Description
These records are a compilation of tern colony locations known in Alaska, first compiled in August of 2023. These records include observations of both Aleutian and Arctic terns. This dataset is the result of a comprehensive search for any known Aleutian tern colony locations in Alaska, and it includes Arctic terns because they often share the same breeding habitat. The primary purpose of this dataset was to create a habitat model to inform future field work in 2024 and 2025.
Data Records
The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 895 records.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Moore E, McDonald T, Schaefer A, Kaler R, Oehlers S, Renner H, Corcoran R, Boldenow M, Goldstein M, Lyons D, Renner M, Cooper E (2024). Statewide Alaska Tern Occurrences. Version 1.1. USFWS-AK. Occurrence dataset. https://ipt-obis.gbif.us/resource?r=usfws_alaska_tern_colonies&v=1.1
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is USFWS-AK. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 2e197e5f-d3d1-48b2-bd86-293df47b0a46. USFWS-AK publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF-US.
Keywords
Occurrence; Observation; ALASKA [ce93cb61-ead9-4b5c-b26f-0f22ea5e2b24]; BIRDS [1bf8f27a-d6ff-4cb6-acb7-7e5cce11e029]; Colony; Tern
Contacts
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator ●
- User ●
- Point Of Contact
https://orcid.org/https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8389-606X
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- Originator
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Geographic Coverage
This dataset primarily includes records for Alaska, with a few records in eastern Russia when points were available.
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [48.665, -178.644], North East [69.794, 179.429] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
Birds, specifically Terns in the Alaska region.
| Kingdom | Animalia |
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Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 1915-05-29 / 2023-08-03 |
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Project Data
We compiled these tern colony occurrence data from many sources, including publications, personal communication, and previous survey efforts. The primary purpose of these data are to create a habitat model to inform future survey efforts of Aleutian tern (Onychoprion aleuticus). The Aleutian tern is a seabird with a small global population and breeding sites restricted to Alaska and the eastern Russia. Due to a lack of formal monitoring effort across most of the range and uncertainties related to census methods, it has been difficult to assess whether the observed declines indicate true population declines or movement from declining colonies to as-of-yet unknown colonies. This compilation of tern colony locations will be used to inform research to better understand the population dynamics of the Aleutian tern.
| Title | Aleutian tern surveys in Alaska |
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| Study Area Description | We gathered tern colony occurrence data for anywhere within their known summer breeding range with effort focused in the state of Alaska. We included both historic and recent observations. Though Aleutian terns were the focus of this project, Arctic or unknown terns are also included because they share similar nesting colony habitats. |
| Design Description | The purpose of this project was to gather all known tern colony locations within the state of Alaska (and beyond in Russia where points were available) for use in a habitat model. To be included, all records must have confirmed tern sightings displaying breeding behavior, must have locational accuracy better than 0.5 km, and must have at least on known observation year. |
Sampling Methods
Records in this dataset are a combination of many sampling events and from incidental observations.
| Study Extent | Data for this project came from many sources. We targeted our search for records to the known breeding range of Aleutian terns within Alaska; however, we included any records we found in eastern Russia. |
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| Quality Control | We conducted quality control by building an interactive map application where species experts reviewed all points for accuracy. Any points with errors (such as points located off the coast) or with insufficient taxonomy information or date were removed. |
Method step description:
- Steps in this project included 1) Data gathering, 2) Compilation and quality control review 3) Standardization for use in a habitat model and for data publication.
Additional Metadata
| Purpose | The primary purpose of this dataset was to create a habitat model to inform future field work in 2024 and 2025. |
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| Alternative Identifiers | 2e197e5f-d3d1-48b2-bd86-293df47b0a46 |
| https://obis.org/dataset/9c3e1803-61db-48fb-94fd-24ea5a17ba8b | |
| https://ipt-obis.gbif.us/resource?r=usfws_alaska_tern_colonies |