A Four-year Summary of Breeding Bird Surveys in TFL 48 ... - BIOD

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irds, per transect, respectively. We attribute these differences to our concentratedsampling effort of primarily forested habitats, compared to historical surveys that weregenerally in low-lying rural areas with greater habitat heterogeneity. The precise locationof 1,070 bird survey stations was recorded using a Global Positioning System (GPS).No species listed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife inCanada were observed during surveys. There were two observations of the BayBreasted-Warbler, a "Red-listed" species in British Columbia (British Columbia Ministryof Environment, BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer). There were severalobservations of "Blue-listed" species that included the Black-throated Green Warbler (n= 31), Canada Warbler (n = 3), Philadelphia Vireo (n = 7), and LeConte's Sparrow (n =2).2
INTRODUCTIONWe began establishing Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) in Tree Farm License (TFL)48 of the Peace River District in the summer of 2002 to evaluate the response ofvarious bird species to different seral stages and structural classes in a managed forest,and to assess species richness, abundance, and diversity, as well as habitat use, ofbirds. From 2003 to 2004, new routes were gradually added to TFL 48 to increasehabitat representation over the tenure. In 2005 the monitoring program was expandedto include the Fort St. John Timber Supply Area (TSA) for the same purpose as TFL 48.Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) have long been used as a method for obtaining a relativeindex of species abundance and population change (Robbins et al. 1986). However, nolarge-scale systematic surveys of summer birds have previously been conducted ineither TFL 48 or the Fort St. John TSA.The benefits of BBS data are two-fold. In the short term, indices of variation inthe distribution and abundance of individual species can be mapped and associatedwith changes in present-year climatic conditions and differences in habitat. In the longterm, species' population trends and changes in distribution can be assessed regionallyand associated with habitat alteration, large-scale climatic patterns, and historicalspecies’ distributions. Subsequently, species-habitat associations can be used to modelpredicted changes in habitat suitability and use based on forest harvesting practices.Variation in the spatial scale at which BBS data can be applied is also animportant component. Individual survey stations can elicit direct results of habitatchange, whereas transects as a whole can provide information regarding broaderchanges that may occur at the scale of watersheds or landscapes (Bender et al. 1998;1
Page 2: Table of ContentsEXECUTIVE SUMMARY.
Page 7 and 8: associations, as well as BEC subzon
Page 9 and 10: 2005, a handheld Magellan GPS with
Page 11 and 12: 30002500Total Observations200015001
Page 13 and 14: 525048Species Richness4644424038200
Page 15 and 16: For TFL 48, mean rank abundance per
Page 17 and 18: 1.000.80# Birds / Station0.600.400.
Page 19 and 20: 1059075Swainson's ThrushHasler FSRM
Page 21 and 22: Preliminary TrendsAnnual variation
Page 23 and 24: Alder FlycatcherAmerican Redstart30
Page 25 and 26: Species Listings: Committee on the
Page 27 and 28: DISCUSSION and RECOMMENDATIONSCover
Page 29 and 30: scale. Because of the way in which
Page 31 and 32: subzone preference by species, and
Page 33 and 34: Preston, M.I., and P. Vernier. 2003
Page 35 and 36: APPENDICESAppendix 1. List of speci
Page 37 and 38: Code Species Scientific Name TFL 48

A Four-year Summary of Breeding Bird Surveys in TFL 48 ... - BIOD

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