Whitebark pine and Clark’s Nutcrackers have a fascinating relationship: the trees provide rich, fatty seeds, and the birds “plant” the trees’ seeds —a single bird may hide up to 98,000 seeds in a year. The food caches help the birds get through the winter, and the leftovers grow into new trees. In fact, whitebark pine trees sprout almost exclusively from nutcracker seed caches. This dependency has led to considerable concern for both species because whitebark pine ecosystems are rapidly disappearing in the western United States.
Learn how research has advanced our understanding of the magnitude of the impact of the decline of whitebark pine on Clark’s Nutcrackers’ behavior and populations and how this data will aid in the design of biologically informed management interventions which will help maintain a healthy ecosystem by ensuring persistence of nutcrackers throughout their range.

Taza Schaming
Taza tells us that her career in ornithological and conservation research is not only her professional goal, it is one of her greatest passions. A graduate of Cornell University, Taza is currently working on finishing her PhD, studying the topic she will be discussing at our meeting.

Through her research, she is striving to create a better understanding of the intersection between conservation, ornithology, behavioral ecology, and community ecology.