Download or read book Nesting Success and Nest Site Characteristics of Four Thrush Species on a Managed Forest written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Effects of Local and Landscape Attributes on Wood Thrush Nest Success in Contiguous Forests written by Eric Zawatski and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eastern forest breeding birds have undergone steady and precipitous population declines over the last 50 years, and among them the Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) has exhibited some of the most serious population reductions. The causes of their population declines have largely been attributed to the fragmentation, degradation, and the complete loss of available habitat on both their breeding and wintering grounds, with losses of breeding habitat being 3 to 6 times more important than comparable habitat losses on their wintering grounds. Previous studies on Wood Thrush nest success in fragmented areas have shown that their nest success is higher with increasing forest cover in the surrounding landscape. Despite the implied significance of largely forested landscapes to Wood Thrush and other interior forest breeding birds, coupled with increasing fragmentation rendering extant contiguous forests increasingly important, patterns of Wood Thrush nest success in largely forested landscapes are not well studied and these patterns are relatively unknown. Therefore, the goal of this study was to identify what are the primary factors influencing the nest success and productivity of Wood Thrush in contiguous forests to identify characteristics of optimal nesting habitat. We were interested in the influence of patterns in land cover, edge metrics, habitat variables, and the invertebrate prey biomass available to them. To determine the primary drivers of nest success and productivity, we nest searched and monitored the fate of 248 Wood Thrush nests at seven field site locations in Central Pennsylvania during the breeding seasons of 2018-2020. We quantified the percentage of different land cover types (forest, agriculture, and developed) at 0.5 km, 1 km, and 2.5 km scales around each nest, the distance to edge and edge types, and the vegetation around each nest site location, and we quantified the overall invertebrate and calcium-rich invertebrate biomass at each nest monitored during the 2020 breeding season. We also quantified the percent of habitat classified as timber harvests 0.5 km, 1 km, and 2 km around the nest site. To model nest success, we used models in Program MARK which allow for the inclusion of nest specific covariates and created model suites for each spatial scale. We found that the Wood Thrush nest survival probability (NSP) in our study (0.3613) was higher than estimates reported in fragmented landscapes, but even within the largely forested landscapes in our study (2.5 km mean forest cover of 84.22 ± 10.99), the pressures from development and urbanization are what are most influential on Wood Thrush nest success. In addition, we found that forest structural and habitat characteristics around the nest are insignificant predictors of nest success. Our best fitting models at all three spatial scales (0.5 km, 1 km, and 2.5 km) included percent developed cover as a predictor variable, all having a negative relationship between the amount of developed cover and Wood Thrush nest success at each scale. At the 0.5 km and 1 km scale, we found that Wood Thrush NSP declined from 0.452 to 0.275 and 0.488 to 0.251 respectively over a developed cover range of 0% to 7%. Most significantly, we found that Wood Thrush NSP declined precipitously from 0.618 to 0.237 over a small range of 0% to 6% developed cover (equivalent to 0 to 117 hectares) within 2.5 km of a nest. We found that timber harvests can potentially have a negative effect on Wood Thrush nest success when located nearby (1 km scale), but at a larger (2 km) and smaller scale (0.5 km), there was no negative influence. Wood Thrush NSP declined from 0.506 to 0.295 over a timber harvest cover range of 0% to 12% at the 1 km scale. Conversely, NSP was unaffected at the 2 km scale, with NSP estimates of 0.426 at 0% cover and 0.441% at 9% cover. Our results indicate that in moderate amounts, timber harvests in largely forested landscapes do not have significant impacts on Wood Thrush nest success, building confidence in a potential "tradeoff" between the early-successional and mature forest species and indicating that management for these two habitat types is likely compatible. We did not find any significant relationships with macroinvertebrate prey biomass in the territory around a nest, and found that it was an insignificant predictor of Wood Thrush nest success, clutch size, and proportion of a clutch that successfully fledges. The mean non-snail macroinvertebrate biomass across all nests was 0.3883 g/m2 (range 0.0155- 2.5187 g/m2), with site means ranging from 0.3518 g/m2 (SGL 92) to 0.4787 g/m2 (SGL 166). Prey biomass has been shown to drive territory selection and space use, and Wood Thrush adults in contiguous forests appear to nest only where there is enough invertebrate prey for successful nesting. Our results demonstrate that even within primarily forested landscapes, human development and suburban sprawl in the surrounding landscape are still the primary drivers of Wood Thrush nest success, with their negative effects being both detectable and significant over 2 km into adjacent contiguous forest areas. Identification and management application of the factors influencing Wood Thrush nest success in high priority areas, contiguous forests, is necessary for the mitigation and reversal of their recent negative population declines. Management for this species on the breeding grounds should focus on minimizing development in areas surrounding large priority forest blocks, as well as consider that even seemingly small increases in development even within largely forested landscapes can have significant negative effects on the nest success of mature forest birds in the surrounding landscape.
Download or read book A Land Manager s Guide to Improving Habitat for Forest Thrushes written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 902 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Characteristics of Mixed oak Forest Ecosystems in Southern Ohio Prior to the Reintroduction of Fire written by Elaine Kennedy Sutherland and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Evaluation of Forest Management to Improve Breeding Habitat for Songbirds in Oak hickory Forests at Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge written by Benjamin S. Thatcher and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Partners in Flight (PIF) recommends using silviculture to improve breeding habitat conditions for migrant landbirds. Alternative thinning treatments may benefit priority landbird species by increasing structural complexity in second-growth forests. However, the effects of thinning on landbird populations in oak (Quercus spp.)-hickory (Carya spp.) forests have not been experimentally demonstrated. I used a randomized and replicated large-scale manipulative experiment to evaluate the effects of thinning (i.e., crown-release and gap creation) on forest habitat characteristics and avian populations at the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge. I collected data during 2001 (pre-treatment) and from 2002 to 2005 (1 to 4 years post-treatment) in 20-ha thinned (n = 8) and control (n = 4) plots. Using mixed model ANOVA with covariates, I compared habitat attributes, tree regeneration, avian population densities, daily nest survival rates, realized brood sizes (# fledged per successful nest), rates of brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) brood parasitism, and nest-site characteristics between treatments. In addition, I used Program MARK to evaluate the influence of habitat factors at multiple spatial scales on predation rates of Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) and wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) nests. Forest habitat attributes, avian population densities, and nest survival rates did not differ between control and thinned plots prior to treatment, indicating my experimental design (including the random allocation of treatments to plots, blocking, and the interspersion of plots across the study area) was sufficient for detecting treatment effects. Thinning resulted in a 29% difference in basal area between treatments (thinned = 20.3 m2 ha−1; control = 28.5 m2 ha−1). Compared to controls, thinned plots had significantly less overstory cover and midstory cover and significantly more downed wood and herbaceous and woody vegetation in the lower forest strata. Specifically, I detected greater densities of oak (Quercus spp.), yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), and sourwood (Oxydenrum arboretum) saplings, and greater cover in poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and blackberry (Rubus spp.) in thinned than control plots. I used spot-mapping to estimate the densities of PIF priority species. Thinning had positive effects on the densities of seven species (eastern towhee [Pipilo erythropthalmus], eastern-wood pewee [Contopus virens], indigo bunting [Passerina cyanea], Kentucky warbler [Oporornis formosus], white-eyed vireo [Vireo griseus], yellow-breasted chat [Icteria virens], and yellow-throated vireo [Vireo flavifrons]), inconclusive or negligible effects on the densities of two species (Louisiana waterthrush [Seiurus motacilla] and worm-eating warbler [Helmitheros vermivorus]), and negative effects on the densities of two species (Acadian flycatcher and wood thrush). I monitored 1,149 nests of 28 species. Predation accounted for 80% of all nest failures. Mayfield-adjusted nest daily survival rates of all species combined did not significantly differ between treatments. For all species combined, rates of cowbird parasitism varied annually but did not significantly differ between thinned (20.8%, SE = 2.3) and control (18.5%, SE = 3.7) plots. I assigned bird species to functional groups for further analyses. PIF priority mature-forest species exhibited nest daily survival rates (0.972 vs. 0.969), realized brood sizes (2.8 vs. 2.6), and parasitism rates (16.9 vs. 10.4%) that were comparable between thinned and control plots. Based on 162 nests in thinned plots, PIF shrubland species had nest daily survival rates of 0.958, realized brood sizes of 2.9, and parasitism rates of 13.6%; this functional group nested too rarely in control plots for analysis. Treatment effects were significant for the overstory and midstory nesting functional groups. Overstory nesters exhibited nest daily survival rates that were greater in thinned (0.982) than control (0.963) plots. Midstory nesters experienced greater parasitism rates in thinned (30.0%) than control (17.9%) plots. I evaluated nest-site selection and factors affecting nest predation rates using 132 Acadian flycatcher and 112 wood thrush nests. In thinned plots, both species selected nest sites with greater overstory and midstory cover than found at random. I found little evidence that nest predation rates were influenced by the amount of agriculture in the local (314 ha) landscape or by distance to anthropogenic edge, perhaps because the landscape was predominantly forested (agriculture [less-than or equal to] 4%) and most nests were>350 m from an edge. In thinned plots, predation rates on wood thrush nests decreased with increasing overstory cover and increasing basal area in large trees; predation rates increased with increasing basal area in small-diameter trees. None of the habitat predictors I measured had a strong relationship to Acadian flycatcher nest predation rates in thinned or control plots. Model-averaged nest survival estimates for wood thrushes were 27.8% and 26.8% in thinned and control plots, respectively. Acadian flycatcher model-averaged nest survival estimates were 53.5% in thinned and 56.4% in control plots. In summary, my results indicate that thinning had strong effects on forest habitat attributes and the demographics of some priority bird species. In the short term (1 to 4 years post-treatment), thinning appears to provide suitable breeding habitat for priority bird species that prefer dense understory vegetation or partially-opened overstories for nesting. Conversely, thinning had neutral or negative effects on some species and functional groups that nest in midstory vegetation, indicating there may be an ecological cost, in the short-term, associated with implementing this treatment. This treatment likely will have differential costs and benefits for avian populations as forest habitat conditions continue responding via successional dynamics and vegetative growth to the initial thinning operation.
Download or read book Biodiversity in the Forests of Maine written by Gro Flatebo and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Special Reference Briefs written by and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Energy Research Abstracts written by and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book New England Wildlife written by Richard M. DeGraaf and published by UPNE. This book was released on 2001 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only comprehensive guide to the natural histories and habitats of all inland New England species
Download or read book Ecology and Management of Cowbirds and Their Hosts written by James N. M. Smith and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2014-09-05 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past two centuries, cowbirds have increased in numbers and extended their range across North America, while many of the native songbird species whose nests they parasitize to raise their young have declined. This timely book collects forty essays by most of the principal authorities on the biology and management of cowbirds. The book's goals are to explore the biology of cowbirds, the threats they pose to host species and populations, and the management programs that are being undertaken to minimize these threats. The book is organized into five sections, each with an extended editors' introduction that places the contributions in a broad, up-to-date setting. The sections cover: The changing abundance of cowbirds and the ways in which their numbers can be estimated. Host choice by cowbirds, the negative effects of cowbirds on particular host species, and the daily patterns of cowbird behavior. Behavioral interactions between cowbirds and specific host species. Patterns of cowbird abundance and host use across varying landscapes. Management programs designed to control cowbirds and protect threatened songbirds.
Download or read book Effects of Agricultural Conservation Practices on Fish and Wildlife written by National Agricultural Library (U.S.) and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The bibliography is a guide to recent scientific literature covering effects of agricultural conservation practices on fish and wildlife. The citations listed here provide information on how conservation programs and practices designed to improve fish and wildlife habitat, as well as those intended for other purposes (e.g., water quality improvement), affect various aquatic and terrestrial fauna"--Abstract.
Download or read book Factors Affecting the Nesting Success of Edge and Shrubland Birds written by Scott Kuehner Robinson and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ecosystem Management for Sustainability written by John Peine and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1998-06-23 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the 21st century approaches, the need to put principles of sustainable living and ecosystem management into practice has never been so urgent. Ecosystem Management for Sustainability recognizes this need and shares the experiences of the editor and 54 contributing authors, each leaders in the advancement of ecosystem management and champions of the natural environment. The book uses the Man And Biosphere program as a case example of a wide variety of resource management activities at work. Through the multi-authored contributions to this book, documentation of a comprehensive spectrum of ecosystem management and sustainable development principles is achieved. Ecosystem Management for Sustainability provides a link between theory and practice of these two philosophies.
Download or read book Neotropical Migratory Birds written by Richard DeGraaf and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2019-06-07 with total page 699 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thrushes, warblers, vireos, and tanagers are probably the most familiar of the Neotropical migrants—birds that breed in the United States and Canada, then journey to spend the winter in the Caribbean, Mexico, or southward. But this extraordinary group actually comprises a large number of diverse species, including waterfowl, shorebirds, terns, hawks, flycatchers, and hummingbirds. In their compendious review of information on these birds, Richard M. DeGraaf and John H. Rappole illuminate the need for a thorough understanding of the ecology of each species, one that exte4nds throughout the entire life cycle. The authors argue convincingly that conservation efforts must be based on such an understanding and carried out across a species' range—not limited to the breeding grounds. This book is the first to summarize in one volume much-needed practical data about the distribution and breeding habitat requirements of migratory birds in North and South America. The body of the book consists of natural history accounts of more than 350 species of Neotropical migrants, including a brief description of each bird's range, status, habitats on breeding grounds, nest site, and wintering areas. The authors provide a complete range map of each species' distribution in the Western Hemisphere as well as notes on the distribution—basic data that until recently have largely been unavailable in usable form to ornithologists and land and resource managers. An appendix lists species that are increasing or decreasing at significant rates in various physiographic regions of North America.
Download or read book General Technical Report RM written by and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Park Science written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
