Christopher Norment

• SUNY Brockport

To survive in an area, plant and animal species must confront many interacting environmental stressors at different spatial and temporal scales. Consequently, assemblages of resident species, which have successfully negotiated these stressors, are widely recognized as indicators of environmental quality. Many biotic variables have been employed as...

Between 2009 and 2019, I studied the distribution and ecology of the Inyo Mountains salamander (IMS; Batrachoseps campi). The IMS is a rarely studied species endemic to the Inyo Mountains of California, and 1 of only 2 extant salamanders whose range is restricted to desert ecosystems. I found 2 new localities, increasing the documented localities t...

In northeastern North America, alpine snowbank communities are rare plant assemblages that form in sheltered sites above treeline where late-lying snow provides insulation from late-season frosts and a longer-lasting source of water. We measured snowpack and studied community composition and plant traits at the species and community scales across t...

The Laurentian Great Lakes of North America have seen major development of wetlands and wetland-associated landscapes. Monitoring of wetland species is important to determine impacts on wetland wildlife due to habitat loss, and to evaluate the effectiveness of wetland restoration efforts. However, methods used for monitoring species often depend on...

Coastal wetlands in the Laurentian Great Lakes undergo frequent, sometimes dramatic, physical changes at varying spatial and temporal scales. Changes in lake levels and the juxtaposition of vegetation and open water greatly influence biota that use coastal wetlands. Several regional studies have shown that changes in vegetation and lake levels lead...

Human activity surrounding the Laurentian Great Lakes basin has significantly degraded coastal wetland habitats, resulting in severe marsh bird population declines and reduced coastal resilience to changing environmental conditions. Given the need to conserve remaining coastal wetlands for wildlife and people, we developed a spatial prioritization...

In northeastern North America, alpine snowbank (snowbed) communities are rare, highly diverse plant assemblages. They form in sheltered sites above treeline where late-lying snow provides insulation from late-season frosts and a longer-lasting source of water. We studied the effects of snowmelt timing and cumulative temperature on the vegetative an...

Scientific progress depends on evidence-based research, and reliance on accurate scholarship is essential when making management decisions for imperiled species. However, erroneous claims are sometimes perpetuated in the scientific and technical literature, which can complicate policy and regulatory judgments. The literature associated with two eni...

The Standardized North American Marsh Bird Monitoring Protocol recommends point counts consisting of a 5-min passive observation period, meant to be free of broadcast bias, followed by call broadcasts to entice elusive species to reveal their presence. Prior to this protocol, some monitoring programs used point counts with broadcasts during the fir...

We determined the influence of habitat, landscape, geographic, and climate variables on Sedge Wren (Cistothorus platensis) and Marsh Wren (C. palustris) occurrence in 840 coastal wetland survey points throughout the Great Lakes. Variables included surrounding land use and configuration out to 2000 m; latitude; longitude; temperature; precipitation;...

Revision of 1993 account

Since European settlement, over 50 % of coastal wetlands have been lost in the Laurentian Great Lakes basin, causing growing concern and increased monitoring by government agencies. For over a decade, monitoring efforts have focused on the development of regional and organism-specific measures. To facilitate collaboration and information sharing be...

We analyzed data on the size of nesting aggregations of Sabine's Gulls (Xema sabini) observed in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta (YKD), Alaska, between 1986 and 2013, to determine whether the species is a “solitary low-density nester” there, as in other parts of its range. Data for 1087 nests show that 56% of Sabine's Gull nests were solitary and that <3...

Along a tiny spring in a narrow canyon near Death Valley, seemingly against all odds, an Inyo Mountain slender salamander makes its home. “The desert,” writes conservation biologist Christopher Norment, “is defined by the absence of water, and yet in the desert there is water enough, if you live properly.” Relicts of a Beautiful Sea explores the ex...

Many studies have suggested that early successional habitats are important for fall migrant and resident birds. In light of this, we studied habitat relationships, preferred fruiting shrub species, and fruit consumption by birds in early successional habitats during the fall at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama, New York, USA. We used tran...

We studied the breeding biology, site fidelity, and dispersal of Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) from 1996 to 2000 in a fragmented landscape in western New York State. Ten fields (1.8–13.2 ha) contained territorial male Grasshopper Sparrows during the study; total territorial males in the study area varied between 31 and 19 birds. In 1...

Interpreting data on distribution or population trends may be difficult unless detection probability is accounted for. We wished to determine the detectability of the rare and patchily distributed cobblestone tiger beetle (Cicindela marginipennis) along the upper Genesee River in western New York for development of a monitoring strategy. We used oc...

Throughout his life, maps have been a source of imagination and wonder for Christopher Norment. Mesmerized by them since the age of eight or nine, he found himself courted and seduced by maps, which served functional and allegorical roles in showing him worlds that he might come to know and helping him understand worlds that he had already explored...

The goal of this study was to determine ecological, behavioral and environmental factors that would facilitate a management plan for the rare cobblestone tiger beetle (Cicindela marginipennis). We used a mark – recapture study to document dispersal distances of the cobblestone tiger beetle along the upper Genesee River in western New York and binom...

We studied breeding-season frugivory by Harris' sparrows (Zonotrichia querula) and white-crowned sparrows (Z. leucophrys) in the forest–tundra ecotone of the Northwest Territories during a 3-year period. Density of fruits produced during previous summers and preserved beneath the snow averaged between 83 and 94/m2 during June. Mass of alpine bearbe...

Declining grassland breeding bird populations have led to increased efforts to assess habitat quality, typically by estimating density or relative abundance. Because some grassland habitats may function as ecological traps, a more appropriate metric for determining quality may be breeing success. Between 1994 and 2003 we gathered data on the nest f...

Declining populations of grassland breeding birds have led to increased efforts to assess habitat quality, typically by estimating density or relative abundance. Because some grassland habitats may function as ecological traps, a more appropriate metric for determining quality is breeding success, which is challenging to determine for many cryptic-...

Deuterium-labeled water (2H2O) has emerged as a novel isotope tracer. Following the administration of 2H2O, it is possible to study the dynamics of carbohydrate, protein, lipid, and DNA and to determine body composition. Those studies require reliable measurements of the 2H labeling of water. Although simple gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC...

We investigated the relationship between migratory restlessness and stored energy reserves in two species of landbird migrants at Braddock Bay, Lake Ontario during spring 1999 and spring 2000. There was no significant difference in the amount of nighttime locomotor activity between lean and fat Swainson's Thrushes (Catharus ustulatus) or White-thro...

We studied the breeding biology of Richard's Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) in the Snowy Mountains during 1979-2003; intensive field work occurred in 2000-01. In this region Richard's Pipit is an altitudinal migrant, and its nesting cycle was affected by patterns of snowmelt and arthropod abundance. Date of first observation above winter snowline w...

We studied the breeding biology, site fidelity, and dispersal of Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) from 1996 to 2000 in a fragmented landscape in western New York State. Ten fields (1.8-13.2 ha) contained territorial male Grasshopper Sparrows during the study; total territorial males in the study area varied between 31 and 19 birds. In 1...

Patterns of nestling feeding by males and females were compared in sympatric populations of Harris's Sparrows (Zonotrichia querula) and Gambel's White-crowned Sparrows (Z. leucophrys gambelii) in the Northwest Territories, Canada. In both species, only the female brooded young. Total feeding rate (both parents), and male and female feeding rates, i...

Populations of many grassland birds in North America have declined significantly during the last 30 years (Knopf 1994, Peterjohn and Sauer 1999). Al-though population trends of many groups of breed-ing birds vary across geographic regions (James et al. 1992, Herkert 1995, Sauer et al. 1997), the declining trend for grassland birds is consistent acr...

Four primary objectives were addressed in this study: 1 . To undertake a survey of the biological resources of Yanty Creek. 2 . To compare relative abundance and species richness of phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic macroinvertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammtals and plants in Yanty Creek marsh and adjacent areas to literature on...

... Harper became an avid and well-rounded naturalist at an early age. In 1914, he received his B.A. degree from Cornell University and was employed as a zoologist on a Geological Survey of Canada expedition to the Lake Athabasca-Great Slave Lake region. The expedition, under the leadership of Charles Camsell, left Athabasca Landing on 18 May 1914...

Included in information on the status of 50 bird species and five mammal species in the Thelon River valley, Northwest Territories are nine northward and three southward breeding range extensions for birds, along with 16 species not previously recorded in the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary. Thirty of the bird species, along with Red Squirrel (Tamiasciur...

We studied the effects of forest patch size and habitat characteristics on breeding success of Scarlet Tanagers (Piranga olivacea) in western New York in 1995 and 1996. Twenty forest stands were grouped into four size classes: Group I (ha, n = 6), Group 11 (10 to 50 ha, n = 7), Group III (>50 to 150 ha, n = 5), and Group IV (>1,000 ha, n = 2). Grou...

Depredation of artificial avian ground nests was studied in 1994 and 1995 on cool-season and warm-season grasslands in western New York State. The study examined the effects of habitat type and distance from forested edge on nest success in adjacent fields. Two experiments were conducted. The first examined the effects of nest distribution on nest...

We investigated breeding readiness of selected migrant species captured at a known stopover site in western New York during the spring of 1995 and 1996. A total of 775 individuals representing 14 species were examined for outward physiological indication of male breeding readiness measured by relative size of cloacal protuberance. Only 2 of the 775...

I examined the relationship of nest-site and nest-patch characteristics to nest success in ground-nesting Harris' Sparrows (Zonotrichia querula) and Gambel's White-crowned Sparrows (Z. leucophrys gambelii) in the forest-tundra ecotone of the Northwest Territories, Canada. I found 34% of all Harris' Sparrow nests depredated, primarily by arctic grou...

I studied the breeding biology of Harris' Sparrows (Zonotrichia querula) and Gambel's White-crowned Sparrows (Z. leucophrys gambelii) in the forest-tundra ecotone of the Northwest Territories, Canada from 1989 to 1991. Adult sex ratio was 1:1 for Harris' Sparrows, and approximated 1:1 for the smaller number of White-crowned Sparrows captured. Nesti...

The effect of a midsummer snowstorm on nesting success of two populations of American Pipits (Antbus rubescens) in the Beartooth Mountains, Wyoming is described. An alpine population (3200 m) suffered 79% nestling mortality during the storm, whereas a subalpine population (2900 m) experienced 7% nestling mortality. All nestlings of the alpine popul...

The impact of nectar-thieving ants on the reproductive success of Frasera speciosa (Gentianaceae), a perennial monocarp with periodic, synchronous flowering, was studied in a Wyoming alpine meadow. Plants from which ants were excluded had higher rates of flower visitation by other insects, and higher standing crops of nectar, than did plants visite...

Clarke was born on 14 June 1909 in Kerwood, Ontario, the son of a Methodist minister. As he described it, an early interest in natural history led him to become "a bird watcher, and in time a hunter, and then also a collector, and the lines of least resistance made me a wildlife biologist." [Clarke is best known for his work on the Thelon Game Sanc...

University Microfilms order no. 9313148. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Kansas, 1992. Includes bibliographical references.

Based on three seasons of field research in the Canadian Arctic, Christopher Norment’s exquisitely crafted meditation on science and nature, wildness and civilization, is marked by bottomless prose, reflection on timeless questions, and keen observations of the world and our place in it. In an era increasingly marked by cutting-edge research at t...