Project summary: effects of energy development and forest management on birds of greatest conservation need in southwestern new mexicomajor efforts in new mexico to combat climate change include the…

This Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the CFDA 15.247 Wildlife Resource Management program provides $109,464.49 to New Mexico State University to conduct research on the effects of energy development and forest management on birds of greatest conservation need in southwestern New Mexico.

The key research activities include: 1) investigating territory occupancy and nest survival of arid land birds, especially Bendire's Thrasher, in relation to the SunZia transmission line, and 2) examining the effects of forest thinning practices on pinyon-juniper bird communities, with a focus on the pinyon jay. The research aims to provide management recommendations to BLM for siting of energy infrastructure, understanding habitat fragmentation impacts, and guiding forest thinning practices to support sensitive bird species in the region. The project will run from September 2024 through September 2027.

Project summary: effects of energy development and forest management on birds of greatest conservation need in southwestern new mexicomajor efforts in new mexico to combat climate change include the development of renewable energy resources to move toward clean energy and forest management practices to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. While these activities are necessary, effects on sensitive wildlife need to be explored and minimized. Here we focus on birds of greatest conservation need related to two projects in southwest new mexico, the effects of the sunzia transmission line on arid land birds, especially bendires thrasher, and effects of forest thinning practices on pinyon juniper bird communities with an emphasis on the pinyon JAY. Our work on arid land birds will take place in the chihuahuan desert important bird area (IBA) where the sunzia transmission line crosses through the northern section of this IBA. Our reserach will investigate territory occupancy and nest survival in relation to the sunzia transmission line as well as bendire thrasher movements, fidelity across years and mortality in relation to the transmission line. We will survey all arid land birds at varying distances from the sunzia transmission line for the establishment of baseline data. In pinyon juniper woodlands, we will examine the effects of forest thinning practices on pinyon juniper birds, with an emphasis on pinyon jays. We use road and walking surveys to conduct point counts for all pinyon juniper birds with a focus on the pinyon JAY. This data will be used to pinpoint areas to search for pinyon JAY colony locations. We will establish a 3,580 HA radius around colony locations, the average size of a pinyon JAY home range in new mexico, to place acoustic recording units (arus, n 100 per colony) across the landscape in suitable pinyon JAY habitat to monitor pinyon JAY occupancy throughout the year. Placement of arus will occur in suitable pinyon JAY habitat and include previously thinned woodland patches, patches targeted for thinning but not yet thinned and control areas that are not targeted for thinning. We will use arus to model pinyon JAY occupancy and we will also explore the possibility of using arus to detect and model other sensitive bird species in pinyon juniper woodlands. Both projects have been set up with the goal of using the scientific output to guide management of sensitive bird species in relation to 1) siting of transmission lines, 2) effects of habitat fragmentation, 3) understanding how forest thinning practices influence site occupancy, 4) obtaining baseline data on all bird species across each of the two study areas, and 5) examining if acoustic recorders can be used to monitor suites of bird species in addition to pinyon jays. This work will result in tangible management recommendations related to bendires thrasher response to transmission line during construction and post construction and appropriate distances from bendires thrasher territories (and other arid land bird species) to site energy infrastructure. This research will also guide pinyon-juniper thinning practices with recommendations related to tree spacing, density and DBH related to pinyon JAY use of sites during breeding and non-breeding seasons. This research targets the management of working landscapes for sensitive birds using rangelands and pinyon-juniper woodlands. While specifically intended for the management of bureau of land management lands results will be applicable to the management of related public, state and private lands for increasing biological diversity