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Important Bird Areas |
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IOWA’S
IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM Audubon
Iowa is forging ahead with plans to officially launch the Iowa Important
Bird Areas Program on 1st of January 2002. Developmental work for the
IBA Program has been ongoing over the past two years. A 16-member IBA
Technical Committee was formed in 2000 and includes many of the state’s
bird conservation leaders from the Iowa Ornithologists’ Union, the
Wildlife Diversity Program of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources,
and private bird conservation consultants. During 2001 the Iowa IBA Technical
Committee finalized criteria for the state’s IBA sites, and the State
Director submitted three small grants to fund the program, which were
each approved. Statewide efforts over the past three years to begin Audubon
initiatives, to build new partnerships with public and private entities,
and to develop the Audubon Iowa State Office, have generated significant
interest in the Important Bird Areas Program. CANDIDATE*
IMPORTANT BIRD AREA Site Description: The Upper Mississippi River Ecosystem, which borders
Iowa on the east, is recognized as having strong potential to become an
officially designated Iowa Important Bird Area. This extensive, linear
habitat includes the Upper Mississippi Wildlife and Fish Refuge that begins
at the Chippewa River in Wisconsin and ends at Davenport, Iowa. Throughout
this site navigation locks and dams create a series of pools along the
length of the refuge producing a mosaic of open water, extensive marshes
and floodplain forests. This refuge contains one of the largest hardwood
forests in the Upper Midwest, consisting of silver maple, green ash, elm,
cottonwood, and swamp white oak. The marsh habitats are dominated by river
bulrush, arrowhead, cattails, American lotus, water lily, and wild celery.
The river is an important navigation system and the economic value of
the recreation industry is estimated to exceed $4 billion annually. The
refuge alone receives over 3 million visitors annually. Ornithological
Summary:
Counts by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff indicate that 136,200 Canvasbacks
(22% of the world’s population), 16,900 Tundra Swans (20% of the
eastern population), 96,700 Lesser Scaup and 271,000 other species of
waterfowl pass through the refuge each fall. The area is significantly
diverse with more than 263 species of birds having been found on the refuge.
Of these, 128 species breed and 57 species (44%) overwinter. An additional
58 nearctic migrants are seen on the refuge annually. There are at least
60 pairs of Bald Eagles breeding on the refuge, which is more than 1%
of the U.S. population of this species. In winter this number swells to
more than 600. The refuge also has 5,700 breeding pairs of Great Blue
Herons, and thousands of raptors use the river corridor during fall migration.
The forested areas of the refuge provides habitat for large numbers of
breeding passerines (up to 25 birds per hectare), characteristic of floodplain
forests of this latitude. Conservation
Issues:
Non-point source water pollution, in the form of soil erosion and sedimentation,
has had a serious negative impact on backwater habitats since lock and
dams were constructed on the Upper Mississippi River in the 1930’s.
Introduced species such as the zebra mussel and purple loosestrife have
become established on the refuge, resulting in reductions in habitat quality
and quantity and potential food chain impacts. Increased recreational
use and local urban development have the potential to degrade or eliminate
habitats further. Federal ownership of most of the flood-prone land in
the floodplain has prevented extensive development and habitat loss. Cooperative
programs between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, each of the states, and non-governmental organizations have
shown strong potential for protecting and restoring habitats that are
critical for breeding, wintering and migrating bird species. * Candidate sites are being considered for designation as Important Bird Areas by the State Technical Committee. To
Learn More About Audubon Iowa’s Visit
the Web Site: Contact:
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