Southern Colorado Plateau Bird Communities Monitoring

Because of their high body temperature, rapid metabolism, and high ecological position in most food webs, birds are a good indicator of the eff ects of local and regional changes in ecosystems. For these reasons, bird communities were selected for monitoring as an indicator of the overall condition of upland and riparian ecosystems in the Southern Colorado Plateau Network (SCPN). Moreover, it has been suggested that birds are perhaps the most highly valued component of North America’s biological diversity. Many bird species are obligates in habitats that are widely distributed across the network, and some of these species and habitats are considered to be of conservation concern due to changes in habitat condition. For many of these habitats, relatively undisturbed SCPN sites serve as a reference for comparison with more degraded conditions on adjacent lands.