Breeding bird communities in a naturally fragmented forest ecosystem in Grand Teton National Park

Authors(s): G. Schrott

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Publication Date: 0000-00-00

Type: annual report

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Abstract: Objectives This project is being carried out for my PhD dissertation at UCLA and is investigating the abilities of the bird species in the lodgepole pine forest community to utilize fragmented forest landscapes. By studying birds in the naturally patchy forest landscape found on the valley floor in the park, I hope to learn how the different species might react over the long term when forests outside of the park are artificially fragmented. In addition to investigating the impacts of forest patch size on bird distributions in the park, I am also looking into the effects of habitat productivity (as measured with sticky board traps for insects) and habitat characteristics (as measured in vegetation plot analyses) on habitat selection by individual bird species. Findings and Status I have been collecting data for this project for 2 field seasons and plan to conduct a final field season on this project in the summer of 1999. Thus far, the community of about 25 species of birds has been broken up into five groups representing differing tolerances of forest fragmentation. These groupings are based on the incidence curves of the birds in different sizes of forest patch. Among the most vulnerable-seeming birds are Hermit and Swainson's Thrushes and the Pine Grosbeak. The data do not seem to indicate any differences in the abilities of migrant or resident bird species to tolerate forest fragmentation. Analyses of vulnerability based on body size, diet, and guild have so far been inconclusive, but are ongoing. The habitat selection data are also still undergoing analysis.

Keywords: forest fragmentation, breeding, ecology, bird, animal, Aves, ornithology, habitat, Grand Teton National Park, Hermit thrush, Catharus guttatus, thrush, Swainson's thrush, Catharus ustulatus, pine grosbeak, Pinicola enucleator