Breeding Bird Communities in a Naturally Fragemented Forest Ecosystem in Grand Teton National Park

Abstract

This project examined the bird species breeding in the morainal forests on the valley floor in Grand Teton National Park. These forests are very patchily distributed and range in size from less than 1 hectare to over 700 hectares, allowing for a unique opportunity to study the responses of the local bird species to a forest system that has been fragmented for centuries through natural processes. This information can be useful for predicting the potential long-term impacts of human-caused forest fragmentation on bird populations in western North America. Until quite recently very little was known of the tolerances of western forest bird species to habitat fragmentation and this project could represent an important step towards understanding their needs in this regard.