Small–Order Streams
Montana’s smaller streams and wetlands face many threats due to human activities including dewatering for irrigation, overgrazing by cattle, clearing of riparian vegetation, and mining operations. Yet, the status of the state’s small and ephemeral streams and wetlands is unknown. Bird communities can serve as indicators of ecosystem health because they reflect an integration of a broad array of ecological conditions, including water quality, productivity, landscape integrity and vegetation structure and composition.
In 2003, with funding from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the Avian Science Center conducted bird surveys along streams that encompass a range of conditions in southwestern Montana. We focused on small-order streams dominated by willow. Specifically, we examined how factors at multiple scales, from number of roads and mines in the watershed to severity of grazing in the riparian zone, influence bird distributions. We also explored how natural disturbance from beaver activity alters the riparian zone and the associated bird community. This study should help provide an integrated assessment of the biological health of Montana’s streams, while also contributing to a better understanding of the region’s riparian bird populations.
Annual Reports for this project–
To download our FINAL REPORT click here
Funders–
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Montana Department of Environmental Quality.
Project duration–
2002-2005
Contact–
Anna Noson: anna.noson@mso.umt.edu
