1.2 Great Salt Lake priority bird species

Great Salt Lake Priority Bird Species18; 39

Species Group *Foraging Habitat *Breeding Habitat

American avocet Shorebird American white pelican Waterbird Black-necked stilt Shorebird Black tern Waterbird Cinnamon teal Waterfowl Forster’s tern Waterbird Franklin’s gull Waterbird Green-winged teal Waterfowl Long-billed curlew Shorebird Long-billed dowitcher Shorebird Marbled godwit Shorebird Redhead Waterfowl Snowy plover Shorebird Tundra swan Waterfowl Western grebe Waterbird Western sandpiper Shorebird Wilson’s phalarope Shorebird White-faced ibis Shorebird

Submergent Emergent Meadow

Playa

*Organized by most to least preferred

Table 1.3

Management

Great Salt Lake wetland health is critical for resource managers, hunters, birders, conservationists, educators, photographers, and all who value wetland plants and birds. However, maintaining and managing wetland health is difficult. Drought, invasive species, and pollutants thwart many management efforts. To produce as many wetland benefits and functions as possible, managers often seek to maintain a mosaic of wetland communities with heterogeneous vegetation structure.56 This is achieved by using the main principles of wetland management summarized below:

•Ensure an adequate supply of water, both in quantity and quality •Provide favorable interspersion of open water and emergent vegetation for adequate foraging and nesting habitat •Encourage vertical interspersion of vegetation in addition to horizontal

For wetlands that have water control structures, another principle can be applied: •Ensure proper timing and duration of flooding12

In unhealthy wetland communities, habitat management can be a foundation for rebuilding healthy ecosystem functioning. While the management recommendations above are generalizations, this book cites resources that managers can seek for specific guidance. The first step in caring for GSL wetland communities—for researchers, land managers, birders, or wetland enthusiasts—is to learn about the plants and birds that inhabit these ecosystems. The following guide to wetland plants of GSL provides a good footing to that first step for anyone visiting these unique, beautiful wetlands.