The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association is pleased to sponsor the Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan’s (Sask PCAP) Native Prairie Speakers Series webinars. Join speaker Kelsey Freitag, an independent wildlife data consultant with a background in field biology, ecological research, and applied conservation, from Freitag Ecological Analytics. 

About this Webinar: Grassland birds are declining rapidly due to habitat loss and climate change, and the Long-billed Curlew, an at-risk grassland species, is no exception. Using two decades of survey data from British Columbia and eBird data across North America, this study examines how curlew distributions have shifted and what environmental factors are driving these changes. Results show a 177 km northward range expansion in British Columbia and a 228 km northward shift in the species’ continental population centroid. Regional shifts also occurred in several Bird Conservation Regions, likely tied to local habitat changes. In British Columbia, curlews were detected more often in agricultural areas, and occupancy modelling showed positive associations with agriculture and northern latitudes and negative associations with grassland habitats. Overall, climate change appears to drive broad northward expansion, while local habitat loss and gains shape finer-scale changes. Effective management should focus on grassland restoration using prescribed burns and the protection of key curlew habitats.

About the Speaker: Kelsey Freitag is an independent wildlife data consultant with a background in field biology, ecological research, and applied conservation. I combine hands-on field experience with analytical skills to address a wide range of conservation questions. I specialize in spatial analysis, occupancy and trend modelling, trail camera data processing and interpretation, and the analysis of large community science datasets such as eBird and iNaturalist. (More details on pcap-sk.org)

PCAP’s Native Prairie Speaker Series is a monthly webinar about prairie conservation or species at risk.

Hosted by: Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan