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Patterns of Plant, Bird, Amphibian, and Small Mammal Occurrence in Salvage-Logged and Unsalvaged Burned Conifer Forests in the Bitterroot Valley, Montana
A PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO USFS NORTHERN REGION BY:
Richard L. Hutto, Kerry R. Foresman, Paul Alaback, Wildlife Biology and Forestry, University of Montana
Background:
Fire is the most widespread and important agent of natural disturbance in the northern Rocky Mountains, and in the year 2000, numerous forest fires engulfed the Western United States. As a consequence, these wildfires created patches of standing dead and down trees, which provide important sources and sites for plant recruitment, feeding and nesting conditions for a variety of birds, and refuges for amphibians and small mammals. Because standing, dead, burned trees are entirely unique to forests that have undergone stand-replacement fires (i.e., they cannot be created through any other process or management activity), it behooves us to understand the biological effects associated with the creation of these unique conditions. Moreover, because there is a market for the standing dead timber and a perceived need to reduce fuels by removing standing dead trees, it becomes critical that we better understand the effects of these activities on selected species, because many may depend on relatively unsalvaged conditions for recruitment and/or persistence in the broader landscape.
Already, the state of Montana has harvested nearly two-thirds of all trees within state forests that burned in 2000. While the USFS plans salvage (fuel reduction) harvests as well, many acres of federal land will not be salvage-logged and will be available for comparative study. Thus, the fires of 2000 provide an exceptional opportunity for research biologists – not only because of the presence of numerous large fires of variable severity, but also because post-fire salvage logging will be variable in intensity and extent as well.
Issues of concern with respect to plants:
Though fire is a major disturbance to forest systems, salvage logging represents an added disturbance, so it is the interaction between these agents of disturbance that can lead to significant changes in the composition and structure of plant communities. Few studies have documented vegetation response to salvage logging, and none in the northern Rockies have, even though hundreds of studies have been conducted on vegetation responses to fire and logging (but not post-fire logging). This study will build on the extensive knowledge of post-fire succession to examine how logging may influence rates and directions of change. Critical issues will be the extent to which salvage logging may enhance invasions by exotic plants, in particular noxious species. Some studies have also suggested that salvage logging can lead to significant losses in natural tree regeneration, all depending on the extent of on-the-ground disturbance and the initial extent of tree regeneration. Previous studies suggest that salvage logging may set back ecosystem recovery in general, but how this varies by forest type, by logging intensity, and by burn severity is unclear.
Issues of concern with respect to birds:
Remarkably, more than a dozen bird species (especially woodpeckers, but also species such as the Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, and Mountain Bluebird) are more abundant in recently burned conifer forest than in any other vegetation type, and some (e.g., Black-backed and Three-toed woodpeckers) are relatively restricted in their distributions to such patches (Hutto 1995). The restricted distribution of the Black-backed Woodpecker is, in fact, the primary reason it is now listed as a sensitive species in the USFS Northern Region. The next few years will be critical in terms of adding to the available information base on the response of bird species to fire and post-fire timber harvesting. This is because the bird species most restricted to burned forests colonize in the first few years following a fire event, and stay only a half-dozen to a dozen years after that (Kotliar et al. 2001). Thus, the opportunities to learn more about the consequences of infrequent disturbance events and post-disturbance land use activities are not only rare themselves, but also limited in duration.
The current state of knowledge with respect to birds is that we know very little about the precise local-level conditions associated with the occurrence of birds in burned forests, and we know nothing about the landscape-level context associated with bird occurrence. It appears from very limited study that Black-backed Woodpeckers tend to nest in dense stands of relatively small-diameter trees (Hitchcox 1996, Saab and Dudley 1998) and that nest trees tend to be larger in diameter than expected on the basis of randomly chosen trees (Caton 1996, Hitchcox 1996, Saab and Dudley 1998). We also know that most woodpecker species forage relatively frequently on Douglas-fir, Western larch, and ponderosa pine, and they forage less frequently than expected on spruce, subalpine fir, and lodgepole pine (Hutto 1995, Caton 1996, Powell 1999). The trees used for foraging are also larger in diameter than randomly selected trees (Powell 1999).
With respect to post-fire fuels-reduction logging or salvage logging, the bird species most restricted to post-fire conditions appear to be affected most negatively. Burned forests that are completely logged decrease the suitability of post-fire forests for most bird species (Caton 1996, Hitchcox 1996, Saab and Dudley 1998), but the effects of partial logging are equivocal. In general, Black-backed and Three-toed woodpeckers are most abundant in uncut burned forests, and they rarely nest in burned forests that have been cut, while Mountain Bluebirds and Hairy Woodpeckers nest in both uncut and cut areas, but tend to nest more often in uncut burns (Caton 1996, Hitchcox 1996). American Kestrels, Lewis's Woodpeckers, and Western Bluebirds may actually be more abundant in partially cut than in uncut burned forests (Saab and Dudley 1998).
Issues of concern with respect to amphibians and small mammals:
There are remarkably few studies that have been conducted on the effects of forest fires on small mammals or amphibians. In response to the significant fires that occurred in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks in 1988, several studies did focus on elk response to fire (Romme et al. 1995, Pearson et al. 1995, Singer and Harter 1996, Tracy and McNaughton 1997). A few studies in Canada have addressed species such as beaver (e.g., Ingle-Sidorowicz 1982), but very few have specifically dealt with small mammals (e.g., Fox 1983, Spires and Bendell 1983, Kovalevskii et al. 1984, Creet et al. 1995, Ford et al. 1999). We know of no studies dealing with fire effects on amphibians. Small mammals and amphibians, because of their size and behavior, are probably more directly affected by such a disturbance, because they are less able to move away during the fire. More importantly, these species are generally tightly associated with the coarse woody debris and understory component of the forest, which is quickly altered in a severe fire. Fires, depending upon the severity, tend to add to the coarse woody debris; however, this positive effect for the smaller species is often quickly reversed by post-fire timber harvest strategies (Tinker and Knight 2000).
Small mammal and amphibian response to fires is surely dependent upon fire severity. A quickly moving, less severe fire would presumably allow individuals to seek refuge in burrows that might provide adequate protection, and would leave seed sources and other foods available after the fire. A severe fire that burns the forest floor, leaving only ash, would surely produce a different result. Post-fire management strategies also come into play, as indicated above, by altering the understory/woody debris component. The rapidity with which forests are recolonized by small mammal and amphibian species is of concern and should be addressed.
Objective:
After the fires of 2000, the stage is set for addressing a research issue of fundamental importance: Which factors are important in explaining patterns of plant, bird, amphibian, and small mammal occurrence and abundance within and among burned forest patches, and what is the effect of salvage logging on those patterns of occurrence and abundance? We propose to conduct an extensive survey of plant, bird, amphibian, and small mammal occurrence across burned forests within two classes of fire severity and within burned forest patches that will have undergone salvage logging after the fires of 2000 in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. In addition to information on the relationship between the distribution of organisms and treatment category, a major product of this effort will be to establish a coordinated sampling scheme that will remain in place for future monitoring so that longer-term effects can also be determined in the future.
Rationale and Significance:
After an era of fire suppression, land managers now need to better understand:
- where to reintroduce fire
- which fires to let burn
- which areas to leave unlogged after fire
- for those patches that are to be salvage logged, how to conduct logging operations in a manner that least affects the species most restricted to post-fire conditions
Effective fire management plans that promote the sustainability of ecological systems will emerge, in part, from an understanding of the patterns of within- and between-patch occupancy by species that most depend on burned forest conditions. The long-term goal of the proposed research is, therefore, to describe the landscape and local-scale conditions that appear to make stands (and sites within stands) relatively suitable to the most fire-dependent species.
Fires of different severities may create unique habitat conditions for plants, birds, amphibians, and mammals – and forest restoration efforts need to incorporate such information. Moreover, burned forests provide a major source of salvage timber for the wood products industry, so we need to address the potential effects of that management activity on the variety of plant and animal species that may depend to a large extent on burned forest conditions.
Research Methods:
General Research Design:
We propose to visit 120 burned forest sites to sample plants and birds, and 40 sites to sample small mammals and amphibians. Through this effort, we will determine both (a) local-scale patterns of occurrence and abundance of plant, bird, amphibian, and small mammals in relation to burn severity and post-fire harvesting activity, and (b) landscape-level influences on the occurrence and abundance of members of those plant and animal groups among sites. Because numerous variables (e.g., tree species, tree sizes, vegetation type, fire severity, fire size, landscape context, post-fire management activity) might affect the suitability of a burned forest to those species that most depend on (are relatively restricted to) such conditions, it will take a large number of burned forest patches spread across vegetation types, burn severities, and post-fire treatments to build a database that will enable reliable commenting upon the biological effects of fire severity and post-fire treatment for even a single vegetation type. Maps showing the distribution of fires and fire-severity classes from the fires of 2000 reveal not only an abundance of potential replicate sites, but also an enviable level of treatment interspersion that is going to be possible to attain here. This is a golden opportunity.
Selection of study sites, and sampling design:
We propose to conduct surveys in the second and third year post-fire, but once the samping plots are in place, graduate students or agency personnel can conduct continued monitoring at desired intervals. All sites will be within the low-elevation dry forest habitat types, and we will target 30 sites (10 sites for small mammals and amphibians) in each of four categories: low-severity unsalvaged, low-severity salvaged, high-severity unsalvaged, and high-severity salvaged.
An ideal protocol for selecting sites might include something like the following process:
- overlay a grid of 30 squares over a map of the Bitterroot Valley fires
- position one point in a randomly selected position within each square
- locate the tertiary road or trail that lies nearest each point
- locate the nearest accessible forest stand within each of the four target condition categories.
Though this approach would yield the greatest interspersion and geographic breadth of treatments, we will have to yield to the logistic constraint of being able to visit at least two sites per day and of taking advantage of already existing vegetation plots established by D. E. Ferguson.
Therefore, we will modify the design by using existing vegetation plots if they occur within a given sample square, and by shifting to the next nearest square if an appropriate treatment category is not found within the target square. Thus we should still be able to maintain a good level of both breadth and treatment interspersion.
Within each site, we will superimpose plant, bird, amphibian, and small-mammal sampling grids (onto already existing vegetation survey grids, if they exist). Basically, the design involves detailed vegetation sampling at four locations (a central one and three satellite locations equally spaced 30 m from the central point). Additional vegetation sampling points will be positioned 100 m from the central point and will coincide with the three bird survey points. Four 7-trap amphibian grids will be positioned atop the intense vegetation plots, and one 25-trap small mammal grid will be located centrally. With this design, we will survey plants at 480 4-point clusters, birds at 1080 points (360, 3-point clusters), amphibians at 1120 (40 x 28), and mammals at 1,000 (40 x 25) trap locations in each of two years.
Bird survey work:
A single observer can visit the two treatment categories and conduct 6-point counts on any given day. Given that the entire field (breeding) season is about 40 days long, and that an observer can count on 30 days per year (leaving 10 days for loss due to travel, logistic problems, rain, time off, etc.), a single observer will be able to collect data from sixty 3-point clusters that are mixed relatively uniformly among the two burn severities and two salvage treatment categories. All point-count surveys will be conducted between the third week in May and the first of July. We will drive and/or hike to a given site so that the time of arrival is no later than 0700 hr; thus we can finish conducting the series of six 10-min point counts by 1100 hr. The point count method is described in detail in Hutto et al. (1986), and it matches the accepted national standard that was developed at a point-count workshop in 1992 (Ralph et al. 1995).
Equally importantly, this matches the method used in earlier post-fire survey work (Hutto 1995). Each survey point will be globally positioned and photo-documented to assure that points attain the desired minimum spacing, and that they are permanently marked to facilitate future comparative work. At each point, an observer will record the date, time of day, number of individuals of each bird species detected by sight or sound, and approximate distance to the bird. We will minimize observer bias by requiring a period of field training and by distributing the number of points in each "treatment" (severity and logging) category equally among observers.
Mammal survey work:
Small mammal assessments will be made beginning in late May or early June and concluding in late August using Sherman® live traps. Over the course of the summer a 25-trap grid of Sherman® live traps will be located centrally within each of 40 study sites and checked twice a day, morning and evening, over four 12-hour periods. (For example, a grid would be established Monday morning and then checked that evening, Tuesday morning and evening, and Wednesday morning before being moved.) Previous research (Foresman et al. unpublished) has demonstrated that this effort provides adequate time to assess species presence and gives some information on species abundance while reducing the overall commitment required for one site. In this manner, a second set of sites could be assessed in one week. Depending upon the juxtaposition of study sites, up to four grids could be run concurrently. All animals captured will be identified to species and standard field measurements (weight, sex, age) recorded before their release. Each capture will be identified as to date and time and be globally positioned so that this dataset can be overlaid with vegetation analyses at these points (identified below). The intent is not to detail population estimates (which would realistically require at least two additional days of mark/recapture data), but to assess species presence and to obtain a general index of abundance.
Amphibian survey work:
Amphibians will be assessed using pitfall arrays. Each array will consist of seven #10 cans set flush with the ground and interconnected by walls of plastic sheeting that serve to funnel animals to the cans (McGraw 1997, Naughton et al. 2000; fig. 1). Four arrays will be placed within each of the 40 study sites and monitored once a day for one week. As with the small mammal grids, depending on the closeness of study sites, up to four sites (28 pitfall arrays/112 cans) may be run concurrently. Amphibians captured will be identified, weighed, measured (snout/vent length), and sexed where possible before their release. As with mammals, each capture will be identified as to date and time and be globally positioned so that this dataset can be overlaid with vegetation analyses at these points (identified below).
Measurement of local-scale vegetation variables:
Vegetation will be measured using a variety of techniques to capture aspects of plants needed to assess wildlife habitat and to assess various scales of vegetation response. Standard FIA-compatible plots will be established at four points where the most detailed snag, log, and understory vegetation will be taken. Larger plots will also be established for understory vegetation in a random subset of the small mammal trapping sites. Over the entire 0.4-ha plot area, overstory information will be provided as described under "coarse-scale" vegetation variables. Transects will also be established across the 0.4-ha area to provide more extensive data on coarse woody debris, soils disturbance, exotic weed populations, and more detailed information on plant biodiversity patterns. Emphasis for transects will be placed on presence/absence and species richness rather than cover so that observer bias is minimized. Vegetation density and vertical profiles will be provided on transects as well to document changes to vegetation structure resulting from logging treatment.
Measurement of coarse-scale vegetation variables:
At each point from which bird abundance data is recorded, we will also record the following local-scale variables:
- Overstory composition prior to the fire, as estimated by the proportionate makeup of each of eight tree species groups that can be readily distinguished even as burned trees without needles (ponderosa pine [Pinus ponderosa]; Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii]; western larch [Larix occidentalis]; lodgepole pine [Pinus contorta]/whitebark pine [Pinus albicaulis]/limber pine [Pinus flexilis]; spruce [Picea spp.]; subalpine fir [Abies lasiocarpa]; grand fir [Abies grandis]/western redcedar [Thuja plicata]; and quaking aspen [Populus tremuloides]/cottonwood [Populus spp.]) within 50 m
- Fire severity within 50 m, classified as:
- unburned
- more than 60 percent of the trees having green needles/leaves (vs. brown needles or none)
- between 40 and 60 percent of the trees having green needles
- between 5 and 40 percent of the trees having green needles
- less than 5 percent of the trees have green needles but most still having visible twigs
- all trees having neither needles nor twigs
- mostly broken stumps -- very few standing trees left
- Number of trees 10- to 30-cm dbh within a 15-m radius
- Number of trees > 30-cm dbh within a 15-m radius
- Percent shrub cover, as estimated by eye within 25 m
- Percent of grass/forb cover, as estimated by eye within 25 m
- Percent ground covered by dead and downed trees (> 10-cm dbh), as estimated by eye within 25 m.
Measurement of landscape variables:
By definition, various landscape-level contexts of a site cannot be measured reliably on the ground; they must be measured through remote sensing and mapping techniques. Fortunately, we are well positioned to take advantage of the image processing and GIS capabilities available at the University. Once the Bitterroot fire salvage sale maps are complete, we will have the capability of mapping the proportion of each of the major cover types present prior to the fire within variable buffer distances surrounding the sampling location, the distance to the nearest perennial stream, road density, etc.
Methods of analysis:
We will conduct an analysis of variance to evaluate the influence of fire severity and post-fire logging on bird abundance, and Poisson regression to investigate the additional contribution of local- and landscape-level variables toward explaining patterns of bird occurrence among burned forest habitat patches. Each patch (clusters of three point counts each) within a study site (one group of three patches) will be used as the sample unit for analyses (unless stated otherwise below). The total number of individuals of each species detected (at the three points within each patch) will be used as the dependent variable.
Because the data are counts and will include many zeros (most species will probably be detected at less than half of the sites), we will use Generalized Linear Models (McCullagh and Nelder 1989), with Poisson error distributions, and will use a full 2-way ANOVA design to test separately
- whether there are nonrandom associations with fire severity (in the absence of logging)
- whether a given species is nonrandomly associated with post-fire logging.
Quadratic equations are sometimes needed in regression models when the response curve for a particular variable may be nonlinear (Johnson 1981, Meents et al. 1983, Young 1996). Therefore, for tree density and any continuous measures of burn severity (e.g., proportion of green trees), we will consider the two alternatives of linear and unimodal relationships, modeling the latter by simply adding a quadratic term to an equation that already includes the first-order term of the variable in question (i.e., aX-bX2).
A tentative schedule for conducting major steps involved in these investigations:
year 1 - visit each potential site and establish and photo-document permanent survey points; collect plant and animal data; conduct preliminary analyses
year 2 - modify site locations based on problems associated with logging plans, collect plant and animal data, conduct landscape analyses, conduct statistical analyses with both local- and landscape-level variables, present preliminary results at meetings.
Literature Cited:
Caton, E. L. 1996. Effects of fire and salvage logging on the cavity-nesting bird community in northwestern Montana. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Montana, Missoula, MT, 115 pp.
Crete, M., B. Drolet, J. Huot, M. J. Fortin, and G. J. Doucet. 1995. Post-fire sequence of emerging diversity among mammals and birds in the north of the boreal forest in Quebec [french]. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 25:1509-1518.
Ford, W. M., M. A. Menzel, D. W. McGill, J. Laerm, and T. S. McCay. 1999. Effects of a community restoration fire on small mammals and herpetofauna in the southern Appalachians. Forest Ecology & Management 114:233-243.
Fox, J. F. 1983. Post-fire succession of small-mammal and bird communities. Pages 155-180 in The role of fire in northern circumpolar ecosystems (R. W. Wein and D. A. MacLean, Eds.). J. Wiley, New York.
Hitchcox, S. M. 1996. Abundance and nesting success of cavity-nesting birds in unlogged and salvage-logged burned forest in northwestern Montana. M.S. Thesis, Univ. Montana, Missoula, 89 pp.
Hutto, R. L. 1995. The composition of bird communities following stand-replacement fires in northern Rocky Mountain (U.S.A.) conifer forests. Conservation Biology 9:1041-1058.
Hutto, R. L., S. M. Pletschet, and P. Hendricks. 1986. A fixed-radius point count method for nonbreeding and breeding season use. Auk 103:593-602.
Ingle-Sidorowicz, H. M. 1982. Beaver increase in Ontario (Canada): result of changing environment. Mammalia 46:167-176.
Johnson, D. H. 1981. The use and misuse of statistics in wildlife habitat studies. Pages 11-19 in The use of multivariate statistics in studies of wildlife habitat (D. E. Capen, Ed.). USDA For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-87, Fort Collins, CO.
Kotliar, N. B., S. J. Hejl, R. L. Hutto, V. A. Saab, C. Melcher, and M. McFadzen. 2001. Effects of wildfire and post-fire salvage-logging on avian communities in conifer-dominated forests of the western United States. Studies in Avian Biology, in press.
Kovalevskii, Y. V., N. B. Gorelova, and E. I. Korenberg. 1984. The effect of forest fires on small mammals of the Amur-Bureya interfluve middle Taiga. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 63:749-759.
McCullagh, P. and J. A. Nelder. 1989. Generalized linear models. Second edition. New York: Chapman and Hall.
McGraw, R. L 1997. Timber harvest effects on breeding and larval success of long-toed salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum). M. S. Thesis, University of Montana, Missoula, MT.
Naughton, G. P., R. L. McGraw II, C. B. Henderson, and K. R. Foresman. 2000. Long-toed salamanders in harvested and intact Douglas-fir forests of Western Montana. Ecological Applications 10:1681-1689.
Meents, J. K., J. Rice, B. W. Anderson, and R. D. Ohmart. 1983. Nonlinear relationships between birds and vegetation. Ecology 64:1022-1027.
Pearson, S. M., M. G. Turner, L. L. Wallace, and W. H. Romme. 1995. Winter habitat use by large ungulates following fire in northern Yellowstone National Park. Ecological Applications 5:744-755.
Powell, H. 2000. The influence of prey density on post-fire habitat use of the Black-backed Woodpecker. M.S. Thesis, University of Montana, Missoula, MT.
Ralph, C. J., J. R. Sauer, and S. Droege. 1995. Monitoring bird populations by point counts. USDA For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-149, Albany, CA.
Romme, W. H., M. G. Turner, L. L. Wallace, and J. S. Walker. 1995. Aspen, elk, and fire in northern Yellowstone National Park. Ecology 76:2097-2106.
Saab, V. A., and J. G. Dudley. 1998. Responses of cavity-nesting birds to stand-replacement fire and salvage logging in ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forests of southwestern Idaho. USDA For.Serv.Res.Pap. RMRS-RP-11, 17 pp.
Singer, F. J., and M. K. Harter. 1996. Comparative effects of elk herbivory and 1988 fires on northern Yellowstone (National Park grasslands). Ecological Applications 6:185-199.
Spires, S., and J. F. Bendell. 1983. Early postfire effects on some invertebrates, small mammals and birds in north-central Ontario. Pages 308-318 in Resources and dynamics of the boreal zone (R. W. Wein, R. R. Riewe, and I. R. Methven, Eds.). Assoc. Can. Univ. for Northern Studies, Ottawa, Ontario.
Tinker, D. B., and D. H. Knight. 2000. Coarse woody debris following fire and logging in Wyoming lodgepole pine forests. Ecosystems 3:472-483.
Tracy, B. F., and S. J. McNaughton. 1997. Elk grazing and vegetation responses following late season fire in Yellowstone National Park. Plant Ecology 130:111-119.
Young, J. S. 1996. Nonlinear bird-habitat relationships in managed forests of the Swan Valley, Montana. M.S. Thesis, University of Montana, Missoula, MT.
Preliminary budget for bird survey work:
| Salary: | |
| Graduate student-summer salary (3 mo x $2,000/mo x 2 years) | $12,000 |
| Graduate student-RA (1 semester in second year @ $7,800) | 7,800 |
| Hutto, co-PI-summer salary ($302/day x 20 days x 2 years) | 12,080 |
| Fringe: | |
| Graduate student - 10 percent of summer salary + 1 percent of RA | 1,278 |
| Hutto - 22.5 percent | 2,718 |
| Equipment: | |
| GPS unit (Trimble pathfinder + data logger) | 3,000 |
| Supplies: | |
| Digital camera, ARC-view software | 2,000 |
| Travel: | |
| University truck rentals - 2 x 2 mo/yr @ $1,000/mo x 2 years | 8,000 |
| Other: | |
| Graduate student fee waiver | 5,000 |
| Total: | $53,876 | |
Preliminary budget for small mammal/amphibian survey work:
| Salary: | |
| Graduate student - summer salary (3 mo x $2,000/mo x 2 years) | 12,000 |
| Graduate student-RA (1 semester in second year @ $7,800) | 7,800 |
| Summer research volunteer - ($1,000/mo x 3 mo x 2 yr) | 6,000 |
| Foresman, co-PI-summer salary ($288/day x 20 days x 2 years) | 11,520 |
| Fringe: | |
| Graduate student - 10 percent of summer salary + 1 percent of RA | 1,278 |
| Foresman-22.5 percent | 2,592 |
| Equipment: | |
| GPS unit (Trimble pathfinder + data logger) | 3,000 |
| Supplies: | |
| Sherman® live traps (400 @ $13), scales, drift fences, bait | 7,000 |
| Travel: | |
| University truck rental - 1 x 3 mo/yr @ $1,000/mo x 2 years | 6,000 |
| Other: | |
| Graduate student fee waiver | 5,000 |
| Total: | $62,190 | |
Preliminary budget for plant survey work:
| Salary: | |
| Graduate student - summer salary (3 mo x $2,000/mo x 2 years) | 12,000 |
| Graduate student - RA (2 semesters in @ $7,800) | 15,600 |
| Alaback, co-PI-summer salary ($290/day x 20 days x 2 years) | 11,600 |
| Fringe: | |
| Graduate student - 10 percent of summer salary + 1 percent of RA | 1,356 |
| Alaback - 22.5 percent | 2,610 |
| Equipment: | |
| GPS unit (Trimble pathfinder + data logger) | 3,000 |
| Supplies: | |
| Computer software and upgrades for analysis | 2,000 |
| Travel: | |
| (some rental, some pooling with bird crew) | 2,000 |
| Other: | |
| Graduate student fee waiver | 5,000 |
| Total: | $55,166 | |
Preliminary budget for coordination and GIS data extraction:
| Salary: | |
| Marcum, Coordinator - ($284/da x 70 da) | 19,880 |
| GIS data extraction: | |
| Sweet, ($2,880/mo x 2 mo x 2 yr) | 11,520 |
| Fringe: | |
| Marcum (@ 22.5 percent); Sweet (@ 28 percent) | 7,699 |
| Health: | |
| Sweet (@ $325/mo x 4) | 1,300 |
| Total: | $40,399 | |
GRAND TOTAL: $211,631
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