NYSDEC Bird Conservation Areas and NYS Population Density

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Description

                This map displays the population density of New York State and locations that have been designated as bird conservation areas according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as of 2006. The Bird Conservation Areas are not affiliated with any particular species of birds. The highest density of population occurs around the greater Capital Region, the New York City Region, and Western New York around the Rochester and Buffalo Regions. Twenty-three of the bird conservation areas are located within counties that have between one hundred and one and one thousand people per square mile, but not all counties with this population density have bird conservation areas. Nine bird conservation areas are located within counties that have between one thousand and one and ten thousand people per square mile. Fifteen of these sites are located within counties that have zero to one hundred people per square mile. Most of the bird conservation areas are clustered around metropolitan regions like the Capital Region, New York City Region, or around the Rochester/Buffalo Region. There is only one designated site within the Adirondack Park Blue Line, and none are designated in the Catskill Forest Preserve. There are no locations that have been established along the New York Pennsylvania border, but there are four located along the New York Vermont border along the Lake Champlain Basin. According to this map, the higher the population density is in an area, the more likely it is that birds of New York State are losing their habitats.

Analysis

                According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Bird Conservancy Program was established in 1997 in order to enhance bird populations and their habitats.[i] The goal is to implement bird conservation interests into planning, management, and research projects.[ii] Birds across the state have recently been declining due to habitat destruction, fragmentation, and degradation. These disturbances are directly resulted from human development.[iii] As cities continue to grow, more forests are being disturbed, which is destroying habitats for birds. These conservation sites are protected locations where these birds can nest and live without the possibility that their new habitat would be destroyed. I believe that there are more locations of Bird Conservation Areas in urban regions, because the landscape has already been altered. Instead of replanting trees, the Department of Environmental Conservation has decided to designate areas where these birds can find new homes. For example, the Catskills Forest Preserve has no conservation areas established here, which is most likely due to the abundance of trees and habitats here that have not been disturbed by human. Areas where there has been little human disturbance that have established conservation areas, like the Adirondack Sub-Alpine Forest Conservation Area, have most likely been established because they contain a variety of unique and diverse species which results from a unique ecology of the region.[iv] These Bird Conservation Areas truly look out for birds of the future, for without them land may become too overdeveloped and there may no longer be areas around metropolitan regions that can support the amount of birds in the area. Birds are an important part of the overall ecosystem, and these conservation areas are a key part to prevent them from disappearing from urban areas.

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[i] Department of Environmental Conservation. (2012). Bird Conservation Area Program. Retrieved from http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/30935.html.

[ii]Department of Environmental Conservation. (2012). Birds. Retrieved from http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/271.html.

[iii] United States Environmental Protection Agency.(2006). Bird Conservation Initiatives. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/owow/birds/bird.html.

[iv] Department of Environmental Conservation. (2012). BCA Criteria. Retrieved from http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/28841.html.