A large-scale perspective for managing prairie avifauna assemblages across the western US: influences of habitat, land ownership and latitude

Dreitz, Victoria J.; Stinson, Lani T.; Hahn, Beth; Tack, Jason D.; Lukacs, Paul M.

doi:10.7717/peerj.2879

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Because the design is based on the fundamentals of sampling theory [ 28 , 38 ], the program ensures unbiased population estimates, valid estimates of precision and strong inference to bird populations in monitoring region. In addition, the hierarchical design ( Fig 2 ) has a natural connection to hierarchical models [ 89 ] and model-based approaches for population and occupancy estimation [ 17 , 18 ], trend estimation [ 90 ], landscape and habitat ecology [ 1 , 80 ], species distribution modeling [ 79 , 91 ] and community modeling [ 23 , 92 ]. Finally, the hierarchical design of the IMBCR program provides a data platform to develop coordinated conservation strategies, prioritize management actions and geographic areas, and effectively address the “what to do” and “where to do it” questions in conservation planning [ 82 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A statistically rigorous sampling design to integrate avian monitoring and management within Bird Conservation Regions

Pavlacky¹,

Lukacs

Blakesley³

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

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Monitoring is an essential component of wildlife management and conservation. However, the usefulness of monitoring data is often undermined by the lack of 1) coordination across organizations and regions, 2) meaningful management and conservation objectives, and 3) rigorous sampling designs. Although many improvements to avian monitoring have been discussed, the recommendations have been slow to emerge in large-scale programs. We introduce the Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) program designed to overcome the above limitations. Our objectives are to outline the development of a statistically defensible sampling design to increase the value of large-scale monitoring data and provide example applications to demonstrate the ability of the design to meet multiple conservation and management objectives. We outline the sampling process for the IMBCR program with a focus on the Badlands and Prairies Bird Conservation Region (BCR 17). We provide two examples for the Brewer’s sparrow (Spizella breweri) in BCR 17 demonstrating the ability of the design to 1) determine hierarchical population responses to landscape change and 2) estimate hierarchical habitat relationships to predict the response of the Brewer’s sparrow to conservation efforts at multiple spatial scales. The collaboration across organizations and regions provided economy of scale by leveraging a common data platform over large spatial scales to promote the efficient use of monitoring resources. We designed the IMBCR program to address the information needs and core conservation and management objectives of the participating partner organizations. Although it has been argued that probabilistic sampling designs are not practical for large-scale monitoring, the IMBCR program provides a precedent for implementing a statistically defensible sampling design from local to bioregional scales. We demonstrate that integrating conservation and management objectives with rigorous statistical design and analyses ensures reliable knowledge about bird populations that is relevant and integral to bird conservation at multiple scales.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A statistically rigorous sampling design to integrate avian monitoring and management within Bird Conservation Regions

Pavlacky¹,

Lukacs

Blakesley³

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

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“…Each avian survey at the individual survey points consists of a six‐minute point count during which all birds heard or seen are recorded (Pavlacky et al., 2017). We used presence/absence data from the IMBCR surveys to model species occupancy from which species richness was derived (following Dreitz et al., 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…

σ_{1}^{2} Gamma (α = 0.1, β = 0.1)

) following the methods of other studies using avian survey data (e.g. Dreitz et al., 2017; Janousek et al., 2019; Zipkin et al., 2010).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Testing Huston's dynamic equilibrium model along fire and forest productivity gradients using avian monitoring data

Janousek

Dreitz

2020

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim Many studies investigating the response of wildlife to disturbance focus predominantly on the effects of the disturbance alone but fail to account for the influence of ecosystem productivity in moderating the response of species and thus the resulting biodiversity patterns. We use Huston's dynamic equilibrium model (DEM) to explore the relationship between avian diversity and fire across the greater Rocky Mountain region of the western United States. This model provides the theoretical foundation to understand the distinct and interactive effects disturbance and productivity have on regulating species richness. Location We used avian monitoring data collected at 120 sites across Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming in the western United States from 2008 to 2016. Methods We used a Bayesian hierarchical multispecies occupancy model to predict species richness across fire and productivity gradients. Hierarchical models enable inference at the community and species level, accounting for imperfect detection, and providing a more accurate assessment of the ecological relationships. Results We found support of the hypotheses described by the DEM Avian species richness changed little across the fire severity gradient alone, though this relationship varies considerably when including the interaction of fire and ecosystem productivity. At lower latitudes, richness is greatest at intermediate levels of fire severity and productivity following the DEM. However, as latitude increases, the productivity at which richness is greatest also increases. Mean productivity increases with latitude across the study area, and we argue the changing regional levels of ecosystem productivity alters the relationships predicted by the DEM. Main conclusions Our results provide an important example of how relationships between richness and disturbance may be missed if viewed outside the context of other environmental factors, mainly ecosystem productivity. This highlights the importance of accounting for changing ecological context across broad spatial scales to ensure accurate assessments of disturbance–diversity relationships.

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“…1). This region has the greatest diversity of breeding grassland and sagebrush obligate songbirds in North America (Dreitz et al 2017). Land ownership is characterized by large blocks of both public and private lands.…”

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grassland bird diversity and abundance in the presence of native and non-native grazers

Boyce¹,

Shamon²,

Kunkel³

et al. 2021

ACE

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Temperate grassland biomes are globally imperiled, and grassland birds are in precipitous decline as a result. The majority of North America's grassland birds breed on rangelands occupied by domestic cattle, but reintroductions of bison to restore evolutionary grazing patterns are increasingly common. Grassland landscapes in western North America have undergone drastic changes since millions of bison occupied this landscape, and the biodiversity effects of bison on modern rangelands remain poorly understood. Here, we test the biodiversity effects of native versus non-native grazers in the context of a highly diverse grassland bird community on the Northern Great Plains of North America. We compared the effects of 2 different grazing treatments common across the region on avian diversity: seasonally grazed and manually rotated domestic cattle, and year-round, free-moving bison. We also test whether estimated abundances of 11 grassland/steppe obligate songbirds differ between these two management regimes. We found roughly equivalent bird diversity, as measured by species richness and Shannon's diversity index, at sites occupied year-round by bison and seasonally by cattle. We also found no significant effect of grazer type on 9 of 11 grassland songbird species. The two exceptions were Grasshopper Sparrow and Vesper Sparrow, which were more abundant in bison pastures. Our results suggest that both native and nonnative grazers can create habitat for a highly diverse assemblage of grassland birds under grazer-specific management regimes. Diversité et abondance des oiseaux de prairie en présence d'herbivores indigènes et non indigènesRÉSUMÉ. Les biomes des prairies tempérées sont menacés à l'échelle mondiale et par conséquent, les oiseaux de prairie connaissent une diminution accélérée. La majorité des oiseaux de prairie d'Amérique du Nord nichent dans des pâturages occupés par du bétail domestique, mais les réintroductions de bisons visant à rétablir des modèles de pâturage évolutifs sont de plus en plus courantes. Les paysages de prairies dans l'ouest de l'Amérique du Nord ont subi des changements radicaux depuis que des millions de bisons les ont occupés, et les effets du bison sur la biodiversité des grands pâturages contemporains restent mal connus. L'objectif de la présente étude était de tester les effets sur la biodiversité des herbivores indigènes et non indigènes dans le contexte d'une communauté d'oiseaux de prairie très diversifiée dans les Grandes Plaines du Nord de l'Amérique du Nord. Nous avons comparé les effets de deux traitements de broutement différents, communs à toute la région, sur la diversité aviaire : le bétail domestique, broutant de façon saisonnière et soumis à une rotation manuelle, et le bison, qui se déplace librement toute l'année. Nous avons également vérifié si l'abondance de 11 espèces d'oiseaux chanteurs obligatoires des prairies et des steppes différait entre ces deux régimes de gestion. Nous avons trouvé une diversité d'oiseaux à peu près équivalente, mesurée par la richesse des es...

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A large-scale perspective for managing prairie avifauna assemblages across the western US: influences of habitat, land ownership and latitude

Cited by 8 publications

References 45 publications

A statistically rigorous sampling design to integrate avian monitoring and management within Bird Conservation Regions

A statistically rigorous sampling design to integrate avian monitoring and management within Bird Conservation Regions

Testing Huston's dynamic equilibrium model along fire and forest productivity gradients using avian monitoring data

Grassland bird diversity and abundance in the presence of native and non-native grazers

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