Effects of Army Training Activities on Bird Communities at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado

Abstract : This report describes a study conducted at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado, a subinstallation of Fort Carson, which investigated species habitat relationships of and impacts of Army training activities on avian communities in shortgrass prairie and pinyon-juniper woodlands. The study also identified wildlife indicators of habitat change using both species and guild approaches. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of vegetation data was used to quantity habitat gradients. Multivariate correlation analysis was employed to relate density and richness of breeding bird populations over 2 years, during breeding seasons, once before and once after training. Disturbance caused little response in either habitat. In prairie habitat only grasshopper sparrow, and in woodlands only species richness exhibited any marked response to 1 year's training-related disturbance. The response was negative in each case. In both habitats, species richness is a good general indicator of changing conditions. While wildlife guilds may be useful indicators of major habitat changes, they were unresponsive to the levels of disturbance observed here.

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