Using avian focal species to inform rangeland management in California oak woodland

Biological knowledge about bird focal species may be used to inform planning, habitat management, and restoration efforts, with the assumption that the implementation of these species-based recommendations will maintain and enhance healthy functioning habitats and the ecosystems services they provide. Point Blue Conservation Science in collaboration with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) state office in California recently formed the Rangeland Watershed Initiative (RWI) to restore ecosystem function by working with ranchers on privately held hardwood rangelands in the foothill regions that surround California's Great Central Valley. An integral component of RWI is to place partner biologists in NRCS offices in key communities to assist in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of farm bill conservation practices. Partner biologists use the Oak Woodland Bird Conservation Plan and the focal species described within to assist ranchers in developing NRCS conservation plans and evaluating the prescribed practices in an adaptive management context. We present examples of how bird focal species are used to prescribe and evaluate rangeland conservation practices in California s Oak woodland.