Proposal

Bird Communities as Indicators of Riparian Habitat Quality in the Roaring Fork Watershed, Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado

Purpose for which the grant will be used

We believe that the riparian bird community is a potentially valuable tool in assessing riparian habitat quality. A main benefit of using an avian-community based index for monitoring ecosystem integrity is that it imparts a multi-species approach that, if successful, is more likely to respond to the condition of the entire ecosystem rather than to the needs of a single species. In a preliminary study as part of the Roaring Fork Stream Health Initiative, we collected one year of riparian bird data. Results appeared promising but we believe that additional census data are needed to develop a statistically significant Bird Index of Biotic Integrity (BIBI) and, that to be reliable, a bird IBI should be tailored to regional differences in avian community responses to disturbance and habitat use. Grant money will be used to develop a Bird Index of Biotic Integrity (BIBI) tailored to the Roaring Fork Watershed on the Western Slope of the Southern Rockies in Colorado.

Goals, objectives and specific results to be achieved

• Work toward the development of a biologically-based monitoring and assessment plan for riparian and aquatic habitats using riparian breeding bird communities as indicators of ecosystem health.
• Develop a multi-metric Bird Index of Biotic Integrity (BIBI) using the riparian breeding bird community as an indicator of ecosystem health.
• Biological assemblages respond to multiple physical and chemical factors
• Combine multiple measures of biological community into a single index
• Test the BIBI with data collected by the Stream Health Initiative
• If results are positive, refine and further test the method as a watershed monitoring tool.
• Coordinate additional surveys at some of the same sites by volunteers to test the feasibility of using volunteer birders to conduct a rapid assessment procedure.

Outcomes/Uses of Monitoring Data

• Monitor bird populations and provide information regarding distribution and habitat uses prior to restoration activities.
• Assessment tool to evaluate current habitat condition and future trends
• Measure the effectiveness of management/restoration and provide feedback for adaptive management
• Guide restoration by providing information regarding the association between habitat changes caused by restoration and response of the riparian bird communities
• Document the correlation between ecosystem degradation and human disturbance
• Provide information with regard to long term avian population trends throughout the valley
• May provide the evidence needed to protect habitat for declining bird species
• Provide community involvement opportunities through volunteer bird monitoring

Project evaluation

Project evaluation will include statistical analysis and field testing the BIBI with habitat data collected by the Stream Health Initiative. Statistical analysis will include procedures similar to those established in the initial pilot study described in Malone and Emerick (2007b). These procedures include:

• From the bird census data, compile values for various community descriptors, such as diversity, abundance, richness, neotropical migrants, warblers, various nesting guilds, feeding guilds and other descriptors found useful in this and other similar studies.
• Correlation analysis to determine which avian community descriptors most consistently reflect changes in riparian habitat quality and thereby would be likely factors to include in the calculation of a BIBI.
• Regression analysis to assess how well calculated BIBIs predict habitat quality, using data from a different subset of stream reaches that those used above in the correlation analysis.

Timetable

• Spring and summer 2008 collect breeding bird data
• Fall 2008 data analysis
• Spring and summer 2009 collect breeding bird data
• Fall 2009 data analysis and report writing
• Spring and summer 2010 field testing of the BIBI and training of monitoring volunteers.

Background of director and staff. John Emerick, Ph.D., and Delia G. Malone, MSES, are co-principle investigators. Ms. Malone holds a Masters of Science degree in Environmental Science and a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology. She has conducted habitat assessments and biological surveys in the Roaring Fork Watershed for 14 years and has an excellent understanding of the landscape, geology, and vegetative and animal species that comprise the diverse ecosystems in the watershed. Dr. Emerick is professor emeritus at the Colorado School of Mines, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering. Dr. Emerick has over 25 years of experience in teaching, research and consulting in ecology and related environmental sciences, with specialties in analysis of water quality and aquatic ecosystems, land planning, management and restoration and design and construction of wetland-based water treatment systems.

Budget

• Organizationπs budget: attached.
• Project budget (per year)

Field work: $8,000.00 (years one and two)

Data analysis: $3000.00 (years one and two)

Report writing: $3000.00 (year two)

Field testing and volunteer training: in-kind (year three)

Total year one $11,000.00;

Total year two $14,000.00;

Total year three $0.00

Total project cost: $25,000.00