Home range- and colony-scale habitat models for Pinyon Jays in piñon-juniper woodlands of New Mexico, USA

Johnson, Kelly; Neville, Teri B.; Smith, Jacqueline; Horner, Mark W.

doi:10.5751/ace-00890-110206

Cited by 12 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…They nest primarily in piñon and juniper trees (Johnson et al 2014(Johnson et al , 2017. Flock home ranges can cover up to 4000 ha in the breeding season and 6000 ha year round (Johnson et al 2016). Winter flocks can number in the hundreds (Balda 2002) and may move outside the home range when food is scarce (Balda 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Model transferability and implications for woodland management: a case study of Pinyon Jay nesting habitat

Johnson¹,

Sadoti²

2019

ACE

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Understanding the transferability of ecological models from one area to another is important for the effective conservation of species of management concern, particularly when the ability to sample across multiple areas is limited. Two measures of transferability, area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) and threshold-specific classification accuracy (sensitivity and specificity), are often employed in assessing models of bird occurrence or resource selection. Although informative, these measures may have limited practical utility in guiding on-the-ground habitat management like forest thinning, which often relies on simple metrics such as tree diameter. We addressed this challenge in studying the occurrence of Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) nest locations in four piñon-juniper woodland sites in New Mexico, USA. Using generalized linear mixed models, we employed covariates describing woodland structure at several scales to discriminate nest from non-nest plots. We found fair transferability of model predictions between sites via AUC (mean = 0.71), fair threshold-specific specificity (mean = 67%), and poor threshold-specific sensitivity (mean = 42%). Under a hypothetical scenario of forest thinning, we employed a covariate predictive in models of each site, nest (or non-nest plot center) tree root crown diameter (RCD), to assess a management-practical measure of transferability. Using critical RCD values at which 75% of nest trees were retained, we found fair transferability between sites (MEAN = 70%), though we observed retention of nest trees as low as 21%. Average retention increased to 75% (minimum = 60%) when information from multiple sites was combined. This example illustrates that the application of information from one area to the management of another may be effective but may also result in loss of important habitat or other resources. We found that management of Pinyon Jay nesting habitat should proceed on a single-site basis when local nesting information is available. Caution should be exercised when prescribing management in locations where information on nesting is lacking, and information from as many nearby sites as possible should be employed. Transférabilité de modèles et implications dans l'aménagement de secteurs boisés : étude de cas de l'habitat de nidification du Geai des pinèdes RÉSUMÉ. La compréhension de la transférabilité de modèles écologiques d'un secteur à un autre est importante si on veut conserver efficacement des espèces préoccupantes, particulièrement lorsqu'il est difficile d'échantillonner plusieurs endroits. Deux mesures de transférabilité, la surface sous la courbe (AUC) et la précision de classification spécifique au seuil (sensibilité et spécificité), sont souvent employées pour évaluer des modèles d'occurrence d'oiseaux ou de sélection des ressources. Bien qu'informatives, ces mesures peuvent s'avérer d'une utilité pratique limitée pour guider des activités concrètes d'aménagement d'habitat comme l'éclaircie forestière, laquelle repose souvent sur des paramèt...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Model transferability and implications for woodland management: a case study of Pinyon Jay nesting habitat

Johnson¹,

Sadoti²

2019

ACE

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“…There are not enough historical data available for the Oscura Mountains Colorado chipmunk for us to compare with the results of this study, so we can only speculate how the contemporary patterns of distribution may be due, in part, to anthropogenic effects. It is plausible that declining piñon pine health ( Johnson and Smith 2006 ; Johnson et al 2014 ), increased temperatures due to climate change, and possible exposure to plague from other rodent species, could contribute to the contemporary patterns of distribution we observed. However, piñon woodlands and rugged, rocky terrain are the characteristics that we expected to be important based on past observations and the ecology of the species ( Bergstrom 1986 ; Best et al 1994 ), so the contemporary distribution is likely to be similar to the historical distribution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Piñon woodlands in the southwestern United States are declining due to multiple stressors, including wildfires, drought, climate change, and bark beetle ( Ips confuses ) outbreaks ( Williams et al 2010 , 2013 ; Meddens et al 2015 ). Significant piñon disease and mortality is already occurring in the Oscura Mountains ( Johnson and Smith 2006 ; Johnson et al 2014 ). The threats to piñon woodlands, along with their importance to the chipmunk, suggest the need to more carefully manage the piñon woodlands to support the needs of the chipmunk.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting the distribution of a rare chipmunk (Neotamias quadrivittatus oscuraensis): comparing MaxEnt and occupancy models

Perkins-Taylor

Frey

2020

Journal of Mammalogy

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Species distribution models (SDMs) use presence records to determine the relationship between species occurrence and various environmental variables to create predictive maps describing the species’ distribution. The Oscura Mountains Colorado chipmunk (Neotamias quadrivittatus oscuraensis) occurs in central New Mexico and is of conservation concern due to its relict distribution and threats to habitat. We previously created an occupancy model for this taxon, but were concerned that the model may not have adequately captured the ecological factors influencing the chipmunk’s distribution because of the data hungry nature of occupancy modeling. MaxEnt is another SDM method that is particularly effective at testing large numbers of variables and handling small sample sizes. Our goal was to create a MaxEnt model for the Oscura Mountains Colorado chipmunk and to compare it with our previous occupancy model for this taxon, either to strengthen our original assessment of the relevant ecological factors or identify additional factors that were not captured by our occupancy model. We created MaxEnt models using occurrence records from baited camera traps and opportunistic surveys. We adjusted model complexity using a novel method for tuning both the regularization multiplier and feature class parameters while also performing variable selection. We compared the distribution maps and variables selected by MaxEnt to the results of our occupancy model for this taxon. The MaxEnt and occupancy models selected similar environmental variables and the overall spatial pattern of occurrence was similar for each model. Likelihood of occurrence was positively related to elevation, piñon woodland vegetation type, and topographic variables associated with escarpments. The overall similarities between the MaxEnt and occupancy models increased our confidence of the ecological factors influencing the distribution of the chipmunk. We conclude that MaxEnt offers advantages for predicting the distribution of rare species, which can help inform conservation actions.

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“…Pinyon Jay nesting locations tended to be concentrated in areas with higher tree cover and more woody debris, presumably because of the concealment they offer [23,78]. However, like caching and foraging locations, nesting locations were concentrated in lower elevation, lower slope areas, and steeper, higher sites that otherwise offered good concealment for nesting locations appeared to be avoided.…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pinyon Jay declines could be related, at least in part, to changes in the pinyon-juniper woodlands that comprise most of their habitat [3,[22][23][24] and much of the forested landscape of the Great Basin (i.e., BCR 9) and Colorado Plateau (i.e., BCR 16) [25][26][27][28]. The spatial extent of pinyonjuniper woodlands (most commonly a Pinus monophylla -Juniperus osteosperma association) in this region has undergone climate-induced fluctuations since the end of the Pleistocene epoch 11,500 years ago [29,30], but it has been suggested by some authors that over the last 150 years, extension of local woodland range (i.e.…”

Section: Introduction (Level 1 Heading)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavior-specific occupancy patterns of Pinyon Jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) in three Great Basin study areas and significance for pinyon-juniper woodland management

Boone

Witt

Ammon

2020

Preprint

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The Pinyon Jay is a highly-social, year-round inhabitant of pinyon-juniper woodlands in the western United States. Range-wide, Pinyon Jays have declined ~ 3 – 4% per year for at least the last half-century. At the same time, large acreages of pinyon-juniper woodland have been removed or thinned to improve habitat for Greater Sage-Grouse or other game species across much of the Great Basin, which is home to nearly half of the global population of Pinyon Jays. Occupancy patterns and habitat use of Pinyon Jays have not been well characterized across much of the species’ range, and obtaining this information is necessary for better understanding the causes of ongoing declines and determining useful conservation strategies. Our goal of this study was to identify the characteristics of areas used by Pinyon Jays for several critical life history components and to thereby facilitate the inclusion of Pinyon Jay conservation measures in the design of vegetation management projects. To accomplish this, we studied Pinyon Jays in three widely separated study areas using radio telemetry and direct observation, and measured key attributes of their locations and a separate set of randomly-selected control sites using the U. S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory Analysis protocol. Data visualizations, non-metric dimension scaling ordinations, and logistic regressions of the resulting data indicated that Pinyon Jay occupancy was concentrated in a distinct subset of available pinyon-juniper woodland habitat, and further that Pinyon Jays used different habitats, arrayed along elevational and tree-cover gradients, for seed caching, foraging, and nesting. Caching was concentrated in low-elevation, relatively flat areas with low tree cover; foraging occurred at slightly higher elevations with moderate tree cover, and nesting was concentrated in somewhat higher areas with greater tree cover and higher stand density. All three of these Pinyon Jay behavior types were highly concentrated within the lower-elevation band of pinyon-juniper woodland close to the woodland-shrubland ecotone. Because woodland removal projects in the Great Basin are often concentrated in these same areas, it is critical to incorporate conservation measures informed by Pinyon Jay occupancy patterns into existing woodland management paradigms, protocols, and practices.

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Home range- and colony-scale habitat models for Pinyon Jays in piñon-juniper woodlands of New Mexico, USA

Cited by 12 publications

References 29 publications

Model transferability and implications for woodland management: a case study of Pinyon Jay nesting habitat

Model transferability and implications for woodland management: a case study of Pinyon Jay nesting habitat

Predicting the distribution of a rare chipmunk (Neotamias quadrivittatus oscuraensis): comparing MaxEnt and occupancy models

Behavior-specific occupancy patterns of Pinyon Jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) in three Great Basin study areas and significance for pinyon-juniper woodland management

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