After four years of development, a new conservation tool aims to answer two critical questions: What happens to grassland birds if we remove invasive trees in the Central Grasslands — and what happens if we don’t?
The Grassland Outcomes Tool for Birds (GOT Birds) was created to help biologists and conservation planners across four Migratory Bird Joint Ventures understand how woody plant management affects bird populations. It uses geospatial data and bird monitoring information to estimate changes in abundance for species of concern across a 350 million-acre study area. The species list focuses on species that are of conservation concern, as identified by each joint venture. Both breeding and nonbreeding season results are available.
“GOT Birds was developed to help biologists understand how removing woody plants like eastern red cedar and mesquite from grasslands can benefit grassland birds.”
“GOT Birds was developed to help biologists understand how removing woody plants like eastern red cedar and mesquite from grasslands can benefit grassland birds,” said Anne Bartuszevige, PLJV Conservation Science Director.
Woody plant encroachment is one of the top threats to the remaining native grasslands in North America. Even small increases in tree and shrub cover can fragment habitat and cause significant losses for grassland bird species.
Since 1966, the total population of birds has declined by more than 40%, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. As a group, they’ve experienced greater declines than any other bird guild.
GOT Birds was developed through a National Conservation Innovation Grant from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and is the result of a multi-year collaboration among Playa Lakes, Oaks and Prairies, Rio Grande and Sonoran Joint Ventures.
“We had a lot of people and partners helping us,” said Bartuszevige. “From feedback on the user interface and conservation scenarios, to support with statistical analysis and nonbreeding season insights, it was a team effort. GOT Birds wouldn’t be possible without that collaboration.”
GOT Birds allows users to visualize how bird abundance may change if tree cover is increased or reduced in a selected area. The tool supports both landscape-level assessments and site-specific project evaluations.
Users can select an area by drawing a shape, uploading a shapefile or choosing from predefined boundaries like counties or Bird Conservation Regions. From there, they can enter a tree cover change scenario and select bird species of interest. Results are displayed as expected increases or decreases in bird numbers.
“The primary audience for this tool is biologists who work with landowners and conservation planners,” said Amanda Haverland, American Bird Conservancy’s Southern Great Plains Science Coordinator, who was a key member of the development team. “But for wildlife-conscious landowners, GOT Birds can also highlight how their conservation efforts support bird populations.”
Project-level example from Williamson County, Texas.
For example, in Osage County, Oklahoma, GOT Birds estimates that increasing tree cover by 30% could lead to a decline of more than 60 Grasshopper Sparrows, while reducing tree cover by the same amount could result in an increase of about 40.
In a project example from Williamson County, Texas, the tool shows that reducing tree cover from 24% to 10% on a 192-hectare property would benefit grassland species like Eastern Meadowlark and Northern Bobwhite, while reducing habitat for tree-preferring species like Painted Bunting.
“Our goal was to give conservation partners a clear picture of how their work impacts grassland birds,” said Bartuszevige. “With GOT Birds, we can now connect on-the-ground decisions to measurable outcomes and that’s a game-changer for bird conservation.”
The tool is available online, at GOTbirds.org, and will also be accessible through multiple conservation partner websites.