THE AUTHORS 



RESEARCH SUMMARY 



DEAN E. MEDIN is a research wildlife biologist with 

 the Intermountain Research Station at the Forestry 

 Sciences Laboratory in Boise, ID. He earned a B.S. 

 degree in forest management from Colorado State 

 University in 1957, an M.S. degree in wildlife manage- 

 ment from Colorado State University in 1959, and a 

 Ph.D. degree in range ecosystems from Colorado 

 State University in 1976. His research has included 

 studies in mule deer ecology, big-game range im- 

 provement, mule deer population modeling, and 

 nongame bird and small mammal ecology and habitat 

 management. 



WARREN P. CLARY is project leader of the Inter- 

 mountain Station's Riparian-Stream Ecology and 

 Management research work unit at Boise, ID. He 

 received a B.S. degree in agriculture from the Univer- 

 sity of Nebraska and an M.S. degree in range man- 

 agement and a Ph.D. degree in botany (plant ecology) 

 from Colorado State University. He joined the Forest 

 Service in 1960 and has conducted research on 

 forested and nonforested rangelands in Arizona, 

 Louisiana, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada. 



We compared breeding bird populations and com- 

 munity organization between a beaver pond habitat 

 dominated by willows (Salix spp.) and an adjacent 

 nonwillow riparian habitat on Summit Creek in east- 

 central Idaho. For the previous 14 years both habitats 

 had been protected from livestock grazing by a fenced 

 exclosure (1 22-ha). Bird populations were determined 

 by spot-mapping on 9-ha plots in spring 1989. Struc- 

 tural (physiognomic) differences in vegetation between 

 the two habitats and the availability of impounded 

 water on the beaver pond site were reflected in associ- 

 ated breeding bird populations. Total bird density in 

 the beaver pond habitat was three times that of the 

 adjacent riparian habitat. Similarly, our estimates of 

 total bird biomass, bird species richness, and bird spe- 

 cies diversity were 3.49, 3.25, and 1 .67 times higher, 

 respectively, in the beaver pond habitat. Further, there 

 were more foraging and nesting guilds represented on 

 the beaver pond plot than elsewhere. Our findings 

 suggest that beaver pond ecosystems can provide 

 important habitats for nongame breeding birds. 



