Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Monitoring Bird Populations in Relation to Fuel Loads and Fuel Treatments in Riparian Woodlands with Tamarisk and Russian Olive Understories

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Over the past decade, wild fire events in riparian bosque (forested) areas along the Middle Rio Grande between Elephant Butte and Albuquerque have increased dramatically owing to flood suppression and accumulation of dead wood and exotic Tamarisk and Russian olive. This problem culminated in a large wild fire in July 1993 that resulted in the evacuation of hundreds of City of Albuquerque residents and captured the national media’s attention. Prior to this event, the Rocky Mountain Research Station, in collaboration with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, City of Albuquerque Open Space, and Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, designed a study in 1999 to compare effectiveness of three methods of fuel removal for reducing fire risk, preventing re-occurrence of exotics, and restoring native habitats, plants and animals. A goal of managers is to preserve cottonwoods while reducing or eliminating Tamarisk and Russian olive stems, so study sites were selected that had cottonwood overstories and Tamarisk and olive understories. As part of this study, the population and nesting responses of breeding bird species have been evaluated prior to and following fuel removal treatments. Our talk reports on 1) the numbers and kinds of bird species inhabiting bosque habitats with cottonwood overstories and varying amounts of Tamarisk and Russian olive, 2) nest substrate use and nesting success of selected bird species prior to treatment, and 3) preliminary results after the first year of mechanical treatments. In addition, we predict short-term and long-term responses of birds and plant communities following treatments.

Parent Publication

Keywords

monitoring, assessment, sustainability, Western Hemisphere, sustainable management, ecosystem resources, bird populations, fuel loads, fuel treatments, riparian bosque

Citation

Finch, Deborah M.; Galloway, June; Hawksworth, David. 2006. Monitoring Bird Populations in Relation to Fuel Loads and Fuel Treatments in Riparian Woodlands with Tamarisk and Russian Olive Understories. In: Aguirre-Bravo, C.; Pellicane, Patrick J.; Burns, Denver P.; and Draggan, Sidney, Eds. 2006. Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 113-120
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/26397