KRYSTLE WHITE - Graduate Student, NRI, University of Manitoba
My study will be examining the effects of fire and grazing on prairie songbirds in Grasslands National Park of Canada (GNPC). Natural fires occurred in GNPC in the fall of 2006 and in 2007/2008 cattle grazing will be introduced. I will be using data collected from May – August of 2006, 2007 and 2008. Using the three years of data I will be able to make comparisons from before and after the fires and grazing disturbances. The following four treatments will be examined: burned/grazed, unburned/grazed, burned/ungrazed, and unburned/ungrazed. I hope to establish whether or not the disturbed areas are avoided by certain species and preferred by others. To do this, I will be looking at the diversity, abundance and density of various songbirds observed within the plots of different treatments.