Bird monitoring in the Mojave Desert on lands managed by the BLM, Ridgecrest Field Office
By: Kevin Keith ; Morgan Ruelle
Contributors: United States. Bureau of Land Management. Ridgecrest Field Office
Publisher: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Ridgecrest Field Office
Published: 2003
Place of publication: [Ridgecrest, CA]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 44
Subjects: Public lands; Management; Monitoring; Habitat; Nature; Birds; Off-road vehicles; Effect of human beings on; Desert ecology; Habitat (Ecology); Wildlife monitoring; Jackrabbits; Environmental sampling
Other titles: Bird monitoring in the Mojave Desert on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Ridgecrest Field Office; Effects of off-highway vehicles on the desert ecosystem
Description: In 2001, a Desert Monitoring Team was hired by the Bureau of Land Management to monitor the effects of Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV's) on the desert ecosystem. One of their tasks was to develop a monitoring protocol for birds and to begin that monitoring. After a year of pilot surveys and adjustments, a final protocol was completed in the fall of 2002. The protocol calls for 3 surveys each year: a December survey in the creosote scrub away from roads, a February survey in the creosote scrub away from roads, and a May survey in the same locations as the December survey. Each survey lasts for 2 weeks and is comprised of 70 transects. Half of these transects are in OHV areas (the Jawbone-Butterbredt ACEC and the Rand Mountain/Freemont Valley Management Area) and the other half are in non-OHV areas (the Golden Valley Wilderness, the Grass Valley Wilderness and Desert Tortoise Natural Area), which serve as controls. This document describes steps taken as well as the survey results.
Notes: Title from cover page.

"August, 2003."

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 16-17).
Table of contents: title: pt. I : Protocol for monitoring winter and spring bird populations in OHV recreation sites and wilderness areas on BLM lands within the California Desert District, Ridgecrest Field Office / -- James Weigand, Kevin Keith, Morgan Ruelle.; title: Background --; title: Managed questions --; title: Objectives --; title: Goals --; title: Database structure --; title: Data elements --; title: Study sites --; title: Sample size --; title: Process for random selection of transects --; title: Methods for data collection along transects --; title: Field training --; title: List of required equipment --; title: Data entry --; title: Information compilation --; title: Data management --; title: Relevant statistical tests and parameters -- -- pt. II : Results of the December 2002 survey. -- pt. III : Results of the February 2003 survey. -- pt. IV : Results of the May 2003 survey. -- pt. V : Raw data.; title: Transects (December, May) --; title: Visits (December, May) --; title: Birds (December, May) --; title: Road transects (February) --; title: Road visits (February) --; title: Road birds (February) ---- pt. VI : Incidental sightings (2001-2003).