Demographic Model

Since 1992, a network of Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) bird banding stations has operated on predominantly forested lands throughout the Midwestern states. Forested lands of the region are highly fragmented by agriculture and development, but most extensive forested refugia are under the stewardship of the USDA Forest Service, Department of Defense, USFWS National Wildlife Refuges, state, county, or city. The network of ~150 MAPS stations operated during the breeding season and collected markrecapture data and in-the-hand information from over 140,000 individual birds and over 170 species, including Neotropical migrants of conservation concern.

In 2010, the Midwest Coordinated Bird Monitoring Partnership collaborated with the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) to assess the regional value of existing bird demographic data from the MAPS program within the Midwest. This project was completed in 2011, and resulted in the creation of several useful products: 1) baseline demographic parameter estimates (including survivorship and productivity), 2) maps of protected lands indexed by their potential to provide source habitat, 3) GIS tool (below) allowing managers to analyze landscapes and extract specific spatial statistics for input to models, and 4) species management guidelines for creating or maintaining source habitat.

Download the full report here!