Download or read book Evaluating the Success of Prairie Restorations in Southwest Illinois in Providing Suitable Habitat for Prairie Birds written by Aaron M. Alexander and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tallgrass prairie is one of the most endangered ecosystem types in North America, as over 99% of historic tallgrass prairie has been lost, even though it is one of the younger ecosystem types. The main factors behind the dramatic loss of tallgrass prairie include conversion to agriculture or development and a suppression of the natural fire regime in these grassland areas. Any natural prairies left are often too small and isolated to serve as viable habitat for grassland-dependent species, making the efforts at restoring these areas critical. Prairie restoration is crucial to grassland-dependent species because it increases the area of suitable habitat. Once a prairie restoration has taken place, it must be managed and evaluated to keep succession at bay and to help ensure that all restoration objectives have been met. Illinois has less than 1% of natural tallgrass prairie remaining, causing the grassland bird communities of the state to experience severe population declines within their ranges. Grassland bird species are important pollinators and dispersers of plants, and are under significant decline, which make them important priorities for conservation efforts. Birds in general are good ecological indicators of restoration success as they can be seen and heard easily, they have specific habitat requirements, and they are often the first animals to reach a restoration effort. Illinois has seen several prairie restoration attempts take place within the last 40 years, but very few studies have been conducted to assess the relative success or failure of these restoration efforts. The objectives of this study are to (1) examine temporal trends in the avian community composition, richness, and diversity among prairie restorations at The Nature Institute, (2) to test whether these trends are heading in the direction of the old growth reference prairie, and (3) to investigate which habitat attributes are the best predictors of the presence and abundance of prairie bird species. I hypothesize that (1) the restorations are on track to attain the bird community composition and diversity of an old growth prairie; (2) changes in vegetation structure over time during restoration provide suitable habitat for particular species of prairie birds. Five 20 m radius sampling plots were established in each of the study sites and utilized for both avian and vegetation sampling. Avian sampling took part in two periods, one spanning the entire avian breeding season from late May into early August, and the other corresponded with avian migration and lasted from September into late October. Plots were divided into regular distance intervals (0-5 m, 6-10 m, 11-15 m, 16-20 m) and all birds within as well as those flying over and outside of the plot were recorded. Vegetation characteristics (e.g., litter depth, forb coverage, and vegetation height) were measured along a 40 m transect within each study plot. Species richness, Antilog Shannon’s and Simpson’s diversity indices, and density (birds per hectare) for each plot was calculated. Non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination was utilized to visualize patterns within the avian community data and to assess whether or not the restorations were on track to achieve the avian community structure of the old-growth reference prairie. Diversity indices were highest in the youngest restorations before dropping off at the oldest restoration and the reference prairie. Indicator species analysis showed that the northern cardinal, willow flycatcher, indigo bunting, and the ruby-throated hummingbird were indicative of restored prairies less than seven years old, whereas species like the chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, and the red-winged blackbird signaled older prairie restorations (15-29 years). Field sparrows were found to be indicator species of the old-growth reference prairie used in this study. Non-metric multidimensional scaling showed that each study prairie was different from one another based on their avian communities and that the restorations are not on track to achieve the avian community structure found in the reference prairie. The results of this research will provide valuable information to prairie managers across the region. Results from this study show that small isolated prairie restorations, although good for community outreach and public education on the topic, will not meet objectives related to stopping prairie bird declines in a region. Large and well-connected prairie restorations are ideal for grassland-dependent species when planning out future restoration efforts.

Download or read book The Tallgrass Prairie Center Guide to Prairie Restoration in the Upper Midwest written by Daryl Smith and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2010-04-15 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This manual, by four of the most knowledgeable prairie restorationists in the Upper Midwest, brings together absolutely everything that anyone, regardless of background, needs to know for proper tallgrass prairie restoration. In addition to chapters on everything from planning to implementing to managing a prairie, chapters on native seed production and restoring prairies in public spaces and along roadsides cover all that is necessary for successful prairie restorations. This book is an absolute must for anyone in the business of prairie restoration as well as a great read for any prairie enthusiast." -- Robert H. Mohlenbrock, distinguished professor emeritus of botany, Southern Illinois University --Book Jacket.

Download or read book Grazing and Haying Effects on Habitats of Upland Nesting Birds written by Leo M. Kirsch and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Tallgrass Prairie Restoration in the Midwestern and Eastern United States written by and published by . This book was released on 2011-07-11 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Tallgrass Prairie Restoration in the Midwestern and Eastern United States written by Harold Gardner and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-11-19 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work advocates the restoration of the North American tallgrass prairie, which is rapidly disappearing. Historical descriptions of prairie aesthetics are outlined. As we are experiencing a worldwide mixing of plant species, prairie restoration is particularly important. Plants alien to North America do not readily support insect populations, including all animal species higher on the food chain. Prairie restoration methods are described for amateurs, academics, and land managers. Some of the techniques described are growing crops for seed production, times of seed gathering for specific species, facile seed processing for amateurs, land preparation, segregation of seed into its preference for habitat, and required seed treatment for germination. Over 200 species are described that comprise the predominant species found in tallgrass prairie nature preserves, as well as degraded prairies. Some additional plants of especial interest are also described. The appendix tabulates all likely species found on prairies regardless of their scarcity. Safe fire management of prairies is described in detail. Finally, methods of controlling aggressive alien weeds by herbicides are detailed.

Download or read book Prairie Restorations Inc written by Prairie Restorations, Inc and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Booming from the Mists of Nowhere written by Greg Hoch and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2015-12 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For ten months of the year, the prairie-chicken’s drab colors allow it to disappear into the landscape. However, in April and May this grouse is one of the most outrageously flamboyant birds in North America. Competing with each other for the attention of females, males gather before dawn in an explosion of sights and sounds—“booming from the mists of nowhere,” as Aldo Leopold wrote decades ago. There’s nothing else like it, and it is perilously close to being lost. In this book, ecologist Greg Hoch shows that we can ensure that this iconic bird flourishes once again. Skillfully interweaving lyrical accounts from early settlers, hunters, and pioneer naturalists with recent scientific research on the grouse and its favored grasslands, Hoch reveals that the prairie-chicken played a key role in the American settlement of the Midwest. Many hungry pioneers regularly shot and ate the bird, as well as trapping hundreds of thousands, shipping them eastward by the trainload for coastal suppers. As a result of both hunting and habitat loss, the bird’s numbers plummeted to extinction across 90 percent of its original habitat. Iowa, whose tallgrass prairies formed the very center of the greater prairie-chicken’s range, no longer supports a native population of the bird most symbolic of prairie habitat. The steep decline in the prairie-chicken population is one of the great tragedies of twentieth-century wildlife management and agricultural practices. However, Hoch gives us reason for optimism. These birds can thrive in agriculturally productive grasslands. Careful grazing, reduced use of pesticides, well-placed wildlife corridors, planned burning, higher plant, animal, and insect diversity: these are the keys. If enough blocks of healthy grasslands are scattered over the midwestern landscape, there will be prairie-chickens—and many of their fellow creatures of the tall grasses. Farmers, ranchers, conservationists, and citizens can reverse the decline of grassland birds and insure that future generations will hear the booming of the prairie-chicken.

Download or read book Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Volume 2 (this volume) describes wildlife and fish species, their habitat requirements, and species-specific management concerns, in Southwestern grasslands. This assessment is regional in scale and pertains primarily to lands administered by the Southwestern Region of the USDA Forest Service (Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, and western Oklahoma)."--Abstract.

Download or read book Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States Wildlife and fish written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume 2. Wildlife and fish.

Download or read book Avian Habitat Response to Grazing Haying and Biofuels Production in Native Warm season Forages in the Mid South written by Jessie Lee Birckhead and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Declines in grassland birds have been attributed to loss of habitat, habitat degradation, and changes in land management. In the Mid-South, pasture and hayfield management has focused on maintaining dense stands of non-native forages that do not provide suitable vegetative structure for grassland birds or northern bobwhite. Native warm-season grasses have been promoted for livestock forage and biofuels feedstock. However, little information exists on how these practices affect habitat for grassland songbirds or northern bobwhite in the Mid-South. We conducted a study of two cattle grazing treatments, two hay harvest treatments and a biofuels harvest treatment on vegetative structure for nesting and brood-rearing grassland birds and northern bobwhite in native warm-season grasses. We evaluated vegetative composition and structure during a typical nesting period for grassland songbirds and a typical brood-rearing period for northern bobwhite across Tennessee, 2010 and 2011. We also evaluated invertebrate availability in each grazing treatment. Full-season grazing created suitable structure for nesting and brood-rearing grassland songbirds and northern bobwhite, whereas early-season grazing only provided suitable nesting structure for these species through early summer. Hay and biofuels stands provided adequate nesting cover for grassland songbirds and northern bobwhite, and hay harvests in May and June enhanced structure for brood-rearing northern bobwhite by reducing grass height. However, hay harvests in May or June are likely to impact nesting success for grassland songbirds and northern bobwhite. NWSG planted for biofuels only did not provide suitable structure for northern bobwhite broods. We recommend big bluestem and indiangrass for hay production, as these species mature later and hay harvest is less likely to impact grassland bird reproductive success. In areas where grassland birds and northern bobwhite are a management concern, grazing is a better management tool than haying or biofuels production. We recommend full-season grazing in production stands of native warm-season forages to maximize benefits where grassland birds and northern bobwhite are a management concern.

Download or read book The Influence of Habitat Features on Grassland Birds Nesting in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota written by David Joseph Horn and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Results of habitat fragmentation studies on grassland and wetland birds are not consistent. Some studies have found positive relationships among abundance, nest success, field size, and distance to edges, whereas others have found no relationship. One reason for differing results may be the landscape composition in which the study took place. I examined how landscape composition influenced relations among: 1) occurrence and abundance of grassland songbirds and field size and 2) nest success of ducks, field size, and edges. I also investigated the effects of mowing on grassland songbirds, and how landscape features, such as amount of perennial grassland, and predator community composition influenced the nest success of ducks in fields. The study took place in the Prairie Pothole Region of central North Dakota during the 1996-1997 breeding seasons. Two types of 6.4 x 6.4 km study areas were selected based on the amount of perennial grassland they contained: 15-20% and 51-55%. The remaining portion of the study areas was primarily cropland and wetland.

Download or read book General Technical Report RMRS written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook written by Stephen Packard and published by . This book was released on 1997-03 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This hands-on manual provides a detailed account of what has been learned about the art and science of prairie restoration and the application of that knowledge to restoration projects throughout the world. The book explores a myriad of restoration philosophies and techniques and is an essential resource for anyone working to nurture our once-vibrant native landscapes to a state of health.

Download or read book Assessing Initial Floristic Integrity of Burned and Unburned Tallgrass Prairie Restorations at the Emiquon Preserve Illinois written by Christy Troxell-Thomas and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Effects of Grassland Restoration on Avian Assemblage Characteristics and Dickcissel Nesting Success in Texas written by Christopher M. Lituma and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The prairies of North America have undergone substantial changes since European settlement in the 1800's, with some estimates suggesting that 96% of the tallgrass prairie has been converted. Multiple factors contributed to reduction in prairie, including: grazing, row-crop farming, depressed fire regimes, and exotic grass species introduction. In Texas, 35% of the historic grassland ecosystems have been either altered or converted. Introduced in the 1940's, exotic grass species such as Bermuda grass (Cynodon sp) have displaced native grass species throughout Texas. Introduced grass species can alter the existing plant communities degrading habitat for birds and other animals. Grassland birds are declining faster than any other bird group within North America; due in part to a reduction in suitable breeding habitat. I addressed this issue by comparing nesting success of grassland birds between exotic grass sites and restored native grass sites in the blackland prairie region of east-central Texas during 2007-2008 breeding seasons. I conducted point counts and nest searching from March - July. Point count data indicate no difference in species richness between sites. Dickcissel (Spiza americana) nests represented 89% of the nests found (n = 104). Dickcissel abundance was 44% higher in restored sites and 76% of nests were located in restored sites. Daily survival (DSR) for dickcissels in restored sites was 0.895 (SE = 0.013) and for exotic sites was 0.930 (SE = 0.017). I used an independent samples t-test to compare mean nest height, which was 56% higher in restored sites than exotic sites (n = 83, x bar = 38.0 cm "1.90; x bar = 15.2 cm plus/minus 2.19, df = 81, t = -6.31, P = 0.001), and mean nest substrate height which was 58% higher in restored sites than in exotic sites (n = 83, x bar = 118.8 cm " 6.50; x bar = 46.5 cm " 4.77, df = 81, t = -6.08, P = 0.001). Although dickcissel abundance was greater in restored sites than exotic sites, their observed nesting success and DSR was lower in restored sites. This is indicative of an ecological trap, which occurs when an organism is attracted to a habitat that negatively impacts the organism. Some research suggests that restored fields in other states are acting as traps for dickcissels, and according to my results restored sites I sampled may also be acting as ecological traps for dickcissels in Texas.

Download or read book Response of Grassland Birds to Prairie Restoration at Lost Mound NWR Baseline Data Collection written by Amy J. Symstad and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Effect of Habitat Fragmentation on Grassland nesting Birds in Southwestern Missouri written by Maiken Winter and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Habitat loss and fragmentation on the breeding grounds appears to be a major cause of the apparent decline of many North American bird species. Habitat fragmentation can decrease bird populations through decreases of patch size, increase of edge habitat, and isolation of habitat fragments. These effects of habitat fragmentation have been well documented in forest-nesting birds. However, grassland-nesting birds are experiencing even greater and more consistent population declines, and the reasons for these declines are still poorly understood. Factors that can potentially influence density and nesting success of grassland-nesting birds on their breeding grounds can act at three spatial scales: within-patch scale (vegetation structure and management regime), local scale (patch size and proximity to edge habitat), and landscape scale (habitat surrounding the patch). Between 1995 and 1997 I investigated how factors on each of these three spatial scales affected density and nesting success of grassland-nesting birds in 13 fragments of native tallgrass prairie in southwestern Missouri, focusing on two severely declining passerines, the Henslow's Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) and the Dickcissel (Spiza americana). The goal of this thesis was not merely to show that environmental factors at different scales affect density and nesting success of grassland birds; the simultaneous measurement of landscape at multiple scales has additionally allowed me to demonstrate an interaction between the factors measured at these different scales, which has not previously been investigated. Further, most studies on the effects of habitat fragmentation on grassland-nesting birds have based their conclusions on census data only, although census data do not reliably indicate how a species is affected by habitat fragmentation. Low litter depth (particularly the result of haying), small patch size, close proximity (