Jo Smith, Ph.D.

Joanna L. Smith
University of Washington
School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
Box 355020, Seattle, WA 98195
email: Jo Smith
josmith (at) u.washington.edu
office: 206-221-5294

My general research interests are in the biology and conservation of seabirds.

Juan Fernández petrels, Chile

Ph.D. Research

I am interested in the influence of foraging locations on the chick provisioning strategies that breeding birds use. I study the Juan Fernández petrels (Pterodroma externa) in Chile and common mergansers (Mergus merganser) on the Columbia River, USA.

Juan Fernández petrels

My research examines the provisioning strategy these medium-sized, gadlfy petrels use during chick rearing. Many albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels undergo a dual foraging strategy, with short and long alternating trips to near and distant water masses, respectively. This foraging strategy allows adults to maintain body mass and sustain energy flow to their chick for 100+ days. I collected data 2004-2005 to describe the foraging strategy of Juan Fernandez petrels with respect to the distance to high productivity foraging locations (coastal upwelling and subtropical convergence) from the colony. I also describe the direct and indirect effects of tag attachment, capture and handling on adults and chicks. For these projects, I collaborate with my advisor Julia Parrish, Peter Hodum, Juan Fernández Islands Conservancy and Michelle Wainstein, Washington SeaGrant.

 

Common mergansers

With the common mergansers, I am interested in habitat selection by breeding females with chicks. Mergansers are piscivorous ducks that have a large brood (9-13 chicks). Unlike seabirds with biparental care, mergansers have uniparental care and females solely care for the chicks for 4-5 weeks after hatching. I study mergansers on the Rocky Reach Reservoir, a highly modified section of the Columbia River. I am interesed in how habitat is selected by females during chick-rearing, if habitat quality is reflected by chick survival rates, and if habitat selection is spatially or temporally specific or constrained. This research was part of a 3-year project funded by the Chelan County Public Utility and led by my advisor, Dr. Julia Parrish.

Other Research

For my MSc (1992-1995) I studied the life history and parasitoid complex of a jumping gall wasp (Neuroterus saltatorius), a minute, charismatic gall-forming cynipid wasp living on Garry oak (Quercus garryana). After my M.Sc., I formed a consulting company (Birdsmith Ecological Research) and spent 6 summers (1997-2002) with Dr. Tony Gaston studying the breeding biology of ancient murrelets (Synthliboramphus antiquus), a splendid member of the Auk family that produces two precocial chicks each year. Working in Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands with the Laskeek Bay Conservation Society, we calculated adult annual survival, chick production, at-sea habitat distributions and studied the effects of introduced deer on the native and rare plant communities.

ancient murrelet chick, Haida Gwaii

During the winters from 1999 - 2002, I investigated the incidental catch of seabirds in the longline and gill net fisheries on Canada's Pacific coast. Working with the Canadian Wildlife Service and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, we trained observers to collect seabird mortality data, implemented a salvaged bird program to identify drowned seabirds, introduced regulations for mandatory use of seabird avoidance measures and wrote a Technical Report to summarise seabird-fisheries interactions in the commercial fisheries. From 2002 to present, I worked with Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the International Pacific Halibut Commision and other partners to update seabird bycatch estimates in commercial longline fisheries, discuss how to evaluate the efficacy of mandatory mitigation and advance our scientific understanding of population level effects on black-footed albatross, in particular. In 2006, Canada's National Plan of Action (NPOA-Seabird) was finalised, in 2006 we completed a status assessment for black-footed albatross for COSEWIC and in 2007, began a Recovery Strategy for pink-footed shearwaters and short-tailed albatross.

Palmyra Atoll

In addition to seabird bycatch, I am very interested in introduced species eradications and assessing population recovery after restoration. On the Juan Fernández Islands in Chile, introduced cats kill petrel adults and chicks, and there are currently no estimates on how this mortality affects both adult and chick survival rates. Rats have also been introduced to the archipelago, eradication is being discussed by the Juan Fernandez Islands Conservancy in collaboration with several partners. To this end, Matthew McKown and I traveled to Palmyra Atoll in June 2008 to learn more about rat eradications on seabird islands. Located in the central Pacific (Line Islands), the atoll is owned by The Nature Conservancy and managed by USFWS. We assisted Island Conservation Canada with a bait biomarker trial to emperically validate the bait density needed to eradicate all rats from the Atoll. Funding for our research trip was generously provided by Island Conservation, USFWS and SEAPRE, an NSF Research Coordination Network grant. The Palmyra rat project was led by Alex Wegmann and included Island Conservation Canada staff, USFWS biologists, USGS scientists, an EPA expert, and two PhD students.

Palmyra Atoll

 

Communication

CV (May 2008) (PDF)

Publications

Parrish, J.K., F.K. Wiese,and J.L. Smith. Dams as avian predator attractors and the efficacy of predator control strategies. Biological Conservation. In review.

Gaston, A.J., S.A. Stockton and J.L. Smith. 2006. Species-area relationships and the impact of deer-browse in the complex phytogeography of the Haida Gwaii archipelago (Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia. Ecoscience.13(4): 511-522

Stockton, S.A., Bobechko, L., I. Buttler and J.L. Smith.2005. Menzies' pipsissewa Chimaphila menziesii: a widespread but previously overlooked species on Haida Gwaii. Canadian Field Naturalist. In Press.

Smith, J.L. and K.D. Hyrenbach. 2003. Galapagos Islands to British Columbia: seabird communities along a 9000 km transect from the tropical to the subarctic eastern Pacific Ocean.Marine Ornithology. 31:155-166. PDF

Gaston, A.J. and J. L. Smith. 2001 Changes in oceanographic conditions off northern British Columbia (1983 - 1999) and the reproduction of a marine bird, the Ancient Murrelet (Synthliboramphus antiquus) Canadian Journal of Zoology. 79:1735-1742. PDF

Book Chapters

Smith, J.L. Island invasives. 2006. In: Boersma, P. D., S. E. Reichard, and A. N. Van Buren (Eds.). Invasive Species in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press

Technical and Special Reports

Smith, J.L., N.R. Parker, K.H. Morgan, L.K. Blight, M.J. Chutter, P.J. Hodum, T. Mawani and D. C. Cunnington. 2007. Recovery Strategy for the Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) and Pink-footed Shearwater (Puffinus creatopus) in Canada [Draft]. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Environment Canada, Ottawa. 52 pp

Blight, Louise K., Joanna L. Smith and John Cooper. 2006. COSEWIC assessment and status report for black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. 71 pp. link to webpage

Seattle Audubon Society. 2006. Great blue heron, Ardea Herodias. Ecology and Conservation. Seattle Audubon Society, Seattle, WA. 12 pp. PDF link to webpage

Smith, J.L. and K.H. Morgan. 2005. A review of seabird bycatch in the longline and net fisheries in British Columbia, 1995-2002. Technical Report Series No. 401, Canadian Wildlife Service, Pacific and Yukon Region. 50 pp. PDF

Wiese, Francis. and Joanna L. Smith. 2003. Mortality estimates and population effects of Canada's Pacific longline fisheries on Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes): national and international implications. In: DFO-CWS National Working Group on Canadian Wildlife Service Report. 17 pp.

Dechesne, S.B.C. and J.L. Smith. 1997. Wildlife inventory of Queen Charlotte Islands/Haida Gwaii, 1994-1996. Forest Renewal British Columbia and Husby Group of Companies. 49 pp.

Smith, Joanna L. 1995. A synthesis: fluoride monitorning programs in the Kitimat Valley, BC 1971-1995. Ministry of Forests, British Columbia. 60 pp.

Recent Conferences

Smith, J. and P. Hodum. 2008. Unintended consequences? Evaluating investigator effects on Juan Fernandez petrels.  Pacific Seabird Group, Blaine, WA (lecture)

Smith, J. 2007. Dine and dash? Linking foraging behaviours and habitat use of common mergansers on a managed reservoir.  125th Stated Meeting of American Ornithologists’ Union, Laramie, WY (lecture)

Smith, J. 2006. Studying threatened species: are we handling them to death? Pacific Seabird Group, Alaska (lecture).

Smith, J. 2005. Where to fish?  Foraging ecology and habitat use of Juan Fernández petrels during chick rearing. Pacific Seabird Group, Portland, OR (lecture).

Smith, J., F. Wiese, K. Morgan and B. Milko. 2004. Black-footed albatross mortality in Canada's Pacific longline fisheries. Third International Albatross and Petrel Conference (IAPC), Montevideo, Uruguay (lecture).

Smith, J., P. Hodum, M. Wainstein, and J. Parrish. 2004. Linkages between the foraging ecology and oceanic habitats of the Juan Fernandez Petrel, Pterodroma externa, during chick rearing. Third International Albatross and Petrel Conference (IAPC), Montevideo, Uruguay (lecture).

Smith, J. and K.D. Hyrenbach. 2003. Galapagos to BC. Seabird communities along a 7 800 km transect from the tropical to subarctic eastern Pacific Ocean. Pacific Seabird Group, Parksville, BC (lecture).

Smith, J. and K. Morgan, J. Komaroni and K. Amey. 2002. Albatross bycatch in Canada's Pacific demersal longline fisheries, in relation to seabird distributional patterns and fisheries efforts.  American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), Victoria, BC (lecture).

Photos from the field

"Team Trun", Isla Alejandro Selkirk, Chile

Measuring petrel chicks, Isla Alejandro Selkirk, Chile (Photo: C. Wolf)

F/V Julita Rosa, Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile

Anne Vallée - Triangle Island Ecological Reserve, BC (Photo: C. Gemeinhardt)

Bird surveys on the Columbia River, WA (Photo: C. Wolf)

This site created on a PowerMac by Joanna Smith.
Black uses only 59 W of energy, compared to white that uses 74 W.
Source: Energy Star

Last updated: 28 Nov 2008