Details - National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program, 1961-1973 : Birnie, mammals

National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program, 1961-1973 : Birnie, mammals

Title

National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program, 1961-1973 : Birnie, mammals

Related Titles

Contained In: National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program field research records, 1961-1973

Series: SIA Acc. 83-126

Series: Smithsonian Field Book Project : an initiative to improve access to field book content that documents natural history

By

National Museum of Natural History (U.S.) Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program
Sibley, Fred C.,
Huber, L. N.

Type

Book

Material

Archival material

Publication info

1963-1964

Notes

The Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program (POBSP) was initiated in 1962 when the Smithsonian Institution entered into a grant agreement with the Department of Defense. From January 1963 through June 1969 Smithsonian Institution employees undertook biological surveys in an area of the Pacific Ocean spanning the equator and extending from latitude 30 degrees north to 10 degrees south and from longitude 150 degrees east to 180 degrees west, an area dotted with clusters of islands and atolls. The major goals of the program were to learn what plants and animals occurred on the islands, the seasonal variations in their numbers and reproductive activities, and the distribution and population of the pelagic birds of that area. Emphasis was placed on the banding of birds in an effort to determine migration, distribution, and abundance of pelagic sea birds. During the six and a half years of field work 1,800,000 birds were banded; approximately 150,000 observations of pelagic birds at sea were made; and biological surveys of varying intensity were made on several islands.The present folder includes field notes for research conducted on Birnie Island from November 14, 1963 to February 22, 1964. The notes refer to Huber's catalog and to Sibley's summaries, with notes by several collectors. They concern mammals, in particular rats, whose population was overrunning the island. They were collected for blood samples and study skins. Collectors note the damaging effect of the rats on the local vegetation.