NETNBreeding Landbirds
Importance / IssuesBirds are an important component of park ecosystems, and their high body temperature, rapid metabolism, and prominent position in most food webs make them a good indicator of local and regional ecosystem change. It has been suggested that management activities aimed at preserving habitat for bird populations, such as for neotropical migrants, can have the added benefit of preserving entire ecosystems and their attendant ecosystem services (Karr 1991, Maurer 1993). Moreover, among the public, birds are a high profile taxa, and many parks provide information on the status and trends of the park’s avian community through their interpretive materials and programs. In developing comprehensive long-term monitoring plans, birds are among the best taxonomic groups to monitor because: 1) they are the most easily and inexpensively detected and identified vertebrate animals, 2) a single survey method is effective for many species, 3) accounting and managing for many species with different ecological requirements promotes conservation strategies at the landscape scale (Hutto and Young 2002), 4) many reference datasets and standard methods are available (Ralph et al. 1993, 1995), and 5) the response variability is fairly well understood. Protocol Development & StatusThe protocol was implemented in 2006 at Acadia NP, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Potential MeasuresDetermine annual changes and long-term trends in species composition of native and non-native forest passerine species during the breeding season in 8 NETN parks (listed above). The focus will be on forest and woodland sampling, except at Determine annual changes in relative abundance of: 10 most commonly detected species at each park and combined suite of PIF Priority Species, as determined by BCR. Improve our understanding of breeding bird/habitat relationships and the effects that management actions, such as silvicultural practices and mowing regimes, have on bird populations. In addition, correlate changes in bird communities with site-specific information about park management activities and with changes in habitat metrics collected at co-located forest condition plots. |
 Photo Copyright Charley Eiseman Preliminary Monitoring ObjectiveBecause birds are an important natural resource and they are a robust indicator of ecosystem integrity, the overall goal of landbird monitoring is to track the status and trends of breeding landbirds within Network parks. Breeding landbird monitoring will also support and inform management decisions that may affect avian populations. Additional goals are to increase the visibility of the I&M program and to involve the public with the network’s monitoring program. Reports and DataData for Breeding Landbird Monitoring from the 2006 season in Acadia NP, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP, Minute Man NHP, Morristown NHP, Roosevelt-Vanderbilt NHS, Saratoga NHP, and Weir Farm NHS are listed in the following reports: |
ReferencesHutto, R. L., and J. S. Young. 2002. Regional landbird monitoring perspectives from the northern Karr, J. R. 1991. Biological integrity: a long-neglected aspect of water resource management. Ecological Applications 1:66-84. Maurer, B. A. 1993. Biological diversity, ecological integrity, and neotropical migrants. Pages 24-31 in Finch, D.M. and P. Stengel, editors. Status and Management of Neotropical Migrant Birds. Ralph, C. J., G. R. Geupel, P. Pyle, T. E. Martin, and D. F. DeSante. 1993. Handbook of Field Methods for Monitoring Landbirds. Ralph, C. J., S. Droege, and J. R. Sauer. 1995. Managing and monitoring birds using point counts: standards and applications. Pages 161-168 in C. J. Ralph, J. R. Sauer, and S. Droege, editors. Monitoring Bird Populations by Point Counts. |