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Author: Robert Frey

Using science to preserve biological diversity and improve habitat in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument: A new Decision Support Tool

We are excited to announce a new Decision Support Tool describing more than a decade of Klamath Bird Observatory (KBO) science in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument — Using science to preserve biological diversity and improve habitat in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument was the first U.S. National Monument set aside specifically for the preservation of biodiversity. It was created in 2000, the same year KBO was officially incorporated. (Check out the post here for the full story of KBO science and the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument.)

KBO’s new Decision Support Tool highlights recent studies from KBO scientists and partners and demonstrates how we used science and birds as indicators to inform an adaptive management process in the Monument. The Monument was created to protect biodiversity, including migratory birds that need protection to prevent or reverse recent population declines. The Monument’s establishment, and its expansion in 2017, provided increased protection for critical habitats that many priority migratory bird species need, including oaks and grasslands that are among the most at-risk habitats in the western United States. When the Monument was established KBO completed a study that demonstrated measurable impacts of livestock on the Monument’s migratory birds. Results from this and other studies informed a process to eliminate livestock grazing from most of the Monument. KBO then did a follow up study that showed the measurable benefits of removing cattle from the Monument for migratory birds in oak woodlands.

Like KBO’s other Decision Support tools, this new four-page document is intended for managers, conservation resource professionals, and anyone else that is interested in how science can be used to make natural resource management decisions and measure the effectiveness of management actions that incorporate bird and habitat conservation objectives. Click here to find the DST on Avian Knowledge Northwest!

Science Brief: Using KBO science to identify bird conservation opportunities in timber stand management

Forests in the Klamath Mountains Ecoregion, centered within the core of Klamath Bird Observatory’s focus region, are home to a diversity of wildlife, including birds. While old-growth forests receive a lot of attention, species such as Black-throated Grey Warblers, Rufous Hummingbirds, and Olive-sided Flycatchers all use habitat features of younger, early-successional forests, such as broad-leafed trees and shrubs, edges, or snags.

Because most of the early-successional forest in our region is privately managed, Klamath Bird Observatory recently worked with several partners to identify conservation opportunities for birds in southern Oregon’s private timber stands. With support from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, we worked alongside the American Bird Conservancy, the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI), and private forest management companies (Hancock Forest Management, Weyerhauser, and Lone Rock Forest Resources) to learn more about how privately managed timber stands can provide habitat for birds.

One of the main goals of the project was to identify opportunities for improving early-successional forest bird habitat on privately-managed timber forests, and asking what management practices might make those habitats of greater value to birds. As a first step, we produced a scoping document titled Sustainable Forest Management: Opportunities for Bird Conservation on Private Timberlands in the Klamath Mountains, Oregon. It identifies focal bird species and habitat features that are important in the early successional forest of our region. This document compiled information from forest bird conservation plans and identified potential management action on private lands that would benefit many of those bird species.

The next step was to study how bird species use private forests in southern Oregon, and how different characteristics of timber stands contribute to habitat quality. To do so, we used species distribution models (SDMs), developed from 16 years of bird survey data from across the Klamath Mountains Ecoregion. Our unique SDMs use historical bird survey data and unclassified land cover imagery to develop a mathematical model that can be used to predict where species will occur on a landscape (See Using Birds to Predict Habitat Conditions for more information about our modeling approach). One of the advantages of using a model to predict bird habitat is that it allowed us to identify and rank the bird habitat potential for a large number of privately managed timber stands on the landscape. While KBO did field work on a small sample of those stands to check the models, our research using KBO’s larger region-wide dataset was ultimately able to provide information about bird habitat on over 2,100 privately managed forest stands in the region!

Finally, to learn more, we conducted two workshops with forestry professionals to understand how management can create high-quality early-successional habitat for birds. We visited some of the stands, talked about the results from our research, and discussed the management that may have contributed to how different timber stands ranked in our analysis. The workshop led to some successful conversations about practices that can be easily incorporated into existing forest management plans to create habitat for birds. Our workshops and research ultimately led to the development of two factsheets that highlight some of the key opportunities for bird conservation in private timber stands in our region. We’ve compiled the resources from this project as a manager’s guide on Avian Knowledge Northwest. Click here to read more and to download the factsheets!

Oak Woodland Restoration on the Scott River Ranch

California’s oak woodlands have been dramatically reduced over the past two centuries.  Numerous factors have contributed to this decline including the encroachment of coniferous species into oak habitats following the disruption of historic fire regimes.   Oaks are slow-growing, shade-intolerant species that can be rapidly overtopped and suppressed by faster-growing conifers.  Initially, suppression leads to crown dieback in the oaks and reduces acorn production.  Over time as more of the oak crown becomes shaded the oaks eventually die. Making Oak Woodland restoration a priority.

On the dry east side of the Scott River Valley in Siskiyou Co., CA, juniper encroachment poses a major threat to the health and function of oak habitats.  To address this issue the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Lomakatsi Restoration Project partnered with the Scott River Ranch to perform oak woodland restoration to reduce juniper encroachment on 91 acres of oak habitats.  Treatments focused on removing junipers growing within 10 feet of oak to reduce competition for resources including sunlight, water, and nutrients.  This approach removed approximately 85 percent of the junipers while leaving scattered large junipers for habitat diversity.  An additional 164 acres of juniper reduction are planned for the ranch beginning in 2018.

Scott River Ranch Before 72ppiScott River Ranch After 72ppi

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before (Left): Oak encroached by juniper pre-treatment on the Scott River Ranch, Siskiyou Co. CA, October 2014

After (Right): Open grown oak free from competition following juniper reduction treatments on the Scott River Ranch, Siskiyou Co. CA, October 2015.

Why Oaks?

Oaks in the Klamath Siskiyou Bioregion…

What makes them so special?

table rocks_why oaks TNC 72ppi

  • Oak habitats contain a diversity of vegetation types, including woodland, chaparral, and mixed oak/conifer
  • Oak habitats are some of the most biodiverse habitats in southern Oregon and northern California (many endemic plants, and more than 300 vertebrate species)
  • Oak woodlands are an Oregon Conservation Strategy Habitat (ODFW 2006)
  • Oaks provided critical physical and cultural resources for native people
  • Oak are fire-adapted and was maintained using burning as a management tool
  • A mosaic of oak vegetation provides fire resilience to the landscape
  • Oak woodlands have experienced losses up to 33% in California and up to 95% in Oregon
  • Threats include conifer encroachment, oak densification, intense fire, overgrazing, invasive exotic species, development and fragmentation