Lower Colorado River Riparian Bird Surveys
This project, expanding GBBO’s bird monitoring outside the Great Basin, is part of the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Plan (LCR MSCP). The plan is described in detail at http://www.lcrmscp.gov.
The LCR MSCP is “a long-term plan to conserve at least 26 species along the Lower Colorado River from Lake Mead to the Southerly International Boundary of Mexico through implementation of the a Habitat Conservation Plan.” Our grant from the Bureau of Reclamation is for 2 parts of the overall plan: Work Task D6: System Monitoring for Riparian Obligate Avian Species and Work Task F2: Avian Use of Restoration Sites.
Lower Colorado River Riparian Bird survey project is a system-wide monitoring project for riparian obligate birds that emphasizes six LCR-MSCP covered species including Gilded Flicker (Colaptes chrysoides), Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis), Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus), Arizona Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii arizonae), Sonoran Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia sonorana), and Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra). These covered species are not monitored by other single-species protocols implemented on the Lower Colorado River (LCR).
The project area includes the Colorado River from Separation Point, above Lake Mead, to the Southerly International Boundary with Mexico. The project area includes Lake Mead, portions of the Virgin and Bill Williams Rivers, and six established habitat creation or restoration demonstration sites within the historic floodplain of the mainstem Colorado River.
Key management issues GBBO is addressing in this project include defining target characteristics of habitat to be created for each covered species, determining existing population status of covered species, locating existing covered species breeding habitat, determining species response to created habitats, determining changes in population status that may be attributed to habitat creation efforts, assessing the effect of other large-scale changes in landscape and habitats, providing additional data on covered species biology, and recommending changes in habitat creation site management or conservation actions through adaptive management.
GBBO was first awarded a 2 year grant for this project in 2007, and this fall the grant was renewed through 2010.