thus to estimate population sizes, of eight bird species in the study area. It was estimated that 4,000 (95% CIs 1,500-7,800) Montserrat Orioles remain in the Centre Hills and thus the world. Although the probability of pyroclastic flows and surges overrunning the Centre Hills is considered remote, it is recommended that the Montserrat Oriole be classified as Globally Threatened (Endangered) under the revised IUCN threat categories because of its loss of breeding habitat since 1995.
@ARTICLE{Arendt1999,
  author = {Arendt, W. J. and Gibbons, D. W. and Gray, G.},
  title = {Status of the volcanically threatened Montserrat Oriole \textit{Icterus
	oberi} and other forest birds in Montserrat, West Indies},
  journal = {Bird Conservation International},
  year = {1999},
  volume = {9},
  pages = {351--372},
  number = {4},
  abstract = {The Montserrat Oriole Icterus oberi is endemic to the Caribbean island
	of Montserrat where, prior to 1995, it was widely distributed across
	the island's three main interior mountain ranges: the Centre, Soufriere
	and South Soufriere Hills. In July 1995, a long-dormant volcano on
	Chances Peak in the Soufriere Hills began to erupt. Since then the
	forest habitat of the oriole on the Soufriere and South Soufriere
	Hills has been devastated by pyroclastic flows and surges, heavy
	ash eruptions and rock falls. The Montserrat Oriole populations that
	inhabited these two mountain ranges have probably been lost. In December
	1997, a census of the remaining Centre Hills population was undertaken
	to assess its status in the face of the heavy ash fall that occurred
	earlier the same year. To do this, a systematic grid of 140 sample
	points was overlaid on an area of 1,437·5 ha encompassing the Centre
	Hills, and a 10-minute count of all bird species was undertaken at
	137 of these points during an eight-day survey period. The distance
	from the point to each oriole detected was measured and records of
	all other species were allocated to one of five distance bands radiating
	out from the point. Distance sampling was used to model densities,
	and thus to estimate population sizes, of eight bird species in the
	study area. It was estimated that 4,000 (95% CIs 1,500-7,800) Montserrat
	Orioles remain in the Centre Hills and thus the world. Although the
	probability of pyroclastic flows and surges overrunning the Centre
	Hills is considered remote, it is recommended that the Montserrat
	Oriole be classified as Globally Threatened (Endangered) under the
	revised IUCN threat categories because of its loss of breeding habitat
	since 1995.},
  address = {USDA Forest Service, Intl. Institute of Tropical Forestry, Sabana
	Field Research Station, PO Box 490, Palmer, 00721, Puerto Rico},
  owner = {eric},
  subdatabase = {distance},
  timestamp = {2006.11.22}
}

Downloads: 0