There is little doubt that our grassland birds are in trouble. Partners in Flight (PIF), the coordinated body that monitors large-scale trends in North American landbird populations, has identified 100 ‘Watch List’ species, those in greatest need of conservation attention. Over 20% of these species are associated with grasslands.  A major contributor to the reduction in these populations is the availability of breeding habitats across the U.S. In the northeast region in particular (i.e., New England and the Mid-Atlantic), grassland habitats have undergone dramatic changes over the last century. 

            Immediately after European settlement, when woodlands were cleared for pastures and hayfields, grasslands were an extensive and important component of the northeastern landscape. These extensive tracts of land supported large, viable populations of several species of birds. Over the last century, however, the human population in the region has grown astronomically, farming has diminished, and many areas that were previously grasslands have been developed or have reverted to forests. In fact, much of the grassland area that still exists in the northeast is on airfields, military training areas, and a vanishing number of remnant pastures and hayfields.

            For some grassland bird species, PIF recommends ‘immediate intervention,’ while ‘long-term planning and management’ and keeping ‘close watch’ will be necessary to ensure the survival of others. In the northeast, many of these efforts must occur on the airports and military lands which now house a major portion of the region’s grassland birds. One such effort was initiated by New Jersey Audubon (NJA), Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), and the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) on the Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) in 2004. The airport, located in the heart of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, supports the largest known breeding population of grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) and second largest breeding population of upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) in the state. Both are high conservation-priority species in the region. 

           The project was designed to mitigate potential impacts to grassland birds from proposed airport development, by improving habitat conditions for the two target species on a select area of the airport. To this end, several different mechanical methods, as well as controlled burning, were used to ward off encroachment by woody vegetation. Native grass and herbaceous species were also planted in some areas. The goal of NJA was to assess the short- and long-term responses of grassland birds to these habitat restoration and enhancement activities by examining the spatial relationships of breeding bird activity to patterns of vegetative structure in the area.

         Click here for a summary report of this work as published in the Winter 2008/2009 issue of ArcNews.  For more information, contact NJA Senior Research Scientist Dr. Kristin Munafo at kristin.munafo@njaudubon.org.