Landbird Monitoring in Southeast Coast Network parks: 2020 Data Summaries

The National Park Service (NPS) operates 32 Inventory & Monitoring (I&M) networks across the United States encompassing over 280 parks. Each I&M network has established "vital signs" monitoring in its parks. These vital signs represent elements and processes in park ecosystems that help indicate the overall condition of park resources. Network personnel monitor physical resources and processes (e.g., shoreline erosion or water quality), biological attributes (e.g., wildlife and vegetation communities), and ecological processes (such as disturbance and productivity). The Southeast Coast Network (SECN) contains 15 parks containing natural resources, located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Each spring, SECN collects audio recording data during implementation of the SECN's Landbird Community Monitoring Protocol. Automated recording devices (ARDs) are used to capture landbird vocalizations every other morning between March and June at up to 30 spatially-balanced random sampling locations per park. Five of the SECN's 15 parks are sampled each year on a three-year rotation. All discernable bird vocalizations are reviewed in selected recordings and classified to species. The brief(s) contained in this repository address the following protocol objectives: (1) evaluate status of landbird community species richness during the spring breeding season and (2) assess landbird occupancy and spatial distribution at sampling locations during the breeding season.