Rocky River Important Bird Area

​"The Rocky River Important Bird Area is the most important conservation initiative WCAS could undertake.  This project is identifying not only what birds are there, but what birds are not there. This project is really more about people than birds, because it will study the impact of conservation on the quality of life of people who live in the Rocky River watershed." - Stan Searles, WCAS Board Member.
By Alice Merkel. Rocky River Reservation, North Olmsted, OH
Research
Avian diversity in a suburban park system: current conditions and strategies for dealing with anticipated change
​Scott A. Rush, Tom Romito, Terry L. Robison
Urban ecosystems 2014 v.17 no.1 pp. 45-60

Abstract
A growing trend towards increased urbanization emphasizes the role of suburban parks in wildlife conservation. Spatial planning aimed at maintaining biological diversity and functionality must consider how changes at landscape and more local scales will influence the biotic structure of urban areas. From May 2006 to July 2010, bird surveys were conducted in three metropolitan parks in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Surveys were conducted with the goal of examining the effect of vegetation structure and adjacent land cover on the distribution and species richness of breeding birds within this park system. A total of 65 species were recorded throughout the study area. Avian species richness was linked to several habitat metrics, measured at both the local and landscape scale. Generally, species richness was highest at locations characterized by moderate forest cover. The proportion of canopy cover at survey sites related negatively to species richness and the density of understory vegetation showed a positive relationship with species diversity. Despite the influence of these three metrics, sensitivity analysis indicates that the density of understory vegetation is the most significant correlate to avian diversity within this suburban park system. Management actions aimed at providing habitat for the greatest diversity of breeding songbirds within the study area should allow for moderate canopy cover while retaining or improving the structural complexity of understory vegetation.

This paper is available for download at the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Library here.