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Teetering on the Edge or Too Late? Conservation and Research Issues for Avifauna of Sagebrush Habitats PDF Format - [788K]
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also: Acknowledgements: This paper was written in response to a request by
Terrell D. Rich during his tenure as President of the
Cooper Ornithological Society, to report on the current
status of sagebrush ecosytems and provide a research
agenda for birds living in sagebrush habitats. Many of
the ideas were discussed at a workshop, The Effects
of Multiscale Landscape Changes on Populations of
Birds in Arid Lands of the Intermountain West, in
August 2001 in Boise, Idaho. The workshop was organized
by the USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem
Science Center. Sixty-five people attended the
workshop representing the U.S. Geological Survey,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Land
Management, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Department
of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, and
USDA Forest Service; state wildlife agencies of Idaho,
Nevada, Utah, and Washington; the University of California-
Riverside; Boise State University; University
of Montana; Michigan State University; University of
Nevada; Albertson College of Idaho; Idaho State University;
the Center for Conservation Research, Audubon
Society; The Nature Conservancy; the High Desert
Ecological Research Institute; Partners in Flight;
Point Reyes Bird Observatory; Idaho Bird Observatory;
and Idaho Power Company. The workshop was
funded by the USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem
Science Center, Biological Resources Discipline and
the USGS Southwest Arid Lands Group, Geologic Discipline.
Boise State University provided additional
support. We thank R. E. Kirby, L. W. Oring, M. J.
Wisdom, B. C. Schoeberl, B. A. Maurer, A. Hughes,
F. L. Knopf, S. M. Haig, T. L. Sohl, L. S. Schueck, T.
D. Rich, E. G. Campbell, M. A. Hilliard, and C. Mc-
Carthy for their presentations and participation. S. E.
Hanser, M. Leu, L. S. Schueck, and C. W. Meinke
assisted with the GIS analysis. We appreciate reviews
of the manuscript by C. E. Braun, J. W. Connelly, M.
Leu, T. D. Rich, J. Sauder, J. M. Scott, and J. A. Wiens.
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Teetering on the Edge or Too Late? Abstract Degradation, fragmentation, and loss of native sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) landscapes have imperiled these habitats and their associated avifauna. Historically, this vast piece of the Western landscape has been undervalued: even though more than 70% of all remaining sagebrush habitat in the United States is publicly owned, <3% of it is protected as federal reserves or national parks. We review the threats facing birds in sagebrush habitats to emphasize the urgency for conservation and research actions, and synthesize existing information that forms the foundation for recommended research directions. Management and conservation of birds in sagebrush habitats will require more research into four major topics: (1) identification of primary land-use practices and their influence on sagebrush habitats and birds, (2) better understanding of bird responses to habitat components and disturbance processes of sagebrush ecosystems, (3) improved hierarchical designs for surveying and monitoring programs, and (4) linking bird movements and population changes during migration and wintering periods to dynamics on the sagebrush breeding grounds. This research is essential because we already have seen that sagebrush habitats can be altered by land use, spread of invasive plants, and disrupted disturbance regimes beyond a threshold at which natural recovery is unlikely. Research on these issues should be instituted on lands managed by state or federal agencies because most lands still dominated by sagebrush are owned publicly. In addition to the challenge of understanding shrubsteppe bird-habitat dynamics, conservation of sagebrush landscapes depends on our ability to recognize and communicate their intrinsic value and on our resolve to conserve them. Related links:
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