ALLISON SELLINGER - Graduate Student, NRI, University of Manitoba
Grassland birds have experienced a faster rate of decline than any other group of North American birds (Fondell & Ball 2004). More than 50% of grassland bird species have experienced dramatic declines since 1966 (Herkert 1995). The main reason behind these declines seems to be lack of suitable habitat. In the 19th and 20th centuries the conversion of prairie to agricultural lands resulted in a loss of over 95% of the native grasslands in North America (Powell 2006). More recently, declines in suitable habitat seem to be a result of changes in land-use practices (Powell 2006). Due to the scarcity of suitable habitat remaining, sound range management techniques are critical (Davis 2005). Livestock grazing is one of the predominant range management techniques employed in North America and the world (Fondell & Ball 2004). Rangelands makeup 70% of the world’s land surface (Fuhlendorf & Engle 2001). Despite its wide-spread use as a management tool, the effects of grazing are not fully understood (Henderson 2006). In 2006, in an attempt to gain a greater understanding of the affects of grazing on the ecological integrity of prairie ecosystems, a long-term grazing experiment was initiated in Grasslands National Park of Canada (GNPC) (Henderson 2006). As a component of this experiment I will be conducting a study on both the direct and indirect effects of cattle grazing on prairie bird abundance and diversity.