Streamside bird monitoring in the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network: Bluestone National Scenic River 2009–2019
Marshall MR. 2021. Streamside bird monitoring in the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network: Bluestone National Scenic River 2009–2019. Natural Resource Report. NPS/ERMN/NRR—2021/2323. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2288128
This report summarizes the first 10 years (2009 to 2019) of monitoring the streamside bird community at Bluestone National Scenic River (Bluestone NSR). During that time period 12 observers conducted 348 point count surveys detecting 2,307 individual birds at 16 point count stations within the park. Bluestone NSR contains a rich and diverse streamside bird community with a total of 60 species detected; 47 of which were target species and presumed to be breeding in the park during summer months. The vast majority were forest-associated species dominated by forest interior species whose life-histories depend on large tracts of mature, unfragmented, deciduous forest. Twenty species overall and four of the five most abundant species were of conservation importance in the Appalachian Mountains bird conservation region. It is notable that the most abundant species at the park were also the top conservation priorities regionally, highlighting the significance of Bluestone NSR and the surrounding forested landscape to avian conservation. Trends in unadjusted abundance over the period of monitoring were assessed for the 47 species in the defined target population. Trends in adjusted abundance that take into account detection probability were estimated for 23 species for which there were sufficient data. Out of 47 species in the target population, 38 species (81%) were stable or increasing and only nine species (19%) declined during the period of monitoring (Table E-1). The slope of either the unadjusted or adjusted abundance trend estimates showed statistically significant positive trends for two species and negative trends for one species.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Marshall, Matt
- Date of Issue
- 2021-11
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/nrr-2288128
- Units
- BLUE , ERMN , NRSS
- Keywords
- avian conservation, bird monitoring, BLUE, Bluestone National Scenic River, breeding birds, Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network, ERMN, long-term population trends, point count survey, streamside bird