Sagebrush Bird Conservation Network

Project Name: Habitat Restoration, Cheatgrass and Juniper Invasion Risk, and Bird Habitat Use

Objectives:

  1. To determine the primary local and large scale habitat features associated with risk of cheatgrass invasion or juniper woodland expansion in the Intermountain West.
  2. To determine multi-scale habitat features associated with birds in regions of risk to cheatgrass invasion or juniper expansion.

Location: Columbia Plateau and Great Basin TNC ecoregions; BCR region 7

Project duration: May 2003-Sep 2004

Project contact:
Steve Knick
Research Ecologist
USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
970 Lusk Street
Boise, ID 83706
email: steve_knick@usgs.gov
phone: (208) 426-5208

Matthias Leu
Post-doctoral Associate, National Research Council
USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
970 Lusk Street
Boise, ID 83706
email: mleu@usgs.gov
phone: (208) 426-2598

Bird sampling methods: Variable circular plots at all habitat sampling points randomly distributed within watersheds

Vegetation sampling: 100-m line intercept, we measure cover and height for each woody plant species. At 10, 30, 50, 70, 90m, we measure cover of cheat grass and native grass species in 5m circles. We also take two reference photos 30m away from the transect midpoint. GPS coordinates (±10 m) are recorded.

Photographs of each survey plot will be available on an interactive page on SAGEMAP

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