A natural resource condition assessment for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: Appendix 17 – Birds: avifauna of Sierra Nevada Network Parks
Steel ZL, Bond ML, Siegel RB, Pyle P. 2013. A natural resource condition assessment for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: Appendix 17 – Birds: avifauna of Sierra Nevada Network Parks. Natural Resource Report. NPS/SEKI/NRR—2013/665.17. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
To inform and support the Sierra Nevada Network’s long-term bird monitoring program and the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Natural Resource Condition Assessment, we assessed distribution, abundance, ecological stressors, and conservation opportunities for 145 bird species that commonly occur in the national parks of the Sierra Nevada Network. The Network includes Devils Postpile National Monument, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and Yosemite National Park. For each species, we drew from published and unpublished information to determine migratory, residency, breeding, and conservation status; significance of the parks to the species’ range; distribution and habitat associations within the parks; elevational distribution within the parks; and abundance, population trends and demography within the parks (and, to a lesser degree, across the Sierra Nevada region). We also assessed the likely effects on each bird species of five potential ecological stressors: Anthropogenic Climate Change Altered Fire Regimes Habitat Fragmentation or Loss Invasive Species and Disease Human Use Impacts These stressors were identified by NPS staff as the major concerns not just for bird populations, but for park resources in general. In addition to assessing the impacts of these stressors on bird species, we identified and discussed management options and conservation opportunities that park managers might consider for safeguarding the species from the identified stressors. Despite a wealth of information sources about birds in the Sierra Nevada Network parks, a great deal of uncertainty remains about a) the effects that the identified stressors have already had on individual species, b) how the stressors themselves will change in the future, and c) how bird species will respond to those changes. For many species, conclusions rely heavily on expert opinion and speculation, and remain tentative. Additional monitoring and research on ecological stressors and their effects on bird populations in the Sierra Nevada parks are still needed.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Steel, Zachary; Bond, Monica; Siegel, Rodney; Pyle, Peter
- Date of Issue
- 2013-06
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- NRSS , SEKI
- Keywords
- Abundance, Distribution, NRCA, population trends of birds, SEKI, Sierra Nevada Inventory and Monitoring Program (SIEN)
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Birds