Predicting Effects of an Electric Generating Station on Wetland Passerine Birds: Wisconsin Power Plant Impact Study

摘要

The distribution of breeding passerines (songbirds) was investigated in a wetland in southern Wisconsin to develop a model for use in predicting changes in bird freguencies resulting from environmental alterations. The wetland is adjacent to the cooling lake of a coal-fired electric generating station. The water levels in the wetland are being altered by the cooling lake's effect on the local ground-water system. The model uses information on distributions of bird species along gradients of water depth and vegetation-structure characteristics and information on the relationships between the characteristics to predict changes in bird species' frequencies resulting from increased water levels.