Landscape capability predicts upland game bird abundance and occurrence

Loman, Zachary G.; Blomberg, Erik J.; DeLuca, William V.; Harrison, Daniel J.; Loftin, Cynthia S.; Wood, Petra Bohall

doi:10.1002/jwmg.21265

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…Due to the strong relationship between elevation and precipitation in our study region (as noted above), we tested the relationship that the downscaled and interpolated precipitation values increase with elevation across our bird sampling locations with a linear regression model. These precipitation data are incorporated in fine‐scale wildlife species distribution models and have been evaluated and used by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to inform landscape conservation design (Loman et al, , ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct and indirect effects of climate on bird abundance along elevation gradients in the Northern Appalachian mountains

Duclos

DeLuca

King

2019

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim:The stratification of organisms along elevational gradients is widely reported, with montane communities characterized by species occurring in relatively small and isolated populations; these species are of considerable interest to ecologists and conservationists. This stratification is generally attributed to climatic zonation. Evidence that species are shifting upward in elevation has fuelled speculation that species are tracking their climatic niches in response to climate change. Uncertainty regarding the degree to which climate directly influences species abundance versus the degree to which climate has an indirect influence via vegetation represents a key impediment to understanding the ecology of montane species; here, we evaluate these direct and indirect effects. Location: White Mountains, New Hampshire, USA. Methods: We used N-mixture models to correct for imperfect detection of species, principal component analysis to represent gradients in vegetation structure and composition and structural equation models to assign variation to the direct and indirect effects of climate upon birds.Results: Analysis of 13 species revealed that climate exerts direct influences on bird abundance and indirect influences mediated by vegetation composition and structure. All species exhibited indirect effects of climate via forest habitat, with 77% exhibiting both direct and indirect effects and 53% exhibiting stronger indirect effects. Main conclusions:We provide insight into the mechanistic pathways of how climate influences the distribution of species along elevational gradients, underscoring the complex vulnerability of species to climate change. Our results reveal that the majority of species experience both direct and indirect effects of climate, implying that forests play a key role in mediating climate effects. For species that are primarily influenced by climate directly, typical climate envelope models may continue to be informative, but for the majority of the species included in this study, we show that distribution models should also include measures of habitat. K E Y W O R D S climate change, climate effects, montane bird abundance, spruce-fir ecosystems, structural equation modelling | 1671 DUCLOS et aL.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct and indirect effects of climate on bird abundance along elevation gradients in the Northern Appalachian mountains

Duclos

DeLuca

King

2019

Diversity and Distributions

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“…The SGS is used to monitor woodcock population status at regional and state or provincial scales (Seamans and Rau 2022) and is used in various elements of woodcock management (e.g., woodcock harvest strategies; Rau et al 2019). The SGS data have also been used to estimate regional abundance, set population and habitat goals (Kelley et al 2008), and to support modeling efforts directed at woodcock conservation (Thogmartin et al 2007, Loman et al 2017, Roy et al 2019, Saunders et al 2019).…”

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confidence: 99%

The American Woodcock Singing Ground Survey largely conforms to the phenology of male woodcock migration

Blomberg,

Fish,

Berigan

et al. 2023

J Wildl Manag

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American woodcock (Scolopax minor; woodcock) are monitored, in part, by counts of displaying male woodcock collected via the American Woodcock Singing Ground Survey (SGS), which suggests long‐term, range‐wide declines in woodcock populations. Data from the SGS have been used extensively to develop conservation plans, direct management actions, and understand causes of decline. To avoid bias, the SGS should be timed to avoid spring migration, and the distribution of survey routes should coincide with woodcock breeding distribution. Our objectives for this research were to evaluate SGS timing with the phenology of male woodcock migration, relate the spatial coverage of the SGS to male woodcock breeding distributions, and explore other sources of variation in woodcock migration timing. We marked 133 male woodcock captured throughout eastern North America with global positioning system (GPS) transmitters during 2019–2022, and compared the timing of their spring migration with the spatiotemporal stratification of the SGS. Most woodcock (74%) completed migration prior to the onset of the SGS. In the northernmost SGS zone, a greater percentage of males (34%) continued migration during the survey window; however, the influence of this mismatch is offset because SGS routes were run more frequently during the second half of the window. Young woodcock completing their first spring migration took 8.6 days longer to do so, on average, compared to adults, and so were more likely to migrate during the SGS window. We found little evidence that timing of migration varied among years. Existing SGS routes cover the majority of male woodcock post‐migratory breeding distribution, with 90% of male woodcock establishing final breeding sites within the spatial coverage of the SGS. Our results confirm the SGS includes some migrating males, with the proportion relative to resident breeding males increasing in more northern survey strata. Our data suggests these errors are unlikely to bias trend estimates at large scales (e.g., within woodcock management regions), but there may be potential for bias at more local scales (e.g., state or provincial population indices).

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“…Data from the SGS are used to inform hierarchical models to estimate woodcock population indices and the most recent 2-year, 10-year, and long-term (1968 -present) trends for both the Eastern and Central Management Regions (Seamans and Rau, this volume). Data from the SGS have been used to inform management for a number of purposes, including 1) harvest management decisions (Woodcock Harvest Strategy Working Group 2010), 2) development of harvest strategies (Woodcock Harvest Strategy Working Group 2010), 3) development of spatially-explicit population and habitat goals based on historical and contemporary SGS data (Kelley et al 2008), and 4) spatially-explicit models relating woodcock abundance and landscape-level variables (Thogmartin et al 2007, Loman et al 2017. The indices and trends derived from SGS data continue to be relied on for both management decisions and research.…”

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confidence: 99%

Assessment of the American Woodcock Singing-Ground Survey Zone Timing and Coverage

Moore

Cooper

Rau

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Eleventh American Woodcock Symposium

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The American woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) Singing-Ground Survey (SGS) was developed to inform management decisions by monitoring changes in the relative abundance of woodcock. The timing of the designated survey windows was designed to count resident woodcock while minimizing counting of migrating woodcock. Since the implementation of the SGS in 1968, concerns over survey protocols that may bias data have been raised and investigated; however, the extent of survey coverage and the timing of the survey window zones have not been critically investigated. We used 3 years of data collected from male and female woodcock marked with satellite tags to assess the extent of survey coverage and the timing of the SGS survey windows relative to presence of woodcock. SGS coverage encompassed the majority of woodcock breeding-period sites (locations where marked woodcock returned to in spring) within the U.S. (n = 17, 92%) and approximately half of the breeding-period sites in Canada (n = 6, 43%). Thirteen of the 37 monitored woodcock with known breeding-period site arrival dates (35%) were migrating through a survey zone during an active survey window, all in the northernmost 4 of 5 SGS zones. Thirteen woodcock arrived at breeding-period sites after the start of surveys, and all but one of these was located in the northernmost 2 zones. The combination of migration through a SGS zone during the survey window and arrival at breeding-period sites after the beginning of the survey window in northern zones may result in the SGS weighing too heavily the contribution of routes in the southern portion of the primary breeding range, while weighing too lightly the routes in the northern portion of the primary breeding range. We suggest that additional information is necessary to evaluate whether current survey windows are sufficient, or whether they need to be changed.

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Landscape capability predicts upland game bird abundance and occurrence

Cited by 5 publications

References 34 publications

Direct and indirect effects of climate on bird abundance along elevation gradients in the Northern Appalachian mountains

Direct and indirect effects of climate on bird abundance along elevation gradients in the Northern Appalachian mountains

The American Woodcock Singing Ground Survey largely conforms to the phenology of male woodcock migration

Assessment of the American Woodcock Singing-Ground Survey Zone Timing and Coverage

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