Year of Award

2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Name

Fish and Wildlife Biology

Department or School/College

College of Forestry and Conservation

Committee Chair

David E. Naugle

Commitee Members

I. Joseph Ball, Thomas E. Martin, Richard L. Hutto, Jonathan M. Graham

Keywords

conservation planning, grassland birds, Great Plains, habitat models, landscape ecology, treebelts

Publisher

University of Montana

Abstract

Prairie is one of the most imperiled ecosystems, and grassland birds have experienced steeper and more consistent declines than any other group of birds in North America. Habitat-based planning tools are a cornerstone of conservation in forested ecosystems, but remain a novel approach in grasslands. In Chapter 2, I develop spatially-explicit habitat models as decision support tools for conservation. I survey birds, measure local vegetation and quantify landscape features at 952 sites in western Minnesota and northwest Iowa. Findings indicate that cropland provides little habitat for grassland songbirds and that hayland does not compensate for loss of grasslands. Multiscale models show that conservation actions that integrate management at local and landscape scales have the greatest chance of success. At landscape scales, conserving and creating grasslands, removing trees from the landscape, or both, increase songbird density. Density of many species is positively related to amount of grassland at the smallest scale evaluated (0.5km2), but large grasslands are vital for others whose density is related to grassland abundance at large scales (32km2). At local scales, managing for a mosaic of vegetation that varies in structure and composition increases bird diversity. Model validation shows that planning maps can be used reliably (r2 ≥ 0.90) to establish a regional conservation strategy. I used spatially-explicit maps to identify five landscapes capable of attracting the highest densities of the greatest number of songbirds, and show that most of this habitat is unprotected from risk of conversion to other land uses. Models in Chapter 2 confirm that woody edges exacerbate effects of habitat loss, so in Chapter 3 I test whether birds use otherwise suitable habitats by experimentally removing trees in a before-after/control-impact design. This is the first study to experimentally show that songbirds avoid woody edges in otherwise suitable habitat. Avoidance of trees is apparent as far away from woody edges as surveys were conducted (240m). The spring following tree removal, the four most common species redistributed themselves ubiquitously in grasslands where trees were removed. I recommend that managers remove trees from grasslands and avoid planting trees in grasslands where conservation of songbirds is the management goal.

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© Copyright 2008 Frank Royce Quamen