Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program:
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Project

Oregon Marbled Murrelet Project

August 2023 - December 2025

Personnel

Participating Agencies

The Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) is an endangered seabird that forages on the ocean and nests in old trees up to 80 km inland. Despite 20 years of protection, populations have failed to recover in the Pacific Northwest, and our research aims to understand the mechanisms underlying the population's dynamics. This work is being conducted in collaboration with many partners including the Oregon State University College of Forestry, U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Forestry, and Washington Department of Natural Resources. Our work will help understand the factors limiting murrelet population growth to improve conservation and management efforts for this iconic and imperiled species.

Research Publications Publication Date
Duarte, A, M.J. Weldy, D.B. Lesmeister, Z.J. Ruff, J.M.A. Jenkins, J.J. Valente, and M.G. Betts. 2024. Passive acoustic monitoring and convolutional neural networks facilitate high-resolution and broadscale monitoring of a threatened species. Ecological Indicators, 162:112016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.112016 | Abstract | Download | Publisher Website April 2024
Presentations Presentation Date
Valente, JJ, JW Rivers, Z Yang, SK Nelson, JM Northrup, DD Roby, CB Meyer, and MG Betts. (2023). Ongoing forest fragmentation negatively affects the distribution of an endangered forest-breeding bird. American Ornithological Society and Society of Canadian Ornithologists Joint Conference. August 2023
Valente, JJ, JR Rivers, Z Yang, SK Nelson, J Northrup, D Roby, C Meyer, and M Betts. (2023). Negative effects of ongoing habitat fragmentation on Marbled Murrelets are amplified near its range edge. Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group. February 2023
Rivers, J.W., L.J. Adrean, J.A. Bailey Guerrero, J. Dachenhaus, J.L. Fisher, C. Frisinger, M.-S. Garcia-Heras, B.D. Gerber, C.B. Meyer, S.K. Nelson, J.M. Northrup, D.D. Roby, J.J. Valente, C.Wolf, E. Woodis, Z. Yang, and M.G. Betts. 2024. Warming ocean conditions curtail breeding activity of the Marbled Murrelet, a most unusual forest-nesting bird. Oregon Chapter of The Wildlife Society Annual meeting, Hood River, OR. February 2023
Rivers, J., L. Adrean, J. Bailey-Guerrero, J. Dachenhaus, J. Fisher, C. Frisinger, M. Garcia-Heras, B. Gerber, C. meyer, K. Nelson, J. Northrup, D. Roby, J.J. Valente, C. Wolf, and E. Woodis. (2023). Influence of a warming ocean on the breeding activity of a most unusual - and threatened - forest-nesting bird. American Ornithological Society annual meeting. August 2023
Duarte, A., A. Thomas, D. Lesmeister, J. Peterson, J.J. Valente, J. Jenkins, M. Gostin, M. Betts, M. Weldy, and Z. Ruff. 2023. Exploring the use of bioacoustic surveys to detect marbled murrelets in forest habitats. The Wildlife Society Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY. November 2023