Biofuel vs. Henslow's Sparrow

Biofuel vs. Henslow’s

Wisconsin is home to a variety of grassland bird species such as Eastern Meadowlarks (Sturnella magna), Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), and Henslow’s Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii). Currently the Henslow’s Sparrow is listed nationally as near threatened and in Wisconsin it is listed as threatened. This will be the bird species that I will be focusing on throughout this blog, however it is only one of many grassland birds that I think will continue to decline in our state.
The Henslow’s Sparrow prefers a habitat that consists of old fields, open grasslands, wet meadows, and other similar ecosystem structures. However over the past few decades its numbers have been steadily declining due to habitat loss. According to the Wisconsin DNR the U.S. population has declined more than 68% from 1966-1991. The Wisconsin population has also declined and has dropped an average of 5% per year from 1982-1991. This species is a habitat specialist that requires uncultivated fields with tall and dense vegetation.
The reason I’m bringing all this up is because this past summer I was able to work with this bird while conducting research with a graduate student at UW-Wisconsin and the WI DNR. After spending my entire summer waking up well before sunrise and driving to various sites I began to realize how fragile the ecosystem that this bird lives in really is.
The major purpose of the study was to compare the numbers of nesting birds on various grasslands around the surrounding counties. The majority of the sites that were part of the study were previously agricultural land that was purchased by the United States Department of Agriculture and converted to CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) land. The land that was previously agriculture was left alone to grow on its own and over time many various plant and animal species moved back into the area to take advantage of the new ecosystem.
One site however was completely different from the others. It was converted back from CRP land and created into a field of entirely switch grass that would be grown and harvested to produce bio-fuel. This site also stood apart from the rest in that not one Henslow’s Sparrow nest was found on the entire property. In fact only a couple of nests were found on the entire site over the course of the entire summer, unlike all the other sites that we were finding nests almost every time that we were out searching.
The Henslow’s Sparrow is obviously in a predicament if more of this CRP land is converted back into agricultural land for the production of switch grass for bio-fuel. I am completely in favor of alternative energy sources, however, when it’s coming at the cost of reducing the number of a species that has already been seeing decline it is hard to support. As stated earlier this sparrow is only one of many species that takes advantage of this type of landscape, but it is the most vulnerable. It is hard to predict what will happen to the number of other grassland bird species if CRP land around the state and the nation is converted back into agricultural land. If the numbers do continue to drop and the bird’s population reaches a level where it has to be listed further down I feel that it is necessary to find alternative methods for producing bio-fuel to allow the bird to make a full recovery.