Title: Flammulated owl (Otus flammeolus) breeding habitat abundance in ponderosa pine forests of the United States

Author: Nelson, Mark D.; Johnson, David H.; Linkhart, Brian D.; Miles, Patrick D.

Year: 2009

Publication: In: Rich, T.D.; Arizmendi, C.; Demarest, D.; Thompson, C., eds. Tundra to tropics: connecting birds, habitats and people. Proceedings of the 4th International Partners in Flight Conference; 2008 February 13-16; McAllen, TX. Partners in Flight: 71-81.

Abstract: Flammulated Owl (Otus flammeolus) inhabits mid-elevation montane forests of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) across western North America during the breeding season. We employed data from the USDA Forest Service?s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program to assess historic and current extent of ponderosa and Jeffrey pines comprising the majority of Flammulated Owl habitat within 11 western states of the USA. We cross-referenced breeding habitat characteristics to FIA data attributes; then produced estimates and maps of forest land area and potential habitat abundance from FIA data and made comparisons with other published data. We estimated area of current ponderosa and Jeffrey pine forest types on forest land as 98 633 km² and 83 000 km², from FIA and LANDFIRE data, respectively. Area of ponderosa and Jeffrey pine forest types on timberland (a subset of forest land) decreased from 136 200 km2 to 86 827 km2 (36%,) between 1953 and 2007.