Avian Point Count, Habitat and Covariate Data for Subarctic Bird Abundance, Seward Peninsula, Alaska 2012-2014

• Main Authors: Thompson, Sarah J., Handel, Colleen M.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: U.S. Geological Survey 2017
• Subjects: Song Birds, Vegetation Changes, Community Composition, Species Diversity; Arctic; Seward Peninsula; Subarctic; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5066/f7cn722z; https://alaska.usgs.gov/products/data.php?dataid=89

This data release contains three tables of information: avian counts by species, habitat type, a covariate information used for analysis of bird surveys conducted between 2012 and 2014 on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, as part of the USGS Changing Arctic Ecosystems Initiative. We conducted 1,208 point counts on 12 study blocks from 2012�2014 in northwestern Alaska, using repeated surveys to account for imperfect detection of birds. We considered the importance of shrub height, density of low and tall shrubs (i.e. shrubs >0.5 m tall), percent of ground cover attributed to shrubs (including dwarf shrubs <0.5 m tall), and percent of herbaceous plant cover in predicting bird abundance.