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Upland Forest Birds (SECAS Goal Trends) [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service · 2024 Full Details

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Title
Upland Forest Birds (SECAS Goal Trends) [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]
Description
Yearly trend When averaged across all points with trends, upland forest bird abundance increased by 0.98% per year from 2012-2022. Species used were cerulean warbler, Louisiana waterthrush, wood thrush, and worm-eating warbler. These species are Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need for states in the Southeast, primarily occur in this ecosystem, and have sufficient data for trend analysis in eBird Status and Trends. Trends varied across the Southeast, with the biggest declines occurring in the Central Hardwoods, Appalachians, and northeast part of the Southeast Coastal Plain Bird Conservation Regions. For two widespread species, points were mostly increasing: wood thrush (91% increasing) and Louisiana waterthrush (64% increasing). For two species with smaller ranges in the Southeast, points were mostly declining: cerulean warbler (78% declining) and worm-eating warbler (78% declining). Breeding Bird Survey trends, which cover more coarse areas, also show similar patterns. On track to meet SECAS goal Yes. The increase of about 3.92% every 4 years is greater than the SECAS goal of a 1% increase every 4 years. Data source eBird Status and Trends Confidence in trend Low. Less than half of the points that were increasing (38%) were statistically significant. Interpretation This is an indicator of both local and landscape conditions across the upland forest ecosystem. Upland hardwood birds benefit from conversion of historic grassland and savanna ecosystems into closed canopy forest. In areas with increases, that may mean increases in closed canopy forest overall are offsetting the negative impacts of land use changes like greater forest fragmentation. Some areas of upland forest bird decline, like Southeast Missouri, could actually be positive signs of conservation overall as these areas are restored to the more open forest types that historically occurred there. Species-specific trends also highlight how more widespread generalist species (Louisiana waterthrush, wood thrush) seem to be poised to take advantage of changing landscape conditions. More specialist and range-limited species (cerulean warbler, worm-eating warbler) seem to be less able to take advantage of these changes. Based on range-wide trends for these species, it doesn't appear that climate change is a major driver of trends during this time period. It's also important to note that all these species are neotropical migrants. Threats to survival during migration (e.g., communication towers) and on their wintering grounds (e.g., habitat loss) are likely also impacting population trends. Other information available A table of state-level summaries for each species, a map by Bird Conservation Region (BCR), and tabular data associated with the chart above are available in Appendix I of the pdf report: https://secassoutheast.org/pdf/SECAS-goal-report-2024.pdf .
Creator
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Temporal Coverage
Last Modified: 2024-12-17
Date Issued
2024-12-13
Rights
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. While the Service makes every reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of data provided for distribution, it may not have the necessary accuracy or completeness required for every possible intended use. The Service recommends that data users consult the associated metadata record to understand the quality and possible limitations of the data. The Service creates metadata records in accordance with the standards endorsed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee. As a result of the above considerations, the Service gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the data. It is the responsibility of the data user to use the data in a manner consistent with the limitations of geospatial data in general and these data in particular. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the Service, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding the utility of the data on another system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This applies to the use of the data both alone and in aggregate with other data and information.
Access Rights
Public
Format
ArcGIS FeatureLayer
Language
English
Date Added
August 10, 2025
Provenance Statement
The metadata for this resource was last retrieved from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Open Data on 2025-08-24.

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Cite and Reference

  • Citation
    U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (2024). Upland Forest Birds (SECAS Goal Trends) [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]. . https://gis-fws.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/fws::upland-forest-birds-secas-goal-trends (web service)
  • BTAA Geoportal Link

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