Streamside bird monitoring protocol for the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network: Version 2.0.

Marshall, M.; Mattsson, B.; Callahan, K.; Master, T.

The National Park Service has initiated a long-term ecological monitoring program known as “Vital Signs Monitoring” to provide the minimum infrastructure to allow more than 270 national park system units to identify and implement long-term monitoring of their highest-priority measurements of resource condition. This protocol outlines the justification and procedures for streamside bird monitoring within the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network – one of 32 ecoregional “networks” or groupings of parks linked by geography and shared natural resource characteristics. The purpose of the streamside bird monitoring protocol is to collect and analyze data and report information that will help park management maintain or improve the ecological condition of park streams, including the rivers they are tributary to and the watersheds they drain. “Streamside bird” refers to the breeding bird community surrounding streams. The area sampled in this protocol is along the park streams which are typically forested including a closed canopy over the stream. Therefore, the “streamside” bird community sampled is synonymous with what other monitoring programs refer to as “forest birds”, “breeding birds”, and “landbirds”. The important difference, and the purpose of including the term “streamside”, is not the bird community per se, rather that the physical area sampled is limited to the land area surrounding streams in each park. Primary monitoring objectives of the streamside bird protocol are to: 1. Estimate occupancy, density, and/or indices of abundance annually for select bird species and guilds at the park (target stream network) and stream reach scale; 2. Estimate trends among years in occupancy, density, and/or indices of abundance for select bird species and guilds at the park (target stream network) and stream reach scale; 3. Calculate the Bird Community Index of biotic integrity annually at the park (target stream network) and stream reach scale; and 4. Compare trends in occupancy, density, and/or indices of abundance for select bird species and guilds within ERMN parks to regional and continental trends. Point count surveys are the most widely used quantitative method of monitoring bird populations and are used for this protocol as well. The survey technique involves using a standardized methodology to record (“count”) all birds seen or heard during a fixed amount of time at count locations (“points”). The resultant counts are used as an index of population abundance and these data can be used to estimate abundance, density, and occupancy. The Streamside Bird Monitoring Protocol consists of a narrative (this report) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that outline specific aspects of the monitoring protocol. The latest versions of the SOPs and additional supporting information can be accessed online at the National Park Service's Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network website (http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/ermn).

Streamside bird monitoring protocol for the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network: Version 2.0.

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