Human disturbance and stage‐specific habitat requirements influence snowy plover site occupancy during the breeding season

Webber, Alyson F.; Heath, Julie A.; Fischer, Richard A.

doi:10.1002/ece3.511

Cited by 41 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…). Organisms may be susceptible to disturbance because human activity may be difficult to predict (Webber, Heath & Fischer ) or formerly reliable cues that animals use to assess habitat quality may not be indicative of human disturbance (i.e. an ecological trap; Schlaepfer, Runge & Sherman ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive failure of a human‐tolerant species, the American kestrel, is associated with stress and human disturbance

Strasser

Heath

2013

Journal of Applied Ecology

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185

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Summary1. The rapid increase of human activity in wild and developed areas presents novel challenges for wildlife. Some species may use human-dominated landscapes because of favourable resources (e.g. high prey availability along roadsides); however, use of these areas may increase exposure to anthropogenic stressors, such as human disturbance or noise, which can negatively affect reproduction or survival. In this case, human-dominated landscapes may act as an ecological trap. 2. We evaluated whether American kestrel Falco sparverius reproductive failure was associated with human disturbance (traffic conditions and land development) or other common predictors of reproductive outcome, such as habitat and clutch initiation date. Also, we examined relationships among human disturbance, corticosterone (CORT) concentrations and nest abandonment to explore potential mechanisms for stress-induced reproductive failure. 3. Twenty-six (36%) of 73 kestrel nesting attempts failed and 88% of failures occurred during incubation. Kestrels nesting in higher disturbance areas were 9Á9 times more likely to fail than kestrels nesting in lower disturbance areas. Habitat and clutch initiation date did not explain reproductive outcome. 4. Females in higher disturbance areas had higher CORT and were more likely to abandon nests than females in lower disturbance areas. There was no relationship between male CORT and disturbance or abandonment. Females spent more time incubating than males and may have had more exposure to anthropogenic stressors. Specifically, traffic noise may affect a cavity-nesting bird's perception of the outside environment by masking auditory cues. In response, incubating birds may perceive a greater predation risk, increase vigilance behaviour, decrease parental care, or both. 5. Synthesis and applications. Proximity to large, busy roads and developed areas negatively affected kestrel reproduction by causing increased stress hormones that promoted nest abandonment. These results demonstrate that species presence in a human-dominated landscape does not necessarily indicate a tolerance for anthropogenic stressors. Managers should carefully consider or discourage projects that juxtapose favourable habitat conditions with areas of high human activity to decrease risk of ecological traps. Noise mitigation, while locally effective, may not protect widespread populations from the pervasive threat of traffic noise. Innovative engineering that decreases anthropogenic noise at its source is necessary.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive failure of a human‐tolerant species, the American kestrel, is associated with stress and human disturbance

Strasser

Heath

2013

Journal of Applied Ecology

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185

135

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“…A further consideration is that occupancy is assumed to be static during the designated sampling period (assumption of closure; MacKenzie et al, 2002), and the length of this period may vary depending upon the species and biological timeframe of interest (e.g., the breeding season; Webber, Heath & Fischer, 2013). There are a number of studies that provide theoretical background to study design using an occupancy-modelling framework, highlighting the importance of balancing temporal and spatial replication to most efficiently achieve defined objectives (MacKenzie & Royle, 2005; Bailey et al, 2007; Guillera-Arroita, Ridout & Morgan, 2010; Guillera-Arroita & Lahoz-Monfort, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recommended survey designs for occupancy modelling using motion-activated cameras: insights from empirical wildlife data

Shannon

Lewis

Gerber

2014

PeerJ

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Motion-activated cameras are a versatile tool that wildlife biologists can use for sampling wild animal populations to estimate species occurrence. Occupancy modelling provides a flexible framework for the analysis of these data; explicitly recognizing that given a species occupies an area the probability of detecting it is often less than one. Despite the number of studies using camera data in an occupancy framework, there is only limited guidance from the scientific literature about survey design trade-offs when using motion-activated cameras. A fuller understanding of these trade-offs will allow researchers to maximise available resources and determine whether the objectives of a monitoring program or research study are achievable. We use an empirical dataset collected from 40 cameras deployed across 160 km2 of the Western Slope of Colorado, USA to explore how survey effort (number of cameras deployed and the length of sampling period) affects the accuracy and precision (i.e., error) of the occupancy estimate for ten mammal and three virtual species. We do this using a simulation approach where species occupancy and detection parameters were informed by empirical data from motion-activated cameras. A total of 54 survey designs were considered by varying combinations of sites (10–120 cameras) and occasions (20–120 survey days). Our findings demonstrate that increasing total sampling effort generally decreases error associated with the occupancy estimate, but changing the number of sites or sampling duration can have very different results, depending on whether a species is spatially common or rare (occupancy = ψ) and easy or hard to detect when available (detection probability = p). For rare species with a low probability of detection (i.e., raccoon and spotted skunk) the required survey effort includes maximizing the number of sites and the number of survey days, often to a level that may be logistically unrealistic for many studies. For common species with low detection (i.e., bobcat and coyote) the most efficient sampling approach was to increase the number of occasions (survey days). However, for common species that are moderately detectable (i.e., cottontail rabbit and mule deer), occupancy could reliably be estimated with comparatively low numbers of cameras over a short sampling period. We provide general guidelines for reliably estimating occupancy across a range of terrestrial species (rare to common: ψ = 0.175–0.970, and low to moderate detectability: p = 0.003–0.200) using motion-activated cameras. Wildlife researchers/managers with limited knowledge of the relative abundance and likelihood of detection of a particular species can apply these guidelines regardless of location. We emphasize the importance of prior biological knowledge, defined objectives and detailed planning (e.g., simulating different study-design scenarios) for designing effective monitoring programs and research studies.

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“…Future studies should therefore examine whether measures of individual fitness also change along a gradient of urbanization (Chace and Walsh, 2006). Further, birds can shift habitat associations as the breeding season progresses (Betts et al, 2008;Webber et al, 2013). For example, Betts et al (2008) demonstrated that Black-throated Blue Warblers (Setophaga caerulescens) occupy higher quality habitat as the breeding season progresses, and Webber et al (2013) showed that Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus) resettle away from human disturbance during the breeding season.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Further, birds can shift habitat associations as the breeding season progresses (Betts et al, 2008;Webber et al, 2013). For example, Betts et al (2008) demonstrated that Black-throated Blue Warblers (Setophaga caerulescens) occupy higher quality habitat as the breeding season progresses, and Webber et al (2013) showed that Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus) resettle away from human disturbance during the breeding season. Further inference could therefore be gained by examining within-season resettlements of birds in urban areas during the breeding season (McClure and Hill, 2012) and determining whether birds resettle in areas of higher quality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Pavement and riparian forest shape the bird community along an urban river corridor

McClure

Korte

Heath

et al. 2015

Global Ecology and Conservation

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a b s t r a c tKnowledge of habitat use by animals within urban-riparian corridors during the breeding season is important for conservation, yet remains understudied. We examined the bird community along an urban-riparian corridor through metropolitan Boise, Idaho and predicted that occupancy of individual species and species richness would be greater in forested areas than in urbanized areas. We surveyed birds throughout the summers of 2009 and 2010 and quantified the m 2 of each cover-type within 50-m, 100-m, and 200-m buffers surrounding each survey location using satellite imagery. Occupancy modeling revealed that eight of 14 species analyzed were positively associated with riparian forest, and no species avoided forest. Species richness was negatively associated with the amount of paved surface within 100 m of a survey site with richness declining by more than two species for every hectare of paved surface. Most associations with cover-types -especially riparian forest -were at 100 m. Therefore, the riparian forest within 100 m of a given site along an urban-riparian corridor should be the most important for maintaining species richness.

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Human disturbance and stage‐specific habitat requirements influence snowy plover site occupancy during the breeding season

Cited by 41 publications

References 48 publications

Reproductive failure of a human‐tolerant species, the American kestrel, is associated with stress and human disturbance

Reproductive failure of a human‐tolerant species, the American kestrel, is associated with stress and human disturbance

Recommended survey designs for occupancy modelling using motion-activated cameras: insights from empirical wildlife data

Pavement and riparian forest shape the bird community along an urban river corridor

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