INTRODUCTION

David N. Pashley¹

Whereas the preceding section on the principles of setting conservation objectives dealt with difficult concepts in setting priorities, this section establishes the reality that general models for conservation planning must be sufficiently flexible to meet real-world conditions and needs. The North American continent and its avifauna are hugely complicated, and the seven papers in this section represent conservation thinking regarding just a few of dozens of important habitats and hundreds of important issues that Partners in Flight must address.

Three papers consider general issues of bird conservation in broadly defined common habitat types—grasslands, wetlands, and forest. The other four papers describe, in somewhat greater detail, conservation issues in more geographically specific situations.

First, Peter Vickery and his co-authors cover general issues in the many different grassland types and situations across the continent. Then Rick Warhurst and I deal specifically with the grasslands of the Prairie Pothole region of the northern Midwest. Our paper also presages developments subsequent to the Cape May Workshop in growing cooperation between Partners in Flight and the waterfowl and wetland conservation communities.

Mike Erwin and his co-authors cover many of the general issues regarding bird conservation in wetlands, followed by Dave Krueper’s analysis of a particular and peculiar water-related community, the riparian habitat of the arid West.

Next, Kay Franzreb and her co-authors summarize thoughts regarding bird conservation issues in forest habitat, with an implicit observation that forests across America vary tremendously in terms of plant composition, avifaunas, and conservation issues. The final two papers take somewhat narrower slices of the enormous issue of birds in forests, as Sallie Hejl treats birds in western coniferous forests, and Bob Ford and Mike Roedel address the varied hardwoods of the Interior Low Plateaus.

Together, these papers represent an insight into what Partners in Flight is up against. Bird Conservation Plans are being written for every physiographic area in the United States, and each of those areas is as unique as any situation described in any one of these papers.

In sum, however, the papers present a picture of how to address bird conservation: Understand the system in which you are working, establish priorities, think hard about objectives, and work with the many partners whose participation will be necessary to make any conservation efforts work. Throughout the process, always rely on solid research, monitoring, and adaptive responses to improve the chances for success.

¹ American Bird Conservancy
   P. O. Box 249
   The Plains, VA 20198