Clemson University hosts conference on environmental risks to sea eagles
February 28, 2011
CLEMSON, SC – February 28, 2011 – No one would confuse sea eagles with canaries, but the great raptorsserve a similar purpose to canaries in a coal mine: early-warningmonitors of environmental safety. A conference at Clemson Universitythis week brings together 20 of the world’s leading sea eagleresearchers to discuss what the birds reveal about the globalenvironment.
“There are eight species of sea eagles around theworld, many of which we have been studying for more than 40 years,” saidWilliam Bowerman, professor of wildlife ecology and toxicology inClemson’s forestry and natural resources department. “The amount ofresearch data — bird health, habitat, behavior, population — provides uswith a wealth of information about past conditions to compare tocurrent conditions, and that will help us make better projections andmodels about what the future may look like environmentally.”
Bowermanspecializes in bald eagles, one of the eight species in the genusHaliaeetus, which range across a wide array of latitudes andgeographical regions. He has been studying bald eagle ecology and theeffects of environmental pollutants in the Great Lakes region since1984.
Working with Michigan State University, the U.S. ForestService and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bowerman has trainedwildlife professionals and started environmental monitoring programsusing Haliaeetus eagles in the United States and Canada (bald eagle),Sweden (white-tailed sea eagle), Russia (Steller’s sea eagle), Ugandaand South Africa (African fishing eagle).
Recently, according toBowerman, researchers have noted changes in many sea eagle species. InMichigan, for example, bald eagles are initiating egg layingsignificantly earlier (by 12 to 15 days, 1988-2006). This is thegreatest annual change in egg laying recorded for any species, he said.The change in behavior is cause for concern.
“Because Haliaeetusspecies are so well-studied, we have reliable methods to define andquantify specific impacts of stresses on sea eagles,” said Bowerman.“Coupling life-history data to climate change models and adding in arisk-assessment model it is feasible that many sea eagle species coulddie out.”
As a result, Clemson University, the U.S. ForestService and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have initiated a projectunder the global SEA EAGLE cooperative to evaluate historic effects ofglobal climate change, develop standardized monitoring protocols formeasuring and modeling current effects and test predictive hypothesesrelating to the type and extent of future effects.
The projectbrings together a prestigious international team of professional andacademic wildlife ecologists, toxicologists, geographical informationspecialists, climate-change modelers and risk assessors. Representativescome from more than 19 countries on four continents. Participantsattending the Clemson meeting are from Russia, Sweden, Scotland, Kenya,Madagascar, Australia and the United States.
The goal of theproject is to establish modeling efforts and propel a collaborativeeffort to the forefront of wildlife-climate change research on a globalscale with the desired outcome of actionable policy and monitoringprotocols for U.S. and foreign government agencies, including theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the European Union.
