Bird community monitoring for Canyon De Chelly National Monument: 2015 summary report
Holmes JA and Johnson MJ. 2016. Bird community monitoring for Canyon De Chelly National Monument: 2015 summary report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/SCPN/NRDS—2016/1067. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program was designed to determine the current status and monitor long-term trends in the condition of park natural resources, providing park managers with a strong scientific foundation for making decisions and working with other agencies and the public for the pro-tection of park ecosystems. The Southern Colorado Plateau Network (SCPN) of the NPS has identified bird communities as a vital sign for network parks (Thomas et al. 2006). The goal of bird community monitoring is to provide status and trends data on bird communities in several predominant habitats where integrated upland or riparian vegetation monitoring is also occurring. For Canyon de Chelly National Monument (CACH), Southern Colorado Plateau Network (SCPN) and park staff selected the riparian habitat as an important ecosystem for vegetation and bird community monitoring. This habitat contributes substantially to the biodiversity of the region, but it faces several threats, including the inva-sion of nonnative species, hydrologic change, soil erosion, and climate change. The riparian woodlands at CACH have been undergoing extensive restoration through the selective thinning of nonnative plants, primarily Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) and tamarisk or salt cedar (Tamarix spp.). The objectives for this restoration are 1) to reduce the density of nonnatives to reflect historical conditions, 2) to increase the native plant cover, and 3) to restore the hydrological regime. In 2015, through a Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit agreement with SCPN, we continued monitoring the bird community of the target riparian habitat in CACH, which had been initiated in 2009, and continued in 2012. In this report, we document monitoring activities in the 2015 field season and summarize the data that were collected.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Holmes, Jennifer; Johnson, Matthew
- Date of Issue
- 2016-11
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- CACH , NRSS , SCPN
- Keywords
- bird communities, bird habitat data, mixed conifer, pinyon-juniper, variable circular plot counts
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Birds