scholarly journals Thinning alters avian occupancy in piñon–juniper woodlands

The Condor ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick A Magee ◽  
Jonathan D Coop ◽  
Jacob S Ivan
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Point Counts ◽  
Sitta Carolinensis ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Species Of Conservation Concern ◽  
Mountain Bluebird ◽  
Natural Resource Managers ◽  
Chondestes Grammacus

ABSTRACT Natural resource managers are increasingly applying tree reduction treatments to piñon–juniper woodlands to meet a range of ecological, social, and economic goals. However, treatment effects on woodland-obligate bird species are not well understood. We measured multiscale avian occupancy on 29 paired (control/treatment) sites in piñon–juniper woodlands in central Colorado, USA. We conducted point counts at 232 stations, 3 times each season in 2014 and 2015. We used hierarchical multiscale modeling to obtain unbiased estimates of landscape and local occupancy (i.e. probability of use) in treated and untreated sites for 31 species. Treatments reduced the occupancy of conifer obligates, including Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli), Clark’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), and White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis), and increased occupancy of Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) and Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides). Occupancy of Virginia’s Warbler (Oreothylpis virginiae) and Gray Flycatcher (Empidonax wrightii), two piñon–juniper specialists, decreased at the landscape scale in treated sites, and Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) occupancy decreased at the local scale. Tree reduction treatments in piñon–juniper woodlands have the potential to reduce habitat quality for a suite of bird species of conservation concern. We suggest that treatments designed to retain higher tree density and basal area will benefit conifer-obligate and piñon–juniper specialist bird species.

Linking remote sensing with modeling

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ned Horning ◽  
Julie A. Robinson ◽  
Eleanor J. Sterling ◽  
Woody Turner ◽  
Sacha Spector
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Bird Species Richness ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Natural Resource Managers ◽  
The Difference

Conservation biologists and natural resource managers often require detailed, accurate information on natural resources or biodiversity elements such as species, landscapes, and ecosystems. Their patterns of occurrence and their responses to environmental disturbance or change are dynamic over space and time and may be mediated by complex ecological processes. In most cases, our ability to directly measure or comprehensively map biodiversity elements is limited by human or financial resources, and logistical challenges such as difficulties in accessing terrain or short field seasons. In other situations, we might want to make quantitative inferences about, say, the kinds of environments that are most suitable for the persistence of an endangered species, or the influence of landscape modification on its highest-quality habitat. In these cases, developing models that explain and predict the patterns of biodiversity elements can help provide guidance at scales and resolutions that are not available through direct measurement. For example, Goetz et al. (2007) employed lidar data to predict the bird species richness across a 5,315 ha temperate forest reserve, the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge (PWNR) in the eastern United States. In this study, Goetz et al. derived and mapped several measures of forest canopy structure, including canopy height, and three descriptors of the vertical distribution of canopy elements. In addition to lidar, they also used optical remotely sensed data from two dates of Landsat ETM+ to derive NDVI during the growing season and the difference between the NDVI of leaf-on and leaf-off conditions (growing season versus winter). Testing three different quantitative statistical models (stepwise multiple linear regression, generalized additive models, and regression trees) to predict bird species richness, the authors used field survey data on the birds of the PWNR that were collected at a series of fixed points across the reserve as the training data for the response variable (bird species richness). To calibrate the model, they combined the habitat descriptors with the survey data, usually reserving 25 percent of the survey data to validate each model’s results.

scholarly journals Multiyear defoliations in southern New England increases oak mortality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Ward ◽  
Chad Jones ◽  
Joseph Barsky
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Oak Mortality ◽  
Natural Resource Managers ◽  
Individual Trees ◽  
The Impact

After decades of multiyear defoliation episodes in southern New England, Lymantria dispar dispar (previously gypsy moth) populations diminished with the appearance of the L. dispar fungus in 1989. Multiyear defoliations did not occur again until 2015-2018. To assess the impact of the return of multiyear defoliations, we examined 3095 oaks on 29 permanent study areas in Connecticut and Rhode Island that were established at least eleven years before the latest outbreaks. Pre-defoliation stand level oak mortality averaged 2% (three-year basis). Post-defoliation mortality did not differ between managed and unmanaged stands, but was much higher in severely defoliated stands (36%) than in stands with moderate (7%) or low-no defoliation (1%). Pre-defoliation mortality of individual trees differed among species, was lower for larger diameter trees and on unmanaged than managed stands. Post-defoliation mortality on plots with no to moderate defoliation was similar to pre-defoliation mortality levels. Following multiyear defoliations, white oak mortality was higher than for northern red and black oak. There was weak evidence that mortality was elevated on stands with higher basal area following severe defoliation. Natural resource managers should not assume that oaks that survived earlier multiyear defoliations episodes will survive future multiyear outbreaks, possibly because trees are older.

Participatory Mapping in Browns Canyon National Monument, Colorado (USA)

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
John Harner ◽  
Lee Cerveny ◽  
Rebecca Gronewold
Keyword(s):  
Land Management ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Bureau Of Land Management ◽  
National Monument ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Us Forest Service ◽  
Natural Resource Managers

Natural resource managers need up-to-date information about how people interact with public lands and the meanings these places hold for use in planning and decision-making. This case study explains the use of public participatory Geographic Information System (GIS) to generate and analyze spatial patterns of the uses and values people hold for the Browns Canyon National Monument in Colorado. Participants drew on maps and answered questions at both live community meetings and online sessions to develop a series of maps showing detailed responses to different types of resource uses and landscape values. Results can be disaggregated by interaction types, different meaningful values, respondent characteristics, seasonality, or frequency of visit. The study was a test for the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service, who jointly manage the monument as they prepare their land management plan. If the information generated is as helpful throughout the entire planning process as initial responses seem, this protocol could become a component of the Bureau’s planning tool kit.

Die Brutvogelfauna eines Nadelwaldes der nördlichen Voralpen nach dem Sturm Lothar

2017 ◽  
Vol 168 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Pierre Mollet ◽  
René Hardegger ◽  
Res Altwegg ◽  
Pius Korner ◽  
Simon Birrer
Keyword(s):  
Forest Succession ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Mountain Forest ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Point Counts ◽  
Federal Institute ◽  
Central Switzerland ◽  
Bird Fauna

Breeding bird fauna in a coniferous forest in the northern Prealps after storm Lothar In a 70-hectare large coniferous forest located on the northern edge of the Alps in central Switzerland, Canton of Obwalden, at an altitude of 1260 to 1550 metres above sea level, we surveyed the local breeding bird fauna in 2002 and 2013 by means of point counts as well as additional area searches for rare species. In December 1999, hurricane Lothar caused two large windthrow areas and several smaller areas with scattered throws in the survey range. We found a total of 48 breeding bird species, which is a very diverse species composition for a mountain forest. In the eleven years between surveys, a decline in distribution or abundance was recorded for four species, while seven species showed an increase; a further four species showed no change. For the remaining species, the data sets were too small to reliably estimate changes. A comparison with forest structure data provided by the Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL revealed that for five bird species, the changes in distribution or abundance could be explained at least partially by forest succession. In order to obtain realistic distribution and abundance values in this kind of breeding bird survey, it is essential to collect large enough samples and to consider the detection probability of each individual species using appropriate statistical methods.

Integration of Human/Social Dimensions into the Traditional European Model of Natural Resource Education and Management

2005 ◽  
Vol 156 (8) ◽  
pp. 264-268
Author(s):  
James J. Kennedy ◽  
Niels Elers Koch
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Western World ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Natural Resource Managers ◽  
Rural Ecosystem ◽  
Professional Roles And Responsibilities

The increasing diversity, complexity and dynamics of ecosystem values and uses over the last 50 years requires new ways for natural resource managers (foresters, wildlife biologists, etc.)to understand and relate to their professional roles and responsibilities in accommodating urban and rural ecosystem users, and managing the complimentary and conflicting interactions between them. Three stages in Western-world natural resources management are identified and analyzed, beginning with the (1) Traditional stage: natural resources first, foremost and forever, to (2) Transitional stage: natural resource management,for better or worse, involves people, to (3) Relationship stage: managing natural resources for valued people and ecosystem relationships. The impacts of these three perspectives on how natural resource managers view and respond to ecosystems,people and other life-forms is basic and can be profound.

Overlap in avian communities produces unimodal richness peaks on Bornean mountains

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan C. Burner ◽  
Alison R. Styring ◽  
Chandradewana Boer ◽  
Frederick H. Sheldon
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Altitudinal Distribution ◽  
Bird Species Richness ◽  
Point Counts ◽  
Habitat Gradient ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Replicated Systems

Abstract:Altitudinal gradients provide tractable, replicated systems in which to study changes in species richness and community composition over relatively short distances. Previously, richness was often assumed to follow a monotonic decline with altitude, but recent meta-analyses show that more complex patterns, including mid-altitude richness peaks, are also prevalent in birds. In this study, we used point counts to survey birds at multiple altitudes on three mountains on the island of Borneo in Sundaland, an area for which quantitative analyses of avian altitudinal distribution are unavailable. In total we conducted 1088 point counts and collected associated habitat data at 527 locations to estimate species richness by altitude on Mt Mulu (2376 m), Mt Pueh (1550 m) and Mt Topap Oso (1450 m). On Mulu, the only mountain with an intact habitat gradient, bird species richness peaks at 600 m. Richness appeared to peak at 600 m on Totap Oso as well, but on Pueh it peaked several hundred metres higher. The richness peak on Mulu differs from that predicted by null models and is instead caused by the overlap of distinct lowland and montane avifaunas, supporting the faunal overlap hypothesis. This finding provides further evidence that a lack of coincidence between peak turnover and peak richness is not sufficient evidence to rule out faunal overlap as a causal factor.

scholarly journals Is it safe to nest near bold neighbours? Spatial patterns in predation risk associated with the density of American Golden-Plover nest

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Andrée Giroux ◽  
Myriam Trottier-Paquet ◽  
Joël Bêty ◽  
Vincent Lamarre ◽  
Nicolas Lecomte
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Species Of Conservation Concern ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Conservation Concern ◽  
Golden Plover ◽  
Mobbing Behaviour

Predation is one of the main factors explaining nesting mortality in most bird species. Birds can avoid nest predation or reduce predation pressure by breeding at higher latitude, showing anti-predator behaviour, and nesting in association with protective species. Plovers actively defend their territory by displaying early warning and aggressive/mobbing behaviour, potentially benefiting the neighbouring nests by decreasing their predation risk. To test for the existence of such a protective effect, we studied the influence of proximity to plover nests on predation risk of artificial nests on Igloolik Island (Nunavut, Canada) in July 2014. We predicted that the predation risk of artificial nests increases and decreases with the distance to and the density of plover nests, respectively. We monitored 18 plover nests and set 35 artificial nests at 30, 50, 100, 200 and 500 m from seven of those plover nests. Surprisingly, we showed that predation risk of artificial nests increases with the density of active plover nests. We also found a significant negative effect of the distance to the nearest active protector nest on predation risk of artificial nests. Understanding how the composition and structure of shorebird communities generate spatial patterns in predation risks represent a key step to better understand the importance of these species of conservation concern in tundra food webs.

Aquatic Stewardship Education in Theory and Practice

2007 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
North America ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Natural Resource Managers ◽  
Stewardship Behavior

<i>Abstract</i>.—Contemporary definitions of aquatic resource stewardship are a specific expression of ethical themes that humankind has wrestled with for millennia. The foundations for a stewardship ethic can be secular or spiritual. Other chapter contributors discuss a range of the secular foundations (e.g., fishing, boating); we discuss the implications of stewardship ethics rooted in religious traditions. Some fisheries professionals recognize religious–cultural influences on aquatic stewardship, such as those seen in Native American or Asian immigrant communities. But fisheries professionals have commonly ignored mainline Judeo-Christian faith traditions as an ethical basis for aquatic stewardship behavior, despite the fact that those traditions inform ethical development for large numbers of people in North America and that denominations within those traditions have increasingly engaged in stewardship-based environmental education and advocacy. The proposition that religious values often form the basis for a stewardship ethic presents several challenges for fisheries professionals striving to foster stewardship behavior. However, a basic understanding of these religious foundations could contribute to an improved practice of stewardship education, through outreach to a new constituency—faith communities. To illustrate this point, we briefly summarize some of the sources for stewardship found in the biblical corpus. We offer three examples of how Christian stewardship principles are manifest in aquatic stewardship programs delivered by faith communities. Models of partnership between natural resource managers and local faith communities are emerging across North America. In revisiting the ethical bases of stewardship and identifying new opportunities for stewardship education partnerships, we hope to demonstrate one more means by which fisheries professionals can bridge from stewardship education in principle to an effective practice of stewardship education.

Mitigating Impacts of Natural Hazards on Fishery Ecosystems

2008 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Radio Telemetry ◽  
Columbia River ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Army Corps ◽  
The North ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
North Fork ◽  
Natural Resource Managers ◽  
Mount St Helens

<em>Abstract</em>—The North Fork Toutle River drains the northwest face of Mount St. Helens to the Cowlitz River, a major tributary of the Columbia River in southwestern Washington. In response to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed a sediment retention structure (SRS) in the North Fork Toutle River watershed to reduce the transport of fine sediment to the lower Cowlitz and Columbia River systems. The SRS was built without fish passage facilities and currently presents a significant barrier to migrating adult salmonids. To facilitate passage of coho salmon <em>Oncorhynchus kisutch </em>and steelhead <em>O. mykiss </em>to the upper watershed, a fish collection facility (FCF) was constructed 1.5 km downstream of the SRS, where fish are currently captured and transported to tributaries upstream of the SRS. We used radio telemetry to evaluate the movement of adult coho salmon and steelhead in the North Fork Toutle River in 2005 and 2006. A total of 40 coho and 42 steelhead were released from four different release sites in varied proportions. Release sites included the FCF, the SRS, and Alder Creek and Hoffstadt Creek, both North Fork Toutle River tributaries upstream of the SRS. Results from this research effort suggest that (1) unlike adult coho, adult steelhead are able to ascend the SRS spillway; (2) upstream adult coho and steelhead passage through the sediment plain is possible but may be flow-dependent; (3) adult coho and steelhead released in Alder Creek and Hoffstadt Creek tend to remain within their respective release tributary; and (4) postspawn steelhead emigration is limited. Future research is required to adequately address factors that influence movement of adult coho and steelhead in the upper North Fork Toutle River. The information resulting from this collaborative effort is enabling natural resource managers to determine whether the SRS spillway is a barrier to anadromous fish, to refine existing trap and haul operations, or, if appropriate, to consider modifying the spillway to enable volitional passage by upstream-migrating fish.

Streams and Dreams and Cross-site Studies

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherri L. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Stream Temperature ◽  
Principal Investigator ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
University Of Oklahoma ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Natural Resource Managers ◽  
Heat Budgets ◽  
Postdoctoral Fellowship

The influence of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program on my science has been to broaden my scope through exposure to long-term research and to encourage me to explore major questions across biomes. Communication and outreach with natural resource managers and policy makers has given me insight into translation of science and shaped my research. Through my experiences in the LTER program, I began collaborations with stream ecologists and biogeochemists across sites, which expanded into a high-profile research project that spanned several decades. I encourage scientists to work at LTER sites because they are supportive science communities with a wealth of information to share. Currently, I am a co–principal investigator at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest LTER project (AND) in Oregon and have been involved with LTER sites most of my professional life. In 1990, I began graduate research on freshwater shrimp responses to a hurricane at the Luquillo LTER site (LUQ) with Alan Covich, my PhD advisor at the University of Oklahoma. My involvement with LTER research expanded during my postdoctoral fellowship. Through the LTER All Scientists Meetings, I met Julia Jones and other researchers from AND. With their encouragement, I received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant in 1996 to examine stream temperature dynamics at AND. After several years at Oregon State University, I was hired by the US Forest Service (USFS) Pacific Northwest Research Station in 2001 as a USFS scientist for AND and became a co–principal investigator in 2002. I have had the benefit of being mentored for multiple years by Fred Swanson and have gradually assumed lead USFS responsibilities for AND. As a stream ecologist, I have studied basic questions and applied issues involving water quality, water quantity, and stream food webs, primarily in forested streams. My research at the LUQ site has examined responses of fresh water shrimp to disturbances and their role in ecosystem dynamics. At AND, my research exploring patterns and controls of stream temperature began as a theoretical landscape-scale question and expanded to examination of temperature responses to flow paths, calculations of heat budgets, and policy implications of forest management (Johnson and Jones 2000; Johnson 2004).

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