Work Plan for the Wildlife Component

Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) National Assessment

University of Northern Colorado NRI-USGS Breeding Bird Survey data analysis

This work links USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service National Resource Inventory (NRI) land use/land cover data and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data to estimate grassland breeding bird response to land use and conservation practices installed over time.  Preliminary work involves correlating bird population trends at the BBS route scale with land use, including Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enrollments, as determined by NRI sample points within 30 km of the center point of BBS routes.  Previous studies have revealed this to be a useful approach for correlating northern bobwhite population trends with land use in the Midwest (Veech 2006).  This project expands this effort to analyze existing NRI and BBS data to assess grassland bird population trends and species richness metrics associated with lands enrolled in the CRP in Bird Conservation Regions throughout the central and eastern U.S.  Data generated is expected to yield considerable insight into how birds respond to conservation practices at landscape scales. 

Literature Cited

Veech, J. A.  2006.  Increasing and declining populations of northern bobwhites inhabit different types of landscapes. Journal of Wildlife Management 70: in press.

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