On Feb. 29, the University of Idaho Paradise Audubon Society hosted a speech titled, “How Microclimates Influence Owls,” given by Kassandra Townsend.
Townsend talked about her research on a multi-scale habitat approach to examine how microclimates influence owl interactions within their environment.
Townsend is an impressive alum from UI. She received her bachelor’s degree in ecology and conservation biology, then was accepted into the National Science Foundation Bridge to Doctorate program to pursue a doctorate, also at UI. Townsend is currently studying forest owls in Arizona as part of Dave Oleyar’s research under HawkWatch International, a nonprofit organization that is passionate about bird conservation and research.
At the talk, Townsend explained that her research is taking place in the Madrean Sky Islands archipelago, specifically in the Cave Creek Canyon in Chiricahua.
Townsend explained that sky islands are areas of high elevation, surrounded by desert. Where Townsend works, she can be in the desert, then in a conifer forest like one in Idaho at a higher elevation.
“This area is really unique because there is a convergence of multiple mountain ranges while also having these desert habitats surround it,” Townsend said. “Because sky islands have such high elevations, they are able to host so many different habitats and have high biodiversity.”
Owls are a part of that biodiversity. Different types of owls are located at distinct and different elevations in the sky islands.
Townsend’s research mainly leads her to interact with six species of owls including the elf owl, whiskered screech owl, western screech owl, northern saw-whet owl, flammulated owl, and northern pigmy owl.
Oleyar’s research focuses more on understanding the dynamics and distributions of tree hollows and their importance to these owl species. Townsend explained that citizen scientists, or nonprofessional researchers, come out into the field to help do science within that project.
“One thing we do a lot is surveys of owl communities,” said Townsend. “We do playback calling, we do nighttime surveys, and we also use pole-mounted cavity cameras so we can look inside those cavities [that owls may reside in]. And we also do owl captures and banding.”
Townsend’s research is mainly focused on examining owl distribution to see how where they are located is influenced by elevation, the temperatures occurring where they are found, the forest type they are located in and woodpecker presence. She is also interested in how each of these factors interact.
Townsend is monitoring about 80 tree cavities from April to July intending to understand how their occupancies were influenced by the characteristics and how they relate to climate change. She also uses the BBIRD protocol to distinguish the space around the cavities to monitor.
“Overall, this study will add novel owl species information [to the literature] to improve management for these species,” Townsend said. “The elf owl and the whiskered screech owl, there are not a lot of studies that focus on them in North America unfortunately. So, we’ll be adding a lot of information for that, but also be able to establish a baseline information to potentially detect shifts in the future.”
“Climate change studies take 20 to 30 years to detect shifts, so even though we won’t be detecting any climate change shifts happening now, if we are able to continue this study 20 to 30 years from now on, we’ll know where they started and what’s happening,” Townsend said. “We can also project what we find now based on what they predict is going to happen in these mountain areas.”
“It isn’t just important to understand broad scale climate interactions, but also understanding that those fine scale features are important too because it is what the species is experiencing,” said Townsend.
Townsend also said that this research takes place out of the Southwestern Research Station. Citizen scientists can take part in owl research through the Earthwatch Institute, an environmental organization. The project Townsend works on is called “Following Forest Owls” and anyone interested can check out the program on Earthwatch Institute. Other research opportunities take place out of the Southwestern Research Station that students can look into.
This speech was hosted by the UI Paradise Audubon Society, an ornithology club. Those interested in birds can check out more of their events.
Georgia Swanson can be reached at [email protected]