. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1999 Burnett: Chapter 1: Exercising Dominion 13 Stresses tend to reverberate throughout ecosys- tems, and one unanticipated stress on wildlife all across Canada during the 1930s came from the human population. Economic depression, unemploy- ment, and poverty increased the incentive for many to steal eggs or hunt game birds out of season. Mammals came under pressure as well, being hunted either for the table or to augment the meagre incomes of desperate people. Coincidentally, 1934 brought a serious drop in the Gulf of St. Lawrence population of Capelin and Sand
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 1999 Burnett: Chapter 1: Exercising Dominion 13 Stresses tend to reverberate throughout ecosys- tems, and one unanticipated stress on wildlife all across Canada during the 1930s came from the human population. Economic depression, unemploy- ment, and poverty increased the incentive for many to steal eggs or hunt game birds out of season. Mammals came under pressure as well, being hunted either for the table or to augment the meagre incomes of desperate people. Coincidentally, 1934 brought a serious drop in the Gulf of St. Lawrence population of Capelin and Sand Lance, two fish species that occupy a vital position in the east coast marine food web. During his summer patrols, Lewis noted reduced breeding success among seabirds and an increase in the preda- tion of Great Black-backed Gulls on young Common Eiders.^" By 1934, the growing pressures of administration had enabled Hoyes Lloyd to obtain approval for the appointment of a full-time Chief Migratory Birds Officer for the Prairies. The successful candidate was J. Dewey Soper, a naturalist-explorer who had undertaken a number of Arctic expeditions during the 1920s on behalf of the National Museum. On an extended mission during 1928-1929, he had won the attention of ornithologists by his discovery on Baffin Island of the nesting grounds, hitherto unknown to science, of the Blue Goose. The full extent of his accomplishment is best gauged from his own brief summary of the trek. In the course of 3700 kilome- tres travelled on foot, by dog team, and by canoe, he took 1650 map bearings, 99 latitude observations, and 560 observations of magnetic declination, cor- recting several serious errors of previous mapping expeditions in the area. He collected 513 scientific specimens of mammals, birds, and eggs, 177 insect specimens, and 62 sheets of plant specimens. He documented the outing in 539 photographs and filled 15 notebooks, as well as producing detailed cata- logues and maps of his
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