Loon center scientist Walter Piper will lead research effort
Written By:
PineandLakes Echo Journal |
9:00 am, Apr. 25, 2021
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Common Loon breaching the water to dry her wings in the morning as she swims.Photo, Shutterstock, Inc.
The National Loon Center has engaged leading loon biologist Walter Piper to begin a scientific investigation of loons in the Brainerd lakes area beginning this summer.
Piper, a professor at Chapman University in Orange, California, has studied loons in northern Wisconsin since 1993, where he recently documented alarming declines in breeding success and in the adult population.
Under a National Loon Center grant awarded to Chapman University, Piper will establish a new study population of loons in central Minnesota. Together, the Minnesota and Wisconsin investigations will provide an early-warning system to identify worrisome patterns in loon populations.