Home Range, Habitat Use, Survival, and Fecundity of Mexican Spotted Owls in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

Ganey, Joseph L.; Block, William M.; Ward, James; Strohmeyer, Brenda E.

doi:10.1894/0038-4909(2005)050[0323:hrhusa]2.0.co;2

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…While many other studies of spotted owl foraging have not explicitly accounted for this effect (e.g. Carey et al 1990;Ganey and Balda 1994;Ganey et al 2005;Hamer et al 2007;Bowden 2008;Williams et al 2011;Forsman et al 2015;Comfort et al 2016; also see Singleton et al 2010 for barred owl), we (Jones et al 2016: 303) did because we eliminated foraging locations beyond the 95 th percentile of foraging distances so that "…distant areas rarely visited by owls in foraging bouts (Bond et al 2009) were not counted as 'available' habitat. As a result, the analysis consisted of GPS locations that occurred within distance ranges used at relatively high frequencies…."…”

Section: The Science Of Spotted Owls and Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Megafire effects on spotted owls: elucidation of a growing threat and a response to Hanson et al. (2018)

Jones¹,

Gutiérrez²,

Tempel³

et al. 2019

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The extent to which wildfire adversely affects spotted owls (Strixoccidentalis) is a key consideration for ecosystem restoration efforts in seasonally dry forests of the western United States. Recently, Jones et al. (2016) demonstrated that the 2014 King Fire (a “megafire”) adversely affected a population of individually-marked California spotted owls (S.o.occidentalis) monitored as part of a long-term demographic study in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA because territory occupancy declined substantially at territories burned at high-severity and GPS-tagged spotted owls avoided large patches of high-severity fire. Hanson et al. (2018) attempted to reassess changes in territory occupancy of the Jones et al. (2016) study population and claimed that occupancy declined as a result of post-fire salvage logging not fire per se and suggested that the avoidance of GPS-marked owls from areas that burned at high-severity was due to post-fire logging rather than a response to high-severity fire. Here, we demonstrate that Hanson et al. (2018) used erroneous data, inadequate statistical analyses and faulty inferences to reach their conclusion that the King Fire did not affect spotted owls and, more broadly, that large, high-severity fires do not pose risks to spotted owls in western North American dry forest ecosystems. We also provide further evidence indicating that the King Fire exerted a clear and significant negative effect on our marked study population of spotted owls. Collectively, the additional evidence presented here and in Jones et al. (2016) suggests that large, high-severity fires can pose a threat to spotted owls and that restoration of natural low- to mixed-severity frequent fire regimes would likely benefit both old-forest species and dry forest ecosystems in this era of climate change. Meeting these dual objectives of species conservation and forest restoration will be complex but it is made more challenging by faulty science that does not acknowledge the full range of wildfire effects on spotted owls.

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Section: The Science Of Spotted Owls and Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Megafire effects on spotted owls: elucidation of a growing threat and a response to Hanson et al. (2018)

Jones¹,

Gutiérrez²,

Tempel³

et al. 2019

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“…Annual rates of decline in 2 demography studies ranged from almost 20%/year in a study that included 4 mountain ranges (Black Range and Magdalena, San Mateo, and Zuni Mountains) in New Mexico (Stacey and Peery , Stacey ), to approximately 14% on the Coconino Plateau, north‐central Arizona, and slightly >10%/year in the Tularosa Mountains, New Mexico (Seamans et al ). Similarly, Ganey et al () estimated λ for 2 small study areas in the Sacramento Mountains from 1992 through 1994, using data from radio‐marked owls and the methods of Pulliam (). Estimates of λ indicated an annual decline of 30% in one study area (referred to as xeric) and 4% in the second (mesic, this area was entirely contained within our current study area).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reasons for the differences among studies are unknown. Analytical techniques have improved since earlier studies were conducted, and the reparameterized Jolly‐Seber model used in this study is highly preferred over the stage‐projection matrix models used in previous demography studies (Franklin et al , Boyce et al , Anthony et al , Forsman et al ), or the relatively crude method used by Ganey et al (). The use of different modeling techniques is not sufficient to explain differences in trend estimates between the demography studies, however, because empirical data supported model‐based trends in all studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Year t studies (Franklin et al 2004, Boyce et al 2005, Anthony et al 2006, Forsman et al 2011, or the relatively crude method used by Ganey et al (2005). The use of different modeling techniques is not sufficient to explain differences in trend estimates between the demography studies, however, because empirical data supported model-based trends in all studies.…”

Section: Sexmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite this, no current data are available on trends in populations of Mexican spotted owls (USDI FWS 2012). Studies conducted from 1991 to 2000 indicated that populations of Mexican spotted owls in 8 separate study areas all were declining at rates ranging from 4% to 30% (Seamans et al 1999, Stacey andPeery 2002, see also Ganey et al 2005, Stacey 2010), but current trends in these and other areas are unknown. We studied demography of Mexican spotted owls from 2004 to 2011 in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Demography of Mexican spotted owls in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

et al. 2013

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Information on population dynamics is key to gauging the status of threatened or endangered species. We monitored demography of a population of threatened Mexican spotted owls (Strix occidentalis lucida) in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. We estimated reproductive output for territorial pairs of owls; used mark‐recapture methodology and Pradel's reparameterized Jolly‐Seber models to estimate annual apparent survival rates, recapture rates, recruitment rates, and annual rate of population change (λRJS) for 2005–2009; and used estimates of λRJS to assess short‐term population viability. Reproductive output was highly variable for 2004–2011, whereas annual apparent survival and recapture rates were less variable among years. Annual rates of population change exceeded 1.0 for both sexes from 2005 to 2009, and empirical observations of numbers of territorial owls supported the model‐based trend estimate. Abundance of territorial owls was strongly related to reproduction within the study area, suggesting that population change was driven largely by internal processes. Population viability analyses suggested that population growth was likely to continue in the short term if current conditions persist. The positive growth rates observed in our study populations are encouraging, and may indicate that current recommendations for recovering this owl are succeeding. However, our estimates of λRJS covered a very short time period, given both the potential lifespan of Mexican spotted owls and the extent of temporal variability in weather typical of the southwestern United States. Longer studies of owl demography than we present will be required to understand long‐term population trends, and such studies should extend across the range of the subspecies. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

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Genetic Structure of Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix Occidentalis Lucida) Populations in a Fragmented Landscape

Barrowclough

Groth

Mertz

et al. 2006

The Auk

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We used mitochondrial DNA control-region sequences to investigate the genetic structure of Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) populations in the southwestern United States. This subspecies is federally listed as threatened, and its preferred habitat is naturally fragmented. We found that intrapopulation genetic diversity was high in all but the southeastern Arizona “sky island” populations, where it was variable. Genetic variance partitioning indicated that ≈17% of the variation was distributed among populations and 7.5% was distributed among physiographic regions. Patterns of genetic correlation with geographic distance indicated that gene flow was substantial among populations within the relatively continuous habitat zone of the Mogollon Rim-Upper Gila Mountains in central Arizona and west-central New Mexico. However, there was significant isolation-by-distance elsewhere, and estimates of genetic divergence increased exponentially with geographic distance among fragmented populations on the scale of a few hundreds of kilometers; this implies that gene flow is restricted among those habitat fragments. Genetic heterogeneity among southeastern Arizona populations suggest that they have regularly received immigrants from the central Arizona populations. The Colorado population either was larger than thought or, more likely, has continuously received immigrants from elsewhere and is not a self-sustaining population. Estructura Genética de las Poblaciones de Strix occidentalis lucida en un Paisaje Fragmentado

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Home Range, Habitat Use, Survival, and Fecundity of Mexican Spotted Owls in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

Cited by 18 publications

References 21 publications

Megafire effects on spotted owls: elucidation of a growing threat and a response to Hanson et al. (2018)

Megafire effects on spotted owls: elucidation of a growing threat and a response to Hanson et al. (2018)

Demography of Mexican spotted owls in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

Genetic Structure of Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix Occidentalis Lucida) Populations in a Fragmented Landscape

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