Monitoring Surveys (2015) to Support Long-Term Monitoring of Bird Communities in NPS Units (BAND, CACH, MEVE, and PEFO)

As part of the Southern Colorado Plateau Network�s (SCPN's) Vital Signs monitoring program, this project contributes to understanding the current status of bird communities and tracking trends in their condition through time in targeted ecosystems across SCPN parks. The overall purpose of the project described herein is for SCPN and NAU to collaborate to conduct long-term monitoring of habitat-based bird communities in targeted ecosystems. Through this collaboration, NPS and NAU will contribute to describing regional bird diversity patterns and furthering scientific understanding of the current conditions of this publicly valued component of regional biodiversity. Results from this project will be publicly available through the SCPN website (http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/scpn/index.cfm) and the Learning Center of the American Southwest website (http://www.southwestlearning.org/).