Evaluating Population-Habitat Relationships of Forest Breeding Birds at Multiple Scales Using Forest Inventory and Analysis Data

T. M. Fearer 1, S. P. Prisley 2, D. F. Stauffer 1 and P. D. Keyser 3

Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Tech (1)
Department of Forestry, Virginia Tech (2)
Forestry Division, MeadWestvaco (3)

Multiple studies have documented declines of forest breeding birds in the eastern United States, but the temporal and spatial scales of most studies limit inference regarding large scale bird-habitat trends. A potential solution to this challenge is integrating existing long-term geographic datasets such as the USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) and USGS Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). The purposes of this study are to determine if FIA metrics can be related to BBS population indices, and to develop predictive models from these relationships that identify forest conditions favorable to forest breeding songbirds. Within five eastern U.S. physiographic regions we have accumulated FIA data from four survey cycles and BBS data for four guilds (canopy nesting, ground nesting, cavity nesting, early successional), each containing five species. We are examining bird population trends calculated from BBS data at multiple spatial scales for fixed periods of time (e.g., one year) and multiple temporal scales for fixed locations (e.g., physiographic region) to identify spatial and temporal gradients in populations that occur within similar forest cover types. We will develop forest metrics relevant to bird habitat requirements from the FIA data at equivalent spatial and temporal scales and identify trends in these metrics that correlate with the identified BBS trends. Using these forest metrics, we will attempt to develop predictive models relating bird abundance across space and time to changes in forest structure. Here we present preliminary results for 5 bird species within one guild.

Keywords: FIA, BBS, bird-habitat relationships

(presentation)