Bird presence data at Blackrock, Wyoming 2013-2015

These data provide information on the presence of birds at a subset of sites at Blackrock. These data are associated with the project detailed in the abstract below: Amphibian decline is a problem of global importance, with over 40% of species considered at risk. This phenomenon is not limited to the tropics or to other countries. Amphibian species in the U.S. are also declining, contributing to the larger, global phenomenon. For example, in the State of Wyoming, the Wyoming toad has been extirpated in the wild and the boreal toad is a species of special concern. Understanding biotic and abiotic factors that influence amphibian persistence is critical for amphibian conservation. This work in northern Wyoming has focused on demography, habitat alteration and creation, and disease in the context of multiple amphibian populations. One of the foci has been to identify the capacity for mitigation wetlands (those created to offset losses due to, for example, road construction) to serve as habitat for amphibians. Four species of amphibians native to Wyoming, including the boreal toad, reside in this region. Our previous research indicates that the toad population at Blackrock is declining at 5-6% per year and that disease due to the amphibian chytrid fungus is contributing to this decline. Our demographic work at this site began in 2003, focusing solely on the boreal toad. Additional funding in 2012 allowed us to increase the scope of the project and assess chorus frog, salamander and Columbia spotted frog populations, invertebrate assemblages, work to quantify the use of mitigation sites by amphibians, and to expand efforts to include sites on Togwotee Pass a short distance away from Blackrock. Because most previous studies of amphibian use of created wetlands have taken place in the eastern United States, this project, incorporating demographic and disease dynamics as well as community composition and mitigation effects of created wetlands, is unique and provides a case study in the Intermountain West. By 2015, all four native amphibian species were observed at one of the created wetlands, and all of them, including the boreal toad, were breeding (evidenced by breeding behavior, eggs or tadpoles).

本数据集收录了布莱克罗克（Blackrock）部分样地的鸟类存在情况相关信息。本数据集与下述摘要详述的研究项目相关联：
两栖动物种群衰退是具有全球重要性的生态问题，全球超过40%的两栖动物物种被认定处于濒危风险之中，且该现象并非仅局限于热带区域或其他国家，美国本土的两栖动物种群同样呈现衰退态势，进一步加剧了这一全球性危机。例如在美国怀俄明州，怀俄明蟾蜍已在野外彻底灭绝，北方蟾蜍（boreal toad）则被列为特殊关注保护物种。明确影响两栖动物存续的生物与非生物驱动因子，对于两栖动物保护工作而言至关重要。
本研究聚焦怀俄明州北部的多个两栖动物种群，研究内容涵盖种群动态监测、栖息地改造与修复，以及疾病防控相关工作。其中一项核心研究方向为探究修复湿地（mitigation wetlands，即人为修建以抵消道路建设等人类活动造成的栖息地损失的湿地）作为两栖动物栖息地的潜力。该区域分布有怀俄明州本土的4种两栖动物，其中包含北方蟾蜍。
本团队此前的研究结果显示，布莱克罗克区域的蟾蜍种群正以每年5%至6%的速率衰退，而两栖动物壶菌（amphibian chytrid fungus）引发的传染病正是导致该种群衰退的诱因之一。本团队于2003年启动该样地的种群动态研究，初期仅针对北方蟾蜍开展监测工作。2012年新增的研究经费使得项目规模得以扩大，新增监测内容包括鸣蛙（chorus frog）、蝾螈（salamander）以及哥伦比亚斑点蛙（Columbia spotted frog）种群、无脊椎动物群落（invertebrate assemblages），同时新增了量化评估两栖动物对修复湿地利用情况的研究，并将研究范围拓展至布莱克罗克附近的托格沃特山口（Togwotee Pass）样地。
鉴于此前绝大多数关于人工修复湿地两栖动物利用情况的研究均以美国东部区域为研究对象，本项目同时纳入种群动态、病害动态、群落组成以及人工湿地修复效应的相关研究，在北美西部内陆区域具有独特的案例研究价值。截至2015年，研究人员在其中一处人工修复湿地中观测到全部4种本土两栖动物，且包括北方蟾蜍在内的所有物种均出现了繁殖行为（通过繁殖活动、卵团或蝌蚪个体可予以证实）。