PRBO's Northern Sierra Project is an exciting collaborative effort with partner organizations to conserve and effectively manage an entire ecosystem. PRBO's role is focused on assessing the efficacy of forest management strategies for songbirds, while the other modules are looking at the responses of fire and fuels, forest structure, Spotted Owls, and small mammals.
This study is intended to last for at least 20 years, and therefore provides the unique opportunity to examine and monitor the long-term effects of forest practices on the change in songbird populations over a fairly long time frame.
The project is located in the northern Sierra Nevada and encompasses portions of three National Forests: the Tahoe, Plumas, and Lassen. PRBO's Study is based out of Quincy, CA in the heart of the Northern Sierras.
Contact: Ryan Burnett rburnett at prbo dot org
Results
Northern Sierra habitat white papers:
Aspen habitat (PDF)
Meadow habitat (PDF)
Mixed Conifer-Hardwood habitat (PDF)
Shrub habitat (PDF)
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More About the Project
Hypothesis:
Will forest structure and composition resulting from specific management regimes, when analyzed in the context of time and space; create conditions capable of sustaining stable avian communities?
Objectives:
1) Determine the short-term, localized responses of landbirds to specific forest treatments.
2) Determine the responses of landbirds to forest management and succession integrated over time (10 to 20 years) and space.
3) Contribute to national, state, and regional conservation efforts by providing key information to California Partners in Flight habitat conservation plans, Breeding Biology Research and Monitoring Database (BBIRD), and Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survival (MAPS) database.
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Partners
PRBO is collaborating with researchers from:
on a series of integrated studies designed to evaluate the effectiveness of various land management strategies in creating healthy Sierran forests.
