Regional land cover patterns, changes and potential relationships with scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) abundance

Rho, Paikho; Wu, X. Ben; Smeins, Fred E.; Silvy, Nova J.; Peterson, Markus J.

doi:10.5141/ecoenv.2015.020

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Over the last century northern bobwhite and lesser prairie chicken populations have been going experiencing declines [8,9]. The cause of these decline has been largely attributed to habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and climatic variables [10–12] with the role of disease only recently being investigated [3,7]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Quantitative PCR Protocol for Detection of Oxyspirura petrowi in Northern Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus)

et al. 2016

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Oxyspirura petrowi is a parasitic nematode that infects wild birds. This parasite has a broad host range, but has recently been reported in high prevalences from native Galliformes species in the United States. In order to better understand the impact O. petrowi has on wild bird populations, we developed a quantitative PCR protocol to detect infections in wild northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus). We used paired fecal and cloacal swab samples from wild caught and experimentally infected northern bobwhites and matching fecal float data from experimentally infected birds to validate our assay. Overall we detected more positive birds from fecal samples than the paired cloacal swabs and there was strong agreement between the qPCR results from fecal samples and from fecal flotation (84%; κ = 0.69 [0.53–0.84 95% CI]). We also detected O. petrowi DNA in ten replicates of samples spiked with one O. petrowi egg. This qPCR assay is an effective assay to detect O. petrowi infections in wild birds. Our results suggest that fecal samples are the most appropriate sample for detecting infections; although, cloacal swabs can be useful for determining if O. petrowi is circulating in a population.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Quantitative PCR Protocol for Detection of Oxyspirura petrowi in Northern Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus)

et al. 2016

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“…Percentage of shrubland cover in the landscape is positively correlated with scaled quail abundance (Rho et al ). Loss of shrubland may be an important factor in the decline of chestnut‐bellied scaled quail in addition to encroachment of non‐native grasses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐native grasses reduce scaled quail habitat

et al. 2019

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Non‐native grasses are frequently sown in the southwestern United States for livestock forage and erosion control. These grasses often spread from areas where they are planted and replace native grasses and forbs. We tested the hypothesis that chestnut‐bellied scaled quail (Callipepla squamata castanogastris) avoid locations dominated by non‐native grasses. We trapped scaled quail at 5 different sites in southern Texas, USA, and located quail fitted with necklace‐style transmitters 3 times/week during 2013–2014. We manually delineated plant communities using aerial maps and on‐the‐ground knowledge of the study sites. We examined second‐order (home‐range scale) selection by comparing proportion of the areas of plant communities within 62 scaled quail home ranges (used) paired with random home ranges (available). We examined third‐order (within‐home‐range scale) selection by comparing the composition of bird location (used) and random (available) points based on proportion of points within plant communities. For both home‐range scale and within‐home‐range scale analyses, we used non‐parametric multivariate analysis of variance with 9,999 random permutations. We examined fourth‐order (organism‐centered) selection by measuring vegetation variables at used and available locations and then estimating the relative probability of use of vegetation variables and by estimating continuous selection functions for variables that were influential in determining relative probability of use. Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) and Old World bluestems (Bothriochloa spp., Dichanthium annulatum and other Dichanthium spp.) comprised 99% (95% CI = 98–100%, n = 143 sites where non‐native plants occurred) of the non‐native grasses in our study areas. Scaled quail avoided non‐native and riparian plant communities at the home‐range and within‐home‐range scales of selection. At the organism‐centered scale of selection, odds of use by scaled quail decreased 28% for every 10% increase in non‐native grass cover and increased 12% for every 10% increase in shrub canopy cover. Scaled quail avoided locations with >10% canopy cover of non‐native grasses. Based on avoidance at 3 scales of selection, dominance of buffelgrass and Old World bluestems degrades habitat for scaled quail. Spread and sowing of non‐native grasses and brush clearing may be partly responsible for declines in scaled quail populations. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.

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“…Counters navigate a 25.5-mi (41-km) route and stop every 0.5 mi (0.8 km) to conduct a 3-min point count. Using the starting point of each route, from 1970 to 2014, we interpolated route totals using kriging and inverse distance weighting in ArcGIS v. 10.3.1 Okay 2004;Rho et al 2015). We set the resulting abundance maps to a resolution of 4 km 2 .…”

Section: Northern Bobwhite Population Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Northern bobwhite populations exhibit a boom and bust pattern (Peterson 2001;Hernández and Peterson 2007;Lusk et al 2007); therefore, we also accounted for annual variability from 1972 to 2012 by calculating 5-y rolling averages. For example, we calculated the average of 1972 as 1970-1974Rho et al 2015). We summarized the mean number of northern bobwhite/route for each county and then calculated the mean for each year across the region.…”

Section: Northern Bobwhite Population Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Correlates of Habitat Fragmentation and Northern Bobwhite Abundance in the Gulf Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative

Miller

Brennan

Perotto‐Baldivieso

et al. 2018

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management

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The northern bobwhite Colinus virginianus has experienced range-wide declines over the past several decades, primarily due to habitat loss and habitat fragmentation. As northern bobwhite populations continue to decline, there is a need for studies that address the impact of habitat changes on population persistence at multiple spatial scales. Our goal was to assess changes in habitat and land use related to northern bobwhite declines across multiple spatial scales in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. We determined northern bobwhite trends for 1972-2012 using Breeding Bird Survey data. At the regional scale, we compared northern bobwhite population trends with road density (2000, 2012), human population , and land use . At the county and local scales, we compared class-level landscape metrics between counties with stable and declining northern bobwhite abundances using Student's t-tests. Northern bobwhite populations decreased from 45.95 6 1.01 birds/route in 1970 to 11.55 6 0.64 birds/route in 2012. Road density and human population increased by 3,331.32 6 66.28 m/km 2 and 42,873 6 8,687 people/county, respectively. Percent pasture and rangeland was relatively stable, as was percent woodland. Alternatively, the percentage of other land (houses, roads, wasteland) increased. At the county scale, Texas and Oklahoma counties with declining northern bobwhite populations had higher road densities, larger patches of pasture, smaller patches of woodland, and larger patches of cropland compared with stable populations. At the local scale, Texas and Oklahoma counties with declining northern bobwhite populations had less woody cover in smaller patches, and fewer but larger patches of herbaceous and bare ground, compared with populations with stable abundance. Therefore, managers can provide woody cover and reduce cropland effects at the local scale to support stable quail populations; however, the large-scale drivers of northern bobwhite decline, which are human population growth and resulting habitat loss, will be an important aspect of northern bobwhite conservation and management in the future.

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Regional land cover patterns, changes and potential relationships with scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) abundance

Cited by 10 publications

References 6 publications

A Quantitative PCR Protocol for Detection of Oxyspirura petrowi in Northern Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus)

A Quantitative PCR Protocol for Detection of Oxyspirura petrowi in Northern Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus)

Non‐native grasses reduce scaled quail habitat

Correlates of Habitat Fragmentation and Northern Bobwhite Abundance in the Gulf Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative

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