Avian Monitoring and Analysis in Upper Mississippi River Floodplain

The proposed project would seek to implement an updated scope of work for the Avian Monitoring in the Floodplain Forests, complete analysis on the bird-habitat interaction models (in relation to estimating abundances), update established avian populations trends, update established avian density-estimates and provide recommendations for habitat management/restoration. The project would also include implementation of a summary report and toolkit that incorporates goals and objectives that set forth an adaptive management framework for monitoring, science and habitat management for birds in the Mississippi and Illinois river floodplains and lastly overviews of our analyses. Objectives: The objectives of the proposed research effort include: Objective 1: Conduct avian inventory surveys utilizing existing data collection protocols on Rivers Project Office fee title lands. Data collection will improve the capabilities of quantitative analyses (i.e. abundance, trends, and habitat use) of avian species in these systems. Objective 2: Update current and create new quantitative models to reflect new data collected for existing density-estimates, trends, bird-habitat interactions and spatial prioritization. These analyses will provide an understanding avian population abundance, trends, and avian response to management/restoration actions in the surrounding ecosystems. The findings will allow adaptive management strategies to benefit avian species who use the UMRs diverse habitats throughout their lifecycle. Objective 3: Create reports and toolkits that summarize the management recommendations based on monitoring survey data. These will inform Corps, partners, stakeholders and landowners alike can utilize for floodplain habitat management. These reports/toolkits will also be used outline future research needs when eliciting additional partnerships. The focus area consists of USACE lands in navigation Pool 27, 26, 25 and 24 and the lower portion of the Illinois River. The Mississippi river miles that the areas border are 183 to 298. The efforts outlined shall be expandable throughout the floodplain forests of the UMR System (bluff to bluff), wetlands and grasslands for future inclusion. Requirements: Successful applicants should have expert knowledge and work experience in the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) ecosystems. This shall include expertise observing and monitoring avian species of the UMRS floodplain system, knowledge and understanding of ecosystem functions of floodplain forest communities, grassland communities and wetlands communities. The candidates should have prior experience with inventory and monitoring of avian species within these systems including mapping, data collection and statistical analysis. The candidates shall have experience working with partners and other federal and state agencies to develop plans and cooperative documents. The candidates will also be required to submit two (2) status reports (one at 4 months from start of work and one at 8 months from start of work for each one year period) and one (1) annual report at the end of each year of the cooperative agreement to provide updates on the implementation of the project. The candidates shall also be able to travel overnight to attend public and agency meetings and to complete required monitoring.