Volcanic ash from the ongoing eruption at the Soufrière Hills volcano in Montserrat, West Indies, has been implicated in the decline of the Montserrat Oriole (Icterus oberi), a globally endangered species. The impact of ash on the forest canopy insect fauna utilized as food by the oriole is suspected as the mechanism behind this decline. We investigated the impact of ash levels on canopy arthropods using canopy fogging at four sites regularly receiving different levels of ash deposits. The decline of canopy insects associated with deposition of volcanic ash, while temporarily important, seems a less significant factor in decline of the Montserrat Oriole than the literature would indicate.
Species 1: Passeriformes Icteridae Icterus oberi (Montserrat oriole)
Keywords: canopy fogging
Back to Student Competition Ten-Minute Papers, Cd2, Behavior and Ecology
Back to Student Competition TMP Orals
Back to The 2003 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition