BOREAL AVIAN MODELLING PROJECT
Bird Conservation Goes Continental with BAM – Linking Managed Forests at an Unprecedented Scale
Operationalizing Conservation Value Through Multi-species Evaluation on Lands Certified to SFI
Why this Project Matters
The diversity of bird communities acts as an indicator of an ecosystem’s overall biodiversity. While single‑species assessments are important, evaluating forestlands in terms of the composition of larger bird communities can show how they contribute to regional biodiversity. This project, led by the Boreal Avian Modelling Project (BAM), is employing metrics that estimate the contribution of forest stands and landscapes to regional bird biodiversity. A key feature of these metrics is that they emphasize rare species and distinctive communities in addition to species richness. These metrics can also be modeled in different types of forests and at different scales.
This research project is an extension of an existing project supported by SFI: Applying Data-Driven Measures to Evaluate and Improve the Conservation Value of Managed Forests for Birds. It is also linked to another research project led by the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and supported by SFI: Managed Forests for Birds.
How the Project is Linking Managed Forests at an Unprecedented Scale
This project will provide explicit measures of conservation value, allowing project partners to determine and report on the direct contributions to regional biodiversity made by lands certified to SFI. This research will be co-produced with interested partners, such as ABC, NatureServe and SFI Implementation Committees. The ultimate goal is to facilitate on-the-ground implementation of conservation measures by SFI Program Participants. Because this project represents a collaborative effort with ABC, it is effectively taking both bird population science, and SFI Program Participant engagement, to a continental scale.
SFI’s Contribution
The SFI Conservation and Community Partnerships Grant Program is supporting this project. SFI has engaged with both BAM and ABC to shape this project as a partnership. The partnership features a structured approach to direct coordination between ABC and BAM. The strength of the project hinges on combining the modeling power of BAM with ABC’s experience engaging SFI Program Participants. This partnership will capitalize upon ABC’s relationship skills and BAM’s modeling skills to advance SFI Program Participant implementation of recommended forest management practices.
How the Project Helps Forest Managers
This project will give forest managers methods, based on bird community diversity, to define and measure conservation value. Metrics combining species richness and rarity will quantify the contributions of forest stands and landscapes to overall regional biodiversity. It will also strengthen SFI’s collaborative framework by working directly with partners in the co‑production of the research. Co-production will facilitate results being translated into actionable recommendations that can be implemented on-the-ground by SFI Program Participants.
Partners
This partnership includes conservationists, researchers, SFI Program Participants, and government agencies.
- Project lead: University of Alberta Department of Renewable Resources, Boreal Avian Modelling Project
- Sustainable Forestry Initiative
- American Bird Conservancy
- Boreal Ecosystems Analysis for Conservation Networks (BEACONs) Project
- Canadian Forest Service
- Canadian Wildlife Service
- Center for Northern Forest Ecosystem Research
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Forest Products Association of Canada
- fRI Research
- Fuse Consulting
- Nature Canada
- NatureServe
- Université Laval
- University of British Columbia
- Central Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Committee
- Western Canada Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Committee
- Canfor (SFI Program Participant)
- Daishowa‐Marubeni International Ltd. (SFI Program Participant)
- EACOM (SFI Program Participant)
- Interfor Corporation (SFI Program Participant)
- Resolute (SFI Program Participant)
- Tolko (SFI Program Participant)
Related Information
- Collaborating for Conservation of Managed Forested Landscapes (presentation)
- SFI supported a Canada warbler workshop for conservationists and resource managers convened by Nature Canada (media release)
- Bird Conservation Reaches Continental Scale through New Partnership with the Boreal Avian Modelling Project
- American Bird Conservancy: Bringing Back the Forest Birds, Phase II
About the Boreal Avaian Modelling Project
The Boreal Avian Modelling Project is a collaborative science program committed to improved understanding of the ecology of birds and their habitats in the boreal region of North America. Using quantitative modelling techniques and a comprehensive dataset assembled from projects across North America, we derive information on abundance, distribution and habitats of boreal birds, and use this to evaluate and predict the effects of human activity.
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COPY LINK: https://forests.org/grant-bam-lmf/