Songbird use of Greater Sage-grouse Population Management Units in the Bodie Hills and Long Valley, California

In 2004, we began investigations of sagebrush bird populations in the Bodie Hills and Long Valley, California. Project objectives are to assess the richness, diversity, abundance, distribution and habitat relationships of sagebrush nesting songbirds within the Bodie Hills and Long Valley Greater Sage-grouse Population Management Units (PMU’s). PMU’s are management areas designated to manage and protect the Greater Sage-grouse, a species recently found not warranted for Federal Endangered listing, but for which future habitat management and conservation will be required to deter further decline and subsequent listing of the species. Our intention is to inform managers of the importance of this habitat for the entire breeding bird community, to potentially monitor the effects of sage-grouse habitat management on other bird species, and to investigate potential correlates of habitat use by sage-grouse with that of other bird species. Project Contact: Sacha Heath Funding: BLM, CDFG, DMARLOU Foundation

Bird Monitoring and Visitor Education in Montane Meadow and Riparian Habitats of Devils Postpile National Monument

Devils Postpile National Monument is located on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada range as it lies at the headwaters of the San Joaquin River. In 2002, PRBO initiated a banding, point count, and visitor education program at meadow and riparian habitats of the Monument.  We are determining bird species diversity, richness, abundance and indices of productivity and survivorship in riparian and meadow habitats of the Monument, providing recommendations for riparian and meadow habitat management and restoration, and have interpreted our methods and results at our banding station to over 1,200 visitors since 2002. Project Contact: Sacha Heath Funding: Devils Postpile National Monument, Sierra Nevada Inventory and Monitoring Network, National Park Service Small Parks Grants

Lower Owens River Project

In 1891, as part of the Death Valley Expedition, A.K. Fisher explored the Lower Owens River and recorded the bird life the Expedition observed there. The lush riparian vegetation of the Lower Owens provided habitat for a host of riparian associated and obligate bird species.  Since 1911, a 62-mile stretch of the Lower Owens River has been diverted almost entirely to the Los Angles Aqueduct, desiccating much of the once productive habitat. As mitigation for groundwater pumping in the Owens Valley, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is charged with re-watering and restoring this 62-mile stretch of the Lower Owens River with the goal to establish a “healthy, functioning Lower Owens riverine / riparian ecosystem” and to maintain a diverse natural habitat consistent with the needs of specified “habitat indicator species”.  These efforts began in earnest in January of 2006. Anticipating the re-watering and restoration activities, PRBO began gathering baseline riparian breeding bird data within the Lower Owens River Project (LORP) area in 1999. In 2002, we randomly selected and implemented additional study sites (173 points total) along the entire stretch of the LORP to monitor the effects of re-watering and restoration on riparian breeding bird populations and to determine bird relationships with existing and recovering vegetation. We intend to monitor the changes in bird populations and habitat choices over at least a 10-year period after re-watering and restoration, and provide this information to restoration and land management efforts.   Project Contact: Sacha Heath Funding: Audubon California, DMARLOU Foundation, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, White Mountain Research Station.

Mono Basin Riparian
As water returns to Mono Lake’s tributary streams after decades of diversions, land managers and conservation groups are faced with the challenge of restoring these systems to a state of health and functionality as productive habitat for wildlife populations. To effectively   carry out this task, managers require feedback on the effects of their efforts on wildlife populations.  We conduct long-term, community level monitoring of riparian birds to investigate the effects of restoration on these populations. This effort consists of a standardized multi-level bird monitoring and research program. By combining multiple techniques, we will identify long-term, community level patterns in riparian-breeding bird survivorship, productivity, species richness diversity, abundance, and density on Mono Lake’s recovering tributary streams. In collaboration with graduate researchers, we also conduct more focused investigations on individual species populations and demographics, both to provide more acute information on species of conservation concern and to determine the factors and processes that drive community and population level patterns. The information we gain from these efforts is made accessible to land managers, so that they can make effective decisions.
Project Contact:  Sacha Heath Funding: BLM, CDFG, Eastern Sierra Audubon Society, Inyo National Forest, Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua Research Grant, Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve, Mono Lake Committee, Mono Market, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation, PRBO Bird-a-thon Participants, USFS Region 5 Partners in Flight

Non-native vascular plant inventory in riparian areas of Yosemite National Park, California

Although on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada, this project is run through our Eastern Sierra Field Station. The Sierra Nevada Network Inventory & Monitoring program and Yosemite National Park are implementing an inventory of nonnative vascular plant species in riparian and meadow habitats and in areas that have experienced fire.  PRBO collected the inventory data during the first phase of the project in 2005.

Project Contact: Sacha Heath

Funding: National Park Service Sierra Nevada Inventory and Monitoring Network, Yosemite National Park

Owens Valley Alluvial Fan
We monitored songbirds in the Owens Valley alluvial fan region 1998 - 2005. The project was designed to determine riparian breeding bird species diversity, richness and abundance, nest success and survivorship and nest habitat characteristics in this relatively undocumented region. The project encompassed Bureau of Land Management, Inyo National Forest and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power lands ranging from Big Pine to just south of Lone Pine.  Our intensive efforts ended in 2000, but we continued to conduct point counts on a subset of the original point count stations to determine trends in bird numbers over time. We may revisit these sites in 5 – 10 years. Project Contact: Sacha Heath      Funding: BLM, CDFG, Eastern Sierra Audubon Society, Inyo National Forest, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, USFS Region 5 Partners in Flight

 

 

Pack station livestock corrals are commonly located within riparian habitat of the eastern Sierra Nevada’s montane zone. Because pack station livestock may threaten songbird populations by providing foraging habitat for the brood parasitic brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), we investigated reproductive success of host species near pack stations at two high elevation aspen-willow sites on Inyo National Forest lands (2001-2004).      Project Contact: Sacha Heath   Funding: Inyo National Forest, United States Forest Service Region 5 Partners in Flight

Bird monitoring and habitat assessment in the upper West and East Walker River watersheds, 1998 - 2003.
In 1998, PRBO, Bureau of land Management (BLM) and California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) implemented standardized riparian songbird monitoring stations in the upper East Walker watersheds as a part of a larger riparian songbird monitoring effort that extended south along the eastern Sierra Nevada through Mono and Inyo Counties.   In 2001 - 2003, PRBO, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Bridgeport Ranger District and Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center extended the effort throughout the upper East and West Walker River watersheds. We established 266 riparian songbird monitoring stations on 20 transects along 15 streams in the West and East Walker River watersheds.   We determined breeding bird relative abundance, bird species diversity and bird species richness and modeled relationships between these indices a host of vegetation and landscape variables.

Project Contact: Sacha Heath

Funding:  BLM, CDFG, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Marine Corp Mountain Warfare Training Center, Sierra Nevada Aquatic Reserach Laboratory

Songbird use of Marble Creek, Mono County, California.

From 1998 - 2005, the PRBO and the Bureau of Land Management conducted songbird surveys and vegetation assessments on Marble Creek, Mono County, California.  The objectives were to determine abundance, richness and diversity of songbirds utilizing Marble Creek, to assess the relationship of these indices to habitat characteristics, and to document changes in the riparian bird community over time, and as a result of changes in grazing management and water diversions.   Project Contact: Sacha Heath Funding: Bureau of Land Management, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Upper Owens River Watershed
In 1998 - 2004, PRBO censused riparian songbird point counts in the upper Owens River watershed as a part of a larger riparian songbird monitoring effort that extended north the East Walker River watershed and South along the eastern Sierra Nevada to just south of Owens Dry Lake.  We determined breeding bird relative abundance, bird species diversity and bird species richness and modeled relationships between these indices a host of vegetation and landscape variables.   Project Contact: Sacha Heath    Funding: BLM, CDFG, Eastern Sierra Audubon Society, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Inyo National Forest, Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, USFS Region 5 Partners in Flight

Avian Inventory of the Proposed Mono Basin Outdoor Education Center Site at Parker Creek, California

In 2003 and 2004, PRBO performed a year-round avian inventory of the Mono Lake Committee’s proposed Outdoor Education Center site on Parker Creek, Mono County, California. The project objective was to conduct year round avian surveys at the proposed 8.3 acre (3.36 ha) site in order to determine:

• Seasonal bird species occurrence and breeding status within the proposed site.
• Potential impacts on individuals or populations, and habitats including but not limited to, special status species (e.g. State, Federally or Special Concern listed species).

Project Contact: Sacha Heath

Funding: Mono Lake Committee