Rocky Mountain Research Station

Title: Bird habitat relationships along a Great Basin elevational gradient

Author: Medin, Dean E.; Welch, Bruce L.; Clary, Warren P.

Date: 2000

Source: Research Paper RMRS-RP-23. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 22 p.

Station ID: RP-RMRS-023

Description: Bird censuses were taken on 11 study plots along an elevational gradient ranging from 5,250 to 11,400 feet. Each plot represented a different vegetative type or zone: shadscale, shadscale-Wyoming big sagebrush, Wyoming big sagebrush, Wyoming big sagebrush-pinyon/juniper, pinyon/juniper, pinyon/juniper-mountain big sagebrush, mountain big sagebrush, mountain big sagebrush-mixed conifer, mixed conifer, mixed conifer-alpine, and alpine. Eighty-nine bird species were observed. The total number of birds and bird species followed a skewed bell-shaped distribution. Some birds were quite narrow in their choice of vegetative zones while others showed very little selectivity. Both total number of individual birds and bird species appeared to reach highest values in study plots with a substantial component of mountain big sagebrush.

Keywords: wildland fire, rate of spread, fireline intensity, fire fighting, safety, accidents, fire size, firefighter travel rates

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Citation

Medin, Dean E.; Welch, Bruce L.; Clary, Warren P.  2000.  Bird habitat relationships along a Great Basin elevational gradient.   Research Paper RMRS-RP-23. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 22 p..