Development of Predictive Models for Migratory Landbirds and Estimation of Cumulative Effects of Human Development in the Oil Sands Areas of Alberta

The Boreal Avian Modelling Project (BAM), Environment Canada (EC), and the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) collaborated under the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring (JOSM) on using the most extensive standardized point count data collected and compiled by these agencies (BAM, EC, ABMI) and the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) program. The avian data set was combined with available geospatial information to build predictive models for bird species.

The models were used to (1) describe the habitat associations of the bird species and their responses to human footprint at different spatial scales; (2) determine change in suitable habitats for bird populations in the Boreal region of Alberta in general, and specifically in the oil sands region based on current and “backfilled” habitat data; (3) compare estimated population sizes for birds within Boreal Alberta and compare these to existing estimates by Partners in Flight.