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Background
The original NBCI plan was habitat-based and encompassed the range of northern bobwhite. The general idea of the initiative was focused on population and habitat objectives to restore bobwhite densities to 1980 levels. To do so, the National Resources Inventory (NRI) data was used to identify remaining “improvable” acres across the landscape. The proportion of land-use and associated habitat goals was summarized by Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs), for which there were 15 in the distribution of bobwhites, originally developed for the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI). The Initiative mandated it the responsibility of individual states within BCRs to achieve the designated goals and established 3 primary habitat objectives:
- Agricultural Lands - Increase the amount and enhance the quality of nesting, brood-rearing, and roosting cover for bobwhites and other grassland wildlife on agricultural lands, through the establishment and/or management of native warm-season grasses, forbs and shrubs.
- Forests - Enhance grassland/forb habitat in pinelands and mixed pine-hardwood forests by thinning, controlled burns, site preparation and forest regeneration in a fashion that benefits bobwhites and other wildlife, and increase acreage devoted to longleaf pine where it is ecologically feasible.
- Grasslands - Preserve and enhance the quality of grassland, pasture and range by utilizing vegetation management practices and grazing regimes that favor the retention and improvement of native plant communities beneficial to bobwhites and other wildlife.
Revision & Objectives
The original NBCI has helped to generate a significant amount of interest and activity in bobwhite management in many states within its range. However, the original strategy has numerous limitations that, given it is the face of bobwhite managers nationally, need to be remedied. Revising the NBCI is, in a sense, a misleading notion as NBCI should always be in a state of revision. Effective conservation plans are not static but flexible as new challenges and opportunities arise. Therefore, the goal of this revision is to create baseline information and processes which will enable the creation of planning tools that can evolve adaptively through time. If successful, the NBCI will facilitate the development of step-down plans for focal regions to efficiently allocate resources as we can assume conservation dollars will be limited. The NBCI should provide political leaders with information to best guide policy and state and federal programs for bobwhite management. Finally, seamless integration of habitat efforts for both bobwhite and other species (e.g., songbirds) is requisite to obtain success on a landscape scale. Thus, our 4 primary objectives are to:
- Create Spatially and Temporally Explict Data and Habitat Goals: Spatially-estimate improvable acres as defined by land-area where habitat management can recover bobwhite populations to regional density targets;
- Develop a Dynamic Process: Establish a framework and set of guidelines to facilitate an appropriate, consistent, and long-term grassland ecosystem restoration plan that is flexible (adaptable) and updatable;
- Establish a National Data Repository : Develop a national database management system for bobwhite conservation to facilitate large-scale monitoring, habitat, and population monitoring; and
- Improve Information Availability : Provide web-based access to bobwhite conservation information and provide for input from professional biologists.
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