In 2014, NSDNR initiated a pilot study to assess the ecological integrity of forested wetlands in western Nova Scotia using bird communities. The overall goals of the project are to identify the best biotic indicators of forested wetland integrity, improve knowledge of forested wetland species‐habitat associations, develop an Index of Ecological Condition for forested wetlands and refine priorities for conservation and forest management.
Thanks to the help of six volunteer birders, 86 sites were surveyed in 2015. Laura Achenbach will begin working on the project this year as part of her new Master’s program at Acadia University. With Laura’s help and efforts from more volunteer birders, we hope to survey around 150 more sites in 2016.
That’s where YOU come in. If you are capable of identifying the songs of forested wetland breeding birds by ear and able to tromp back into forested wetlands (treed swamps, shrub swamps, tall shrub or treed bogs and fens) in the western part of the province, we’d love to have you join us. We need all the help we can get because the analyses we want to complete require a lot of sites (~250-300) to be effective.
Please contact John Brazner at braznejc@gov.ns.ca or (902)679-6247 for more details.
If you have birdwatching friends, please let them know!