This paper reports the first record of a territorial Limnothlypis swainsonii (Swainson's Warbler) associated with the invasive Reynoutria japonica (Japanese Knotweed). The observation adds to a growing body of literature documenting rapid behavioral adaptation to novel habitats in this globally rare warbler.

On 11 November 2017, a male hatch-year Oporornis agilis (Connecticut Warbler) was killed by a Felis catus (Domestic Cat) in Scarborough, Cumberland County, ME. This specimen, housed in the University of New England ornithological collection, is the latest documented fall record of this species in North America.

We describe what we believe to be the first recorded instance of an adult Poecile atricapillus (Black-capped Chickadee) feeding the young of a different species. On 25 June 2017, we observed a Black-capped Chickadee feeding 3 Catharus guttatus (Hermit Thrush) nestlings. We recorded a video of this behavior the following day, in which the adult Black-capped Chickadee delivered food to the Hermit Thrush nestlings 12 times in 105 min of continuous recording. The Black-capped Chickadee also removed fecal sacs from the nest. At the end of this video, 1 of the nestlings fledged. We did not observe an adult Hermit Thrush feeding the nestlings during the entire recording. The considerable differences in body size, nesting strategy, and nestling growth rate between these 2 species comprise a unique instance of interspecific parental feeding that resulted in successful fledging.

We report the apparent widespread occurrence of Gryllus veletis (Alexander and Bigelow) (Spring Field Cricket) in New Brunswick, confirming this first detection in Maritime Canada on the basis of DNA barcodes. Spanning several counties, our records suggests a well-established species in New Brunswick, not the presumed adventive occurrence previously known for Atlantic Canada on the basis of a single report from the Island of Newfoundland.

The abundance of Tachycineta bicolor (Tree Swallow) has fallen by half across North America over the past 50 years. This study presents 38 years of observations on their nesting success from coastal Maine. We document long-term declines in nest-box occupancy and fledging success. We show that nest-box occupancy was affected by proximity to other nest boxes and to buildings, and that it increased with time since mowing. The number of young fledged per nest, on the other hand, decreased in wet years and years with many cold days, and it increased with time since mowing. These local factors do not, however, explain the long-term decline in nesting success, which we tentatively attribute to anthropogenic effects on the wintering grounds or along the migration route.

Some insectivorous avian species may improve foraging success by flashing conspicuously colored wing patches or tail spots to startle potential prey and elicit escape behavior. While some studies of Mimus polyglottos (Northern Mockingbird) suggest that wing-flashing (WF) behavior may enhance strike rate and/or foraging success, other studies are equivocal or suggest a negative relationship. Anecdotal observations suggest that WF in mockingbirds may serve an additional role, as this behavior has been documented in response to a potential predator. The biological roles of WF remain unclear in Northern Mockingbirds; thus, we sought to systematically study: (1) the seasonal use of WF while foraging, and (2) the behavioral response of mockingbirds when presented with 2 model organisms—a nest predator and a neutral avian species. We found that foraging bouts during the reproductive period were more likely to include WF than those during the non-reproductive period, but that there was no significant relationship between WF rate and either strike rate or foraging-success rate. When exposed to models, mockingbirds only employed WF during the reproductive period, and then, only to the predator model. Our results suggest that WF is confined primarily to the reproductive period of the annual cycle, and that this behavior is utilized while foraging and in response to the presence of a potential predator. However, the biological role WF plays in both of these circumstances bears further examination.

Herbivory by terrestrial gastropods, particularly Arion spp. (a slug), can alter epiphytic lichen communities; however, little is known about this interaction in forests of North America. We used 3 lines of evidence to explore this interaction: field grazing assessments on lichen thalli, a 10-y re-measure of gastropod abundance, and gastropod feeding trials in a montane forest at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) in northern New Hampshire. Grazing damage by terrestrial gastropods was widespread, though few sites had severe grazing. Grazing damage was significantly higher on flatter terrain and on broadleaf trees. Slug densities were significantly lower in 2016 than in earlier surveys (1997–2006) on 4 of 6 plots. In feeding trials, 2 common lichens, Hypogymnia physodes and Platismatia glauca, were grazed more heavily by both native and non-native slugs than other lichen species. However, the Succineidae (amber) snails preferred Lobaria pulmonaria, a lichen that has been declining at HBEF in the last decade. Overall, lichen communities in the HBEF were moderately impacted by terrestrial gastropod grazing, but potential effects of the non-native slugs at higher elevations and impacts on lichen health of widespread, moderate grazing deserve further study.

Marginal populations are often distributed throughout fragmented landscapes and experience less optimum conditions compared to central range populations. Falcipennis canadensis (Spruce Grouse) inhabit conifer-dominated forests distributed throughout the northern US and Canada, and reach their southeastern range extent in the northeastern US, including Maine. We resurveyed 18 forest stands on Mount Desert Island, ME, that were comprised of Picea mariana (Black Spruce) and Larix laricina (Tamarack) and which were originally surveyed during 1992–1993. Our goal was to observe changes in Spruce Grouse occupancy and abundance between the 1990s and the present (2017). We conducted repeated callback surveys to detect territorial male Spruce Grouse within each stand during spring 2017, using a systematic survey design that covered the entirety of each stand and replicated methods used during the 1990s. We documented 7 individual Spruce Grouse, including 6 males and a single female. Single-season occupancy models for 2017 predicted Spruce Grouse stand occupancy of 0.226 (±0.100 SE), with a survey-level detection probability for male Spruce Grouse of 0.857 (±0.141 SE). Stand occupancy decreased from 8 stands in 1992–1993 to 4 in 2017, a 50% decline in the proportion of stands occupied. Further, the total number of males observed decreased from 32 (average between 1992 and 1993) to only 6 during our study, a >80% decline in apparent abundance. Our results suggest Spruce Grouse populations on Mount Desert Island have decreased and may be at risk of local extinction.

While there are numerous studies of Limulus polyphemus (Atlantic Horseshoe Crab) populations on the East and Gulf coasts of the US, especially for spawning adults in large estuaries such as Delaware Bay, there are fewer efforts relative to small estuaries in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. We determined, for the first time, the pattern of seasonal linkages between the Great Bay–Little Egg Harbor estuaries in southern New Jersey and the adjacent inner continental shelf with multiple gears over multiple years. Adults of both sexes are distributed along the inner continental shelf in all seasons, while large juveniles were most abundant in the fall. The seasonal occurrence of larvae, small juveniles, and spawning adults in high salinity, sandy, natural habitats in these small estuaries was consistent. Our findings suggest that these and other small estuaries may provide the same habitats, predators, prey, and fishery resources as larger estuaries, except at a smaller scale. Thus, small estuaries contribute by enhancing landscape and habitat diversity for this vulnerable species. Further clarification of the importance of estuarine habitats would benefit from an increasing emphasis on juveniles and their subsurface habitats in small and large estuaries.

The enumeration of Odocoileus virginianus (White-tailed Deer, hereafter, Deer) populations is an important objective for many managers, but no consensus regarding the most appropriate scientific methodology exists. Extensive research has been conducted involving comparisons of multiple methods to evaluate the effectiveness of estimating demographics of free-ranging populations; however, most fail to account for spatial or temporal differences in their comparisons. We estimated the density of an open population of Deer on a strict concurrent spatial and temporal scale during 3 separate 14-day periods (August 2012, February 2013, August 2013) using 4 methods: road-based distance sampling using spotlight surveys, FLIR surveys, and camera surveys using both the Jacobson analysis method or an N-mixture model abundance analysis. Spotlight surveys were affordable but required substantial effort to achieve the precision necessary for management decisions. FLIR surveys had greater detection probabilities relative to spotlight surveys and required less effort to achieve sufficient precision. Jacobson camera surveys appeared to overestimate Deer density and provided no measures of precision. The N-mixture model camera surveys provided sufficient precision and generated point estimate and detection probabilities similar to FLIR surveys. Camera surveys were costlier and more labor intensive relative to road-based surveys. We recommend road-based distance sampling using FLIR technology to estimate Deer density, but managers should understand the limitations and biases associated with any density estimate before incorporating the results into a management program.

Although development and urbanization are typically believed to have negative impacts on carnivoran species, some species can successfully navigate an urban matrix. Sympatric carnivorans compete for limited resources in urban areas, likely with system-specific impacts to their distributions and activity patterns. We used automatically triggered wildlife cameras to assess the local distribution and co-existence of Canis latrans (Coyote), Vulpes vulpes (Red Fox), and Urocyon cinereoargenteus (Gray Fox) across the Pioneer Valley, MA, in relation to different levels of human development. We placed cameras at 79 locations in forested, altered, and urban land-use areas from September to November 2012 and accumulated 1670 trap nights. We determined site characteristics and detection rates for 12 other wildlife species for each camera location to develop a generalized linear model for the local distribution of each focal canid species across the study area. We also compared diel activity patterns among Coyotes, Red Foxes, and Gray Foxes, and calculated coefficients of overlap between each pair. The local distribution of Coyotes was positively associated with the detection rates of their prey and not associated with detection rates of sympatric carnivoran species. Red Foxes and Gray Foxes had negative relationships with the detection rate of Coyotes, and none of the 3 canid species showed a positive correlation with increased levels of urbanization. There was a high degree of temporal overlap in diel activity patterns and limited spatial overlap of our focal species, which suggests that any competition avoidance across our study area occurred at the spatial level. Coyotes fill the role of top predator in the Pioneer Valley, and likely have a negative impact on the local distributions of smaller canids, while their own local distributions seem to be driven by prey availability.

Heribaudiella fluviatilis is a freshwater species in the predominantly marine class of brown algae (Phaeophyceae). The first reported North American population was collected in 1898 from Island Brook, CT. Here we confirm that the species was once present in Island Brook but has been extirpated from that location. Our 2016 survey rediscovered Heribaudiella in the New England flora, in 6 streams in western Connecticut ∼70 km inland from marine water. Ecological data indicate these streams are deeper and have large-grained sediments, but lower specific conductance, dissolved NO₃^-, and inorganic P as soluble reactive phosphorous (SRP) than nearby streams lacking this alga. We ran a multivariate, boosted regression tree (BRT) analysis, which confirmed that the niche of Heribaudiella in Connecticut is limited to minimally disturbed streams with greater pH, a high percentage of streambed boulders, and lower concentrations of dissolved NO₃^- and SRP.

I report observations on the ecology and trends in growth and relative condition of Salvelinus namaycush (Lake Trout) in Quabbin Reservoir garnered from over 60 y of almost continuous monitoring. Fish were captured using gillnets during the spawn in late October and early November in 10–15 m of water. Spawning began when waters reached 17 °C, but activity was most intense between 11 °C and 13 °C. Spawning fish were 4–24 y old, and catches were typically comprised of 89.5% males. Male Lake Trout generally reached 457 mm (18 in; legal harvest size) by age 5, and since 2010, average growth of mature males was 5.8 mm per year. Length-at-capture and density have declined over the period of record but rose and fell over shorter intervals, likely in response to forage abundance, mainly Osmerus mordax (Rainbow Smelt).

The pine barrens of the American Northeast is a globally rare and endangered landscape. The handful of pine barrens remaining in the Northeast provide valuable habitat to many threatened and endangered plant and animal (including insect) species, yet little is known about the bee fauna in this habitat. Here we present the results of the first faunal bee survey of the Ossipee Pine Barrens (OPB) in New Hampshire. We collected over 800 specimens from pan and sweep samples representing 95 species. We documented 1 species, Megachile mucida, for the first time in the state of New Hampshire and recorded 4 introduced species. In addition to general surveying, we surveyed landscapes with 4 different types of management for the OPB. Landscapes that incorporated both burning and mowing after burning into the management regime supported bee communites that had significantly greater abundance than all other treatments and greater species richness than all other landscapes, though not signficantly higher than those that were mowed without burning.

Although natural wetlands provide important ecosystem services such as flood control, carbon sequestration, and habitat for wetland plants and amphibians, it is uncertain to what degree restored wetlands provide these services. To this end, we assessed the hydrology, soils, vegetation, and anuran relative call frequency in a restored emergent floodplain wetland in west-central, Illinois. We employed a stratified random design to sample across a hydrologic gradient from wetter to drier zones in 3 cells of the wetland. We monitored surface water levels and found that cells 1 and 2 showed long periods of inundation, while cell 3 exhibited a more pulsed hydrology based on rainfall. Soil moisture content exhibited a significant trend across the hydrologic gradient, increasing from the drier to the wetter zones. We identified 46 plant species, 14 of which were planted as part of the restoration. Plant communities differed among cells, with cells 1 and 2 having more than 37% obligate wetland species, while cell 3 had only 22% obligate wetland species. Over 30 survey nights, we heard 10 anuran species calling and observed 1 Ambystoma (mole salamander). Hydrology played an important role in site usage by amphibians, especially in cell 3, where the absence of water precluded egg laying.

Sirens are enigmatic, fully aquatic salamanders found in freshwater wetland habitats. Siren intermedia intermedia (Eastern Lesser Siren) occurs along the East Coast of the United States from Alabama to Virginia. Surveys near the northeastern range edge of the subspecies at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia from 1995 to 1999 documented 53 Eastern Lesser Sirens in 5 wetlands. In 2015, 13 individuals were found, documenting persistence at 4 of these wetlands; none were found in 4 additional wetlands with habitat that appeared appropriate. The size distribution of captured individuals was similar for the 2 survey periods. Captured individuals in 2015 were screened for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a fungal pathogen ubiquitous in aquatic habitats of the southeast and mid-Atlantic. No Bd was detected on these individuals, despite the presence of Bd on other amphibians at Fort A.P. Hill. Further investigations of the Eastern Lesser Siren populations in this area would provide important information about the persistence of this species in the region and provide more insight into the biology of this elusive salamander.

Didymosphenia geminata (Didymo) is a benthic freshwater diatom that has been globally expanding its range and extracellular stalk production in freshwater ecosystems. Didymo has been observed in reaches downstream of hypolimnetic reservoir releases in the northeastern US since 2007. This study focused on a newly observed (2013) Didymo occurrence in Pine Creek, a highly forested and unregulated watershed in north-central Pennsylvania. Study objectives included comparing contemporary distribution with historical data to provide insight on historical occurrence, quantifying physicochemical controls on Didymo distribution and benthic mat severity, and examining historical changes in water chemistry that might affect habitat suitability. At present, Didymo cellular distribution is limited to upper reaches of Pine Creek where median soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) is 2.7 µg/L; median SRP was 4.8 µg/L at sites where Didymo was absent. At the epicenter of distribution in Pine Creek where SRP was consistently <2 µg/L, increased streamflow flashiness and water temperature were associated with decreased benthic mat severity. My results suggest SRP thresholds for Didymo proliferation may vary depending on whether streams are regulated by reservoirs with hypolimnetic releases. Mann–Kendall trends tests of a ∼20-y water chemistry dataset show that orthophosphate and sulfate concentrations decreased while pH increased within Pine Creek, which may have implications for Didymo habitat suitability. Further research is warranted to determine whether improving water quality following the industrial era may facilitate Didymo colonization.