Every two years, the American Ornithological Society bestows the Harry R. Painton Award for a paper published during the past four years in The Condor: Ornithological Applications that has made an extraordinary contribution to ornithology. The Harry R. Painton Award for 2017 is presented to K. M. Dugger, E. D. Forsman, A. B. Franklin, R. J. Davis, G. C. White, C. J. Schwarz, K. P. Burnham, J. D. Nichols, J. E. Hines, C. B. Yackulic, P. F. Doherty, Jr., L. Bailey, D. A. Clark, S. H. Ackers, L. S. Andrews, B. Augustine, B. L. Biswell, J. Blakesley, P. C. Carlson, M. J. Clement, L. V. Diller, E. M. Glenn, A. Green, S. A. Gremel, D. R. Herter, J. M. Higley, J. Hobson, R. B. Horn, K. P. Huyvaert, C. McCafferty, T. McDonald, K. McDonnell, G. S. Olson, J. A. Reid, J. Rockweit, V. Ruiz, J. Saenz, and S. G. Sovern for their paper “The effects of habitat, climate, and Barred Owls on long-term demography of Northern Spotted Owls,” published in 2016 in The Condor:Ornithological Applications 118:57–116.
The article is a synthesis for the Spotted Owl, a species of conservation concern that is affected by forest management and is being displaced by the Barred Owl as a competitor. The article includes a remarkable set of demographic data from multiple sites. The authors used mark–recapture analyses with random effects to model occupancy dynamics, components of fecundity and survival, and effects of environmental covariates. The study also included a novel field experiment in which demographic responses of Spotted Owls were examined in response to experimental culling of Barred Owls. The article stands out as a particularly comprehensive work based on extensive fieldwork at multiple sites, impressive collaboration among many researchers, innovative use of new statistical methods, and new insights into the competitive interactions of conspecific species of owl. The article provides new evidence that the future persistence of Spotted Owls may be reliant on conservation action, and that continued removals of Barred Owls may be necessary to halt or slow the extirpation of sensitive populations.
The Harry R. Painton Award, given in odd-numbered years as a cash prize of at least $1,000, is presented to the author of an outstanding paper published in the four preceding years in The Condor: Ornithological Applications. The Publications Awards Committee may choose not to grant an award, with approval of the American Ornithological Society Council. Funds for the award come from a bequest from Mr. Painton. By vote of the council, society funds may be used to increase the amount of this award. A list of previous Painton Awardees can be found at http://www.americanornithology.org/content/aos-painton-award.{ label needed for fig[@id='i0010-5422-119-4-872-f01'] }
