Baseline surveys of pasture diversity and bird populations were conducted and will be used to help inform conservation-based land management decisions at the Whiterock Conservancy in southwest Iowa

Clark, Bill

Hill, Elizabeth

Neumann, Kay

Rosburg, Tom

English

Baseline surveys of pasture diversity and bird populations were conducted and will be used to help inform conservation-based land management decisions at the Whiterock Conservancy in southwest Iowa.</p

Digital Repository @ Iowa State University (ISU)

Question & AnswerQ: Can you have both beef and bobolinks on the sameacres?A: As Whiterock Conservancy integrates “prairiepasture” plantings and grazing/prescribed burningmanagement tools into the current cool-season grasspasture matrix, it is hypothesized that bobolink andother grassland bird nesting frequency will increase.Principal Investigator:Elizabeth HillWhiterock ConservancyCoon RapidsCo-investigators:Tom RosburgVolume 17 (2008) • Leopold Center Progress Report • page 24Abstract: Baseline surveys of pasture diversity and bird populations were conducted and will be used to help inform conservation-based landmanagement decisions at the Whiterock Conservancy in southwest Iowa.Competitive Grant Report ESP2006-04Drake UniversityDes MoinesKay NeumannSaving Our Avian ResourcesDedhamBill ClarkEcology, Evolution, and Organismal BiologyIowa State UniversityBudget:$10,717 for year oneWhiterock Conservancy baseline data projectBackgroundThe Whiterock Conservancy (WRC) occupies 4,300 acressoutheast of Coon Rapids. The Leopold Center is one ofthree groups charged with conducting research and demon-stration projects in conjunction with Whiterock.  The goalsof this project were to gain a better understanding of thecurrent floral and faunal conditions within the 750 acres ofpasture with varying management history, and to documentthe abundance and diversity of bird populations within theConservancy’s core land holdings. The baseline dataobtained will help Conservancy administrators detectchanges within the natural resource base as land manage-ment techniques change over time, plan for conservationmanagement in working lands, and enhance the IowaDepartment of Natural Resources (IDNR) comprehensivewildlife “species of concern” knowledge base.Whiterock Conservancybaseline data projectApproach and methodsThe first surveys were designed in 2005 and focused onmigratory bird cycles in major habitat areas of WRC. Theapproach was designed to use comparable techniques tothe more sophisticated IDNR state wildlife monitoring planthat was under construction at that time. Since 2006, achange from continuous to rotational grazing promptedthe need for Whiterock staff and other scientific investiga-tors to better assess the unique characteristics andpopulations within this swath of the Middle Raccoon Riverwatershed. The study for this project had two compo-nents: one collected baseline data from four plots within750 acres of pasture that has been grazed under differentmanagement regimes, and the other conducted birdcounts from within 54 habitat points throughout theentirety of Whiterock Conservancy’s core river valleylands.Eastern ForktailVolume 17 (2008) • Leopold Center Progress Report • page 25The monitoring protocol used to assess the pasturespecies diversity followed the Multiple Species Inventoryand Monitoring Program, a long-term monitoring protocolfrom the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  The birdsurvey protocol followed a point count method at ran-domly placed points that were subdivided by three generalhabitat descriptions, including prairie, woodland, andagriculturally disturbed.Results and discussionThe large majority of Iowa’s grasslands are managed forintensive agricultural production rather than in accord withthe habitat requirements of native vertebrates, many ofwhich are grassland obligates. Twenty-five percent ofthose listed as the Iowa Department of Natural ResourcesSpecies of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) aregrassland obligates, and many of these populations arenot just lacking habitat but declining precipitously. Frompoint-count surveys undertaken during this project, it wasdetermined that 12 grassland SGCN are present onWhiterock properties. Whiterock Conservancy’s long-termgoal is to successfully harbor nesting populations of grass-land birds (preferably SGCN) within a pasture-based live-stock production system. The bobolink, a grassland obli-gate, was chosen by Whiterock Conservancy as a represen-tative grassland bird species because of its relative conser-vatism towards specific habitats within the avian grasslandobligate guild. While Whiterock’s question was whetherdomestic cattle and bobolinks could grow alongside oneanother, the long-term goal is to harbor populations of bothlivestock and conservative grassland species.The assessment of pasture diversity was conducted on fourplots within pasture areas managed under different prac-tices. Grazing Plot 1, the only purely grass pasture plot inthe study, yielded 45 different vegetative species, fourreptile and amphibian species, eight butterfly species,seven dragon and damselfly species, and four mammalianspecies. Cool-season grasses dominated, along with somenon-grass species of low conservation value. This plot wastypical of pastures that have a history of intensive grazingwith long intervals of continuous grazing pressure.Grazing Plot 2 also has experienced prolonged and exten-sive grazing management, but contains some areas ofsavanna-like and denser woodland. This plot contained 71vegetative species, four reptile and amphibian species, 17different butterflies, 13 dragon and damselfly species, andseven mammalian species. The “higher” species diversityobserved in this plot is likely the result of the differinghabitats.Grazing Plot 3 is within a pasture that was subdivided forenhanced rotational grazing in spring 2006 and included asection of upland mixed forest that had been a cattleenclosure. Species diversity was richer in this plot, probablybecause of the inclusion of the enclosure area.Grazing Plot 4 is within a historically intermittently grazedupland oak forest. It featured relatively high species diver-sity, reflecting the historical grazing regimes and the use ofseveral habitat management techniques such as prescribedburning. Plot 4 was home to 128 different vegetativespecies, displaying even more diversity than the other plots.Eastern Tailed-blueSnapping turtleVolume 17 (2008) • Leopold Center Progress Report • page 26Of the five long-term monitoring plots developed atWhiterock Conservancy, four of these plots were dominatedby habitat suitable for bobolink nesting (one of the plotswas centered in a mixed-oak forest, habitat not suitable fornesting grassland birds). In three of the four grasslandplots, nesting bobolinks were observed during point-countsurveys in 2006. After the vegetation data was collected, itbecame clear bobolinks were not present in one of the plotsbecause the sward heights of the herbaceous layer weremuch shorter than the other plots. This is in consensus withbobolink nesting ecology literature. Cool-season grasssward heights necessary for bobolink nesting can beachieved at Whiterock Conservancy with longer periods ofrest between grazing passes through paddocks, which arebeing implemented in more of the grazing acres in 2008than in 2007. As Whiterock Conservancy integrates “prairiepasture” plantings and grazing/prescribed burning manage-ment tools into the current cool-season grass pasturematrix, it is hypothesized that bobolink and other grasslandbird nesting frequency will increase.Bird survey results demonstrated the effects of the varyinghabitats present within the Conservancy. From interiorwoodland bird species such as the wood thrush to thecommon prairie species, the dickcissel, the bird assem-blage documented at Whiterock reflects the diverse rangeof habitats, habitat conditions, varying historical manage-ment, and large geographic extent of the Whiterock landbase.ConclusionsThe data collected will become part of the inventories of allfunctional groups of species at the Whiterock Conservancy.A new GIS database is just one repository of the informa-tion collected. The data also will enhance the staff’s abilityto understand the floral and faunal communities foundwithin the Conservancy’s grazed pastures, and make betterinformed decisions about the rotational grazing program.Impact of resultsThe data will be incorporated into the habitat restoration andfarm management decision- making process related tofuture changes in land management techniques atWhiterock Conservancy. More importantly, these data willhelp the Whiterock Conservancy staff monitor changes atthe species diversity level resulting from alterations inmanagement or usage. The bird counts have sparkedinterest from members of the birding community who visitWhiterock to watch the warbler migration, hear the whip-poor-wills, or see the shorebirds work in the wetland andthe river.Elizabeth Hill met with Monitoring and Research Biolo-gists Karen Kinkead and Stephanie Shepherd from theIDNR Wildlife Diversity Program in February 2007 to sharedata from long-term monitoring plots at Whiterock Conser-vancy. All of the data from Whiterock’s plots were inte-grated into the IDNR database for long-term monitoring.IDNR staff explained that while protocol used byWhiterock Conservancy was consistent with IDNR’sprotocol in the Iowa Multiple Species Inventory andMonitoring Technical Manual (MSIM), the staffing limita-tions of the IDNR program would not allow for theircontinued presence to oversee Ms. Hill’s ongoing monitor-ing of these sites at Whiterock Conservancy. Small staffJuniper HairstreakLeopard  frognumbers would keep the expanded monitoring programlimited to the southern Iowa plots that the IDNR MSIMgroup developed and on which all baseline data wascollected. It was decided that Ms. Hill would continue tomonitor the long-term plots and that should IDNR havetime and spare staff in the future, oversight would bereinstated and data from Whiterock Conservancy’s plotscould be integrated into the MSIM program at INDR. Thecontinued research at Whiterock Conservancy willfacilitate long-term monitoring of the rotational grazingprogram and multiple-use land management as well asthe ecological restoration process.Baseline collection of inventories from the rotationalgrazing plots produced information that was pertinent tothe long-term planning and transformation of the rotationalgrazing process. Whiterock Conservancy determined thatconservation-based rotational grazing was limited bywater access and fencing issues, and that nestingpopulations of some grassland and wetland obligateswere imperiled by the lack of fencing around riparianareas and several ponds.Education and outreachInformation from the surveys was included in the prepara-tion of a visitor’s brochure/trail map of the WhiterockConservancy and the Whiterock Resort outdoor recreationarea.Leveraged fundsWhiterock Conservancy is currently working with theGuthrie County Natural Resources Conservation Serviceto implement an $86,000 EQIP project that includesfunding for fencing of riparian areas, watering facilities,brush removal, timber-stand improvement, and streamcrossing. This project will be implemented on four of thefive farms where long-term plots are located, and willfurther facilitate the conservation-based grazing systemthat Whiterock and Hat Ranch/Willow Creek Ranch aredeveloping.For more information, contact Tolif Hunt, Whiterock Conser-vancy, 1390 Highway 141,  Coon Rapids, Iowa  50058; (712)684-2697 x111, e-mail tolif@whiterockconservancy.orgAll photos credited to Elizabeth Hill of WhiterockConservancy.BuckeyeBrown snakeVolume 17 (2008) • Leopold Center Progress Report • page 27

Whiterock Conservancy baseline data project

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Whiterock Conservancy baseline data project

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