Using a natural reference system to evaluate songbird habitat restoration

McNeil, Darin J.; Fiss, Cameron J.; Wood, Eric M.; Duchamp, Joseph E.; Bakermans, Marja H.; Larkin, Jeffery L.

doi:10.5751/ace-01193-130122

Cited by 16 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Among the most efficient habitat restoration tools recommended by the Conservation Plan are overstory removal timber harvests (Bakermans et al 2015;McNeil et al 2018). Overstory removal harvests (2.2-8.9 m 2 /ha residual basal area; Bakermans et al 2011) are rigorously demonstrated to provide quality habitat for GWWA territorial establishment (Bakermans et al 2015), pairing (Roth et al 2014), andnesting (McNeil et al 2017), created from mature forest otherwise unsuitable for nesting.…”

Section: Habitat Guidelines and Restoration Implementationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiscale drivers of restoration outcomes for an imperiled songbird

McNeil

Rodewald

Ruiz‐Gutiérrez

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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Habitat restoration is a cornerstone of conservation, particularly for habitat‐limited species. However, restoration efforts are seldom rigorously monitored at meaningful spatial scales. Poor understanding of how species respond to habitat restoration programs limits conservation efficacy for habitat‐restricted species like the Golden‐winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera, GWWA). We provide one of the first concerted assessments of a national conservation program aimed at restoring songbird habitat across its breeding range. We studied GWWA response to forest habitat restoration across two broad regions with opposing population trajectories and assessed factors driving species use of restored habitats across multiple spatial scales. From 2015 to 2017, we conducted 1,145 (n = 457 locations) and 519 point counts (n = 215 locations) across the Appalachian Mountains and Great Lakes (respectively) within restored habitats. Warbler abundance within restored habitats across the Great Lakes varied with latitude, longitude, elevation, forest type, and number of growing seasons. In the Appalachian Mountains, occupancy (trueψ^) varied with longitude, elevation, forest type, and number of growing seasons. Detections were restricted to areas within close proximity to population centers (usually <24 km) in the Appalachian Mountains, where GWWAs are rare (trueψ^ = 0.22, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.20–0.25), but not in the Great Lakes, where GWWAs remain common (trueψ^ = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.84–0.90). Our study suggests that, even when best management practices are carefully implemented, restoration outcomes vary within/across regions and with multiscale habitat attributes. Although assessments of concerted habitat restoration efforts remain uncommon, our study demonstrates the value of monitoring data in the adaptive management process for imperiled species.

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Section: Habitat Guidelines and Restoration Implementationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiscale drivers of restoration outcomes for an imperiled songbird

McNeil

Rodewald

Ruiz‐Gutiérrez

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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“…At the time of biological monitoring, the managed properties were either under a current NRCS contract or had recently finished an NRCS contract to create early successional forest. Within each early-successional forest, we randomly placed 1-2 point sampling locations at which birds were surveyed (see McNeil et al [36] for point placement protocols). At each location, we conducted both American Woodcock and Golden-winged Warbler point count surveys in 2015 and 2016.…”

Section: Avian Monitoring Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We also used point count surveys to quantify Golden-winged Warbler (and other songbird) presence but sampled during the times (early mornings) and dates (mid-May-June) when Golden-winged Warblers are best detected. See McNeil et al [36] for a full description of warbler survey methods. Our final dataset for each property included American Within each early-successional forest, we randomly placed 1-2 point sampling locations at which birds were surveyed (see McNeil et al [36] for point placement protocols).…”

Section: Avian Monitoring Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…See McNeil et al [36] for a full description of warbler survey methods. Our final dataset for each property included American Within each early-successional forest, we randomly placed 1-2 point sampling locations at which birds were surveyed (see McNeil et al [36] for point placement protocols). At each location, we conducted both American Woodcock and Golden-winged Warbler point count surveys in 2015 and 2016.…”

Section: Avian Monitoring Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We also used point count surveys to quantify Golden-winged Warbler (and other songbird) presence but sampled during the times (early mornings) and dates (mid-May-June) when Golden-winged Warblers are best detected. See McNeil et al [36] for a full description of warbler survey methods. Our final dataset for each property included American Woodcock naïve occupancy (1/0), Golden-winged Warbler naïve occupancy (1/0), and avian species richness (not including American Woodcock/Golden-winged Warbler).…”

Section: Avian Monitoring Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Early Successional Forest Management on Private Lands as a Coupled Human and Natural System

Lutter

Dayer

Rodewald

et al. 2019

Forests

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Facilitating voluntary conservation on private lands is a crucial element of policies that seek to mitigate forest habitat loss and fragmentation around the world. Previous research emphasizes the role of social factors (e.g., landowner characteristics, economics) in forest management, but environmental outcomes of past management can also affect landowner decisions. Our objective was to evaluate how positive outcomes for wildlife and habitat might reinforce or amplify landowner efforts to manage forest habitats. We applied the lens of coupled human and natural systems to investigate private lands management for early successional forests, which are declining along with associated wildlife in rural areas of the eastern U.S. Efforts to restore early successional forest in this region involve active forest management to create patches of successional forest in native, mature mixed hardwood stands. By integrating field-based monitoring of wildlife with surveys of landowner perceptions, we examined how landowners observed, interpreted, and responded to property-scale ecological outcomes of forest management. We recorded presence of Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) and American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) and estimated bird species richness in spring 2015 and/or 2016 on private properties located in the Appalachians (Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) and Upper Great Lakes (Minnesota, Wisconsin). These properties were enrolled in early successional forest management programs administered through the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Bird surveys were paired with landowner responses to a telephone survey conducted from January to May 2017 (n = 102). Most (71.6–81.6%) landowners’ perceptions of avian presence on their properties matched monitoring results. These perceptions were informed by personal observations and by outreach from agency partners and field technicians. Landowners who already completed their conservation program contracts (n = 85) continued managing early successional forests. Continued management for early successional habitat was positively associated with perceived benefits to birds, forest health, and scenery. Our findings give insight into how private landowners respond to environmental effects of forest management. We conclude that positive environmental outcomes of these conservation programs are related to continued early successional forest conservation by private landowners.

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Heterogeneity in breeding productivity is driven largely by factors affecting nestlings and young fledglings in an imperiled migratory passerine

McNeil,

Rodewald,

Ruiz‐Gutierrez

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Identifying factors that drive variation in vital rates among populations is a prerequisite to understanding a species' population biology and, ultimately, to developing effective conservation strategies. This is especially true for imperiled species like the golden‐winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) that exhibit strong spatial heterogeneity in demography and responds variably to conservation interventions. Habitat management actions recommended for breeding grounds conservation include timber harvest, shrub shearing, and prescribed fire that maintain or create early successional woody communities. Herein, we assessed variation in the survival of nests [n = 145] and fledglings [n = 134] at 17 regenerating timber harvest sites within two isolated populations in Pennsylvania that differed in productivity and response to habitat management. Although the overall survival of nests and fledglings was higher in the eastern population than the central population, this was only true when the nest phases and fledgling phases were considered wholly. Indeed, survival rates of nestlings and recently fledged young (1–5 days post‐fledging) were lower in the central population, whereas eggs and older fledglings (6–30 days post‐fledging) survived at comparable rates in both populations. Fledglings in the central population were smaller (10% lower weight) and begged twice as much as those in the eastern population, suggesting food limitation may contribute to lower survival rates. Fledgling survival in the central population, but not the eastern, also was a function of habitat features (understory vegetation density [positive] and distance to mature forest [negative]) and individual factors (begging effort [negative]). Our findings illustrate how identifying how survival varies across specific life stages can elucidate potential underlying demographic drivers, such as food resources in this case. In this way, our work underscores the importance of studying and decomposing stage‐specific demography in species of conservation concern.

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Using a natural reference system to evaluate songbird habitat restoration

Cited by 16 publications

References 39 publications

Multiscale drivers of restoration outcomes for an imperiled songbird

Multiscale drivers of restoration outcomes for an imperiled songbird

Early Successional Forest Management on Private Lands as a Coupled Human and Natural System

Heterogeneity in breeding productivity is driven largely by factors affecting nestlings and young fledglings in an imperiled migratory passerine

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