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The Sierra Nevada Research and Conservation Program
Compared to other regions of California, the Sierra Nevada avifauna is still in relatively good condition, hosting only a handful of critically at-risk species. Evidence suggests, however, that many of the Sierra's more common bird species may be declining. The Sierra Nevada was recently identified as one of 233 ecoregions whose biodiversity is outstanding on a global scale; unfortunately it was also identified as one of the 110 of those ecoregions considered critical or endangered. Problems facing the Sierra biota include a legacy of destructive land management practices reaching back to the Gold Rush, many current land management practices that still urgently need revising, and rapid human population growth, with its associated increases in land conversion and resource-use pressures.
Covering approximately 1/6 of the state of California, the Sierra Nevada's diverse habitats are enormously important to the birds of California and, indeed, to a large portion of western North America's Neotropical migratory birds. The best way to protect Sierra bird populations, those that are already seriously jeopardized as well as those that are not, is to proactively safeguard the habitats on which they depend. In some cases this may require habitat preservation efforts that strictly exclude extractive resource-use activities. Ever-increasing resource-use pressures and burgeoning human population growth in the Sierra, however, make this preservationist approach unrealistic for much of the Sierra. Given current political, social and economic realities, a far more effective strategy for safeguarding Sierra bird populations is to seek ways of making resource-use activities such as timber harvesting and livestock grazing more compatible with maintaining the necessary habitat features that support the Sierra avifauna.
The Institute for Bird Populations' research and conservation efforts in the Sierra Nevada focus on defining the specific habitat needs of Sierra landbird species, determining the effects of various land management practices on avian population and community dynamics, and identifying land management practices that are most compatible with maintaining habitat characteristics capable of supporting viable populations and diverse communities.
breeding bird survey, avifauna, ecoregions, land conversion, birds, migratory birds, habitat preservation, manter fire project, great gray owl survey, sierra meadows
Willow Flycatcher, Great Gray Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Swainson's Thrush, American Robin, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, and White-crowned Sparrow
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Sierra Meadows, Yosemite
merced
merced, mariposa, sequoia national forest