Landbird community monitoring at Ocmulgee National Monument: 2011 data summary

Kurimo-Beechuk, Elizabeth; Byrne, Michael

Birds play several critical roles in park ecosystems. They occupy and interact with several trophic levels of the food web, including their role as both predator and prey. Among their many functions, birds regulate rodent populations (Ims and Andreassen 2000) and insect populations (Mols and Visser 2002) and scavenge dead animals (Pain et al. 2003). Some avian species aid in pollination of wild and cultivated crop plants (Stiles 1978) and provide mechanisms for seed dispersal (Howe and Smallwood 1982). Bird guano contains nutrients necessary for many vegetation communities (Wootton 1991). Management activities aimed at preserving habitat for bird populations (e.g., neotropical migrants) frequently have the added benefit of preserving entire ecosystems and their attendant ecosystem services (Karr 1991, Maurer and Heywood 1993). A wide range of stressors affect bird communities, and birds often respond quickly to environmental stressors, perturbations, or changes. Therefore, characteristics of the bird community at a park are good indicators of the extent of the impact of those stressors on park lands. Many bird species have been extensively studied; their biology and life histories are well defined and their habitat-use patterns have been identified. Consequently, the composition, richness and diversity, and distribution of bird communities provide substantial insight into the ecological condition of park resources. Information about the landbird community also provides derivative information about other characteristics of the park and surrounding area (e.g., vegetation community types, extent of fragmentation). Because many birds are primarily diurnal, visible and vocal, and attractive, they are a major point of interest for many park visitors and for the general public. Birds have a strong public appeal and are the recreational focus for many park visitors. Birdwatching has a substantial and positive impact on the U.S. economy, contributing well over $100 billion annually (Carver 2013), and it is one of the most popular recreational activities pursued by Americans (Cordell et al. 2007). Over 400 species of birds, representing 61 families, use Southeast Coast Network (SECN) parks annually for breeding, wintering, or as a migratory stopover area. The high bird diversity in the Southeast Coast Network exists because of the juxtaposition of SECN parks within the Atlantic Flyway. Many SECN parks occur in a highly fragmented landscape, and because the SECN encompasses inland and coastal areas, it provides a wide range of bird habitat types. This report summarizes data collected with the SECN landbird community monitoring protocol (Byrne et al. 2014). Protocol objectives that are addressed in this report include: a) Determine the species richness and diversity of the landbird community at each park, b) Determine the frequency of detection of selected landbirds, and c) Determine the distribution of landbirds within park lands.

Landbird community monitoring at Ocmulgee National Monument: 2011 data summary

Series

Collections