Even leashed dogs reduce bird diversity

Interesting article at the NY Times:

Australian researchers have found that walking leashed dogs along woodland paths leads to a significant reduction in the number and diversity of birds in the area, at least over the short term.

These land management issues will be increasingly important in the future, and CGF will have to figure out which ones we should involve our own work. There are solutions to this problem, like designating critical areas as "no dogs," or having dog trails run primarily in less-critical areas (open fields instead of narrow riparian areas along streams).

Something we'll have to watch.

-Brian