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ARC overview – the Atlantic Reference Centre
The Atlantic Reference Centre (ARC), is a research museum for Canadian marine life and a centre for biodiversity information and applied environmental research.
In 1984, the Huntsman Marine Science Centre and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), created the ARC to archive samples of Canadian Atlantic marine life collected by research surveys as a source of taxonomic information.
Operationally, DFO provides facilities and partial funding, while the Huntsman provides staffing, additional program funding and program administration. Together, the ARC and DFO collaborate on marine biodiversity research and planning.
ARC services include sample processing and specimen identification, information, advice and research for governments, universities, museums, private institutions, industry and the public. In addition, ARC scientists train students, technicians and researchers on the identification and curation of aquatic organisms, and offer a course on the analysis of biological diversity and community structure.
For more information on the ARC, click here.
St. Andrews Bird Banding Station
Monitoring Songbird Populations and Migration
Introduction
Concern is growing over the decline of North American migratory songbird populations. Each year the woods seem quieter or a specific song is missing. The forests of New Brunswick have seen many changes through logging, agricultural clearing and the growth of urban areas. As the habitat changes so must the bird populations. The species that are common now are not the same ones that would have been common in the virgin forests. In order to monitor these on-going changes a major commitment of time and resources are needed to collect standardized data.
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Net Line
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Bird Banding
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Bird banding stations can collect the type of data necessary to monitor these long term changes. Bird Observatories in Ontario have been operating for over forty years and trends in some bird populations are starting to show. 1989 was the first year of operation for the St. Andrews Banding Station and in that first experimental year 323 birds of 42 species where banded between June and October.
Since then the Station has expanded its field season to run from May until November and increased the number of mist nets to 14. Overall, 14,818 birds, of 91 species, have been banded and released. The Station is still relatively young and the database small, but still more questions are posed than answered. In 2001 flocks of chickadees were on the move. Where did they all come from? Where were they going? Only time will tell.
For more information on our Bird Banding program, click here.
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