Vegetation characteristics of Swainson’s warbler habitat at the White River National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas

Brown, Jeremy D.; Benson, Thomas J.; Bednarz, James C.

doi:10.1672/08-54.1

Cited by 27 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The most recent research began in the late 1990s and has resulted in two M.S. theses (Brown 2008;Anich 2008) and one doctoral dissertation (Benson 2008). This research has focused on the habitat use, requirements, and productivity in relation to habitat characteristics.…”

Section: Swainson's Warblermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does flooding influence the types and proportions of prey delivered to nestling Mississippi Kites?

2014

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Section: Swainson's Warblermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, both Anich (2008) and Brown (2008) completed M.S. theses in relation to Swainson's warbler ecology and management.…”

Section: Swainson's Warblermentioning

confidence: 99%

Does flooding influence the types and proportions of prey delivered to nestling Mississippi Kites?

2014

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“…However, because we sampled all points at least twice and used song playbacks to assess presence, we believe that these false negatives were minimized. Because Swainson's warblers respond very aggressively to song playbacks throughout the breeding season (Brown et al 2009), individuals were likely to be detected if present. Based on experiments with color-marked birds, surveying sites two times with playbacks yields a probability of detection of about 85% given that a bird is present (TJB, unpublished data).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We surveyed all 42 locations at these sites at least twice between 15 April and 1 July using song playback surveys (Bednarz et al 2005;Brown et al 2009) and, based on the 200-m spacing of the original surveys, defined locations as still occupied if a Swainson's warbler was detected within 100 m of the original location. In July and August 2004, we returned to these 42 previously occupied points and sampled vegetation structure (Martin et al 1997;Bednarz et al 2005).…”

Section: Bird Surveys and Vegetation Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, we estimated cover of grasses, forbs, all green vegetation, downed logs, bare ground, and litter within a 5-m radius of each point in four quadrants (delineated based on the four cardinal directions) and used the mean values from these quadrants in subsequent analyses. Likewise, we measured litter depth at 1, 3, and 5 m from the center of the sample plot in the four cardinal directions, and counted woody stems within 1-m 2 quadrats located 5 m from the plot center in the four cardinal directions and again used each plot's mean value in subsequent analyses (Brown et al 2009). …”

Section: Bird Surveys and Vegetation Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Short-Term Effects of Flooding on Understory Habitat and Presence of Swainson’s Warblers

Benson

Bednarz

2009

Wetlands

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Understanding factors that influence changes in habitat occupancy of wetland fauna is important, particularly for species of conservation concern. One such species, the Swainson's warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii), breeds in bottomland hardwood forests in the southeastern U.S. Because these warblers nest in the shrub layer and forage in leaf litter, they may be negatively influenced by floodinduced changes to their habitat. In 2004, we repeated songbroadcast surveys and vegetation sampling at 42 locations that were occupied by Swainson's warblers in 2000 or 2001 at four study sites in Arkansas. Only nine of 42 previously occupied locations (21%) were determined to be occupied 3-4 years after the original surveys. Occupancy changes were associated with decreases in depth and cover of leaf litter and shrub cover, and increases in cover of bare ground and forbs. These habitat and occupancy changes were associated with flooding that occurred between sample periods at three of four study sites, although detections declined at all four sites. Future conservation efforts for this species should focus on providing relatively high elevation areas that are typically free from the effects of periodic flooding.

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Catastrophic storms, forest disturbance, and the natural history of Swainson's warbler

Graves

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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The core breeding range of Swainson's warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii) overlaps a zone of exceptionally high tornado frequency in southeastern North America. The importance of tornadoes in creating breeding habitat for this globally rare warbler and other disturbance‐dependent species has been largely overlooked. This paper estimates tornado frequency (1950–2021) and forest disturbance in the 240 counties and parishes in which breeding was documented from 1988 to 2014. The frequency of destructive tornadoes (EF1‐EF5) varied 6‐fold across the breeding range with a peak in the Gulf Coast states. Counties from east Texas to Alabama experienced the lowest median return interval of 5.4 years per 1000 km2, resulting in approximately 2477 ha of forest damage per 1000 km2 per century, based on current forestland cover. Tornadoes were significantly less frequent north and east of the core breeding range, with return intervals increasing to 9.1 years per 1000 km2 for breeding counties on the Atlantic coastal plain, 10.2 years per 1000 km2 in the Ozark Mountains, and 32.3 years per 1000 km2 in the Appalachian Mountains. Breeding counties within 150 km of the coastline from east Texas to North Carolina are also subjected to the highest frequency of hurricanes in the Western Hemisphere. Hurricanes often cause massive forest damage but archived meteorological and forestry data are insufficient to estimate the aggregate extent of forest disturbance in breeding counties. Nevertheless, the combined impact of tornadoes and hurricanes in the pre‐Anthropogenic era was likely sufficient to produce a dynamic mosaic of early‐successional forest crucial for the breeding ecology of Swainson's warbler. To ensure the long‐term survival of this rare warbler, it is advisable to develop habitat management plans that incorporate remote sensing data on early‐successional forest generated by catastrophic storms as well as anthropogenic activities.

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Vegetation characteristics of Swainson’s warbler habitat at the White River National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas

Cited by 27 publications

References 14 publications

Does flooding influence the types and proportions of prey delivered to nestling Mississippi Kites?

Does flooding influence the types and proportions of prey delivered to nestling Mississippi Kites?

Short-Term Effects of Flooding on Understory Habitat and Presence of Swainson’s Warblers

Catastrophic storms, forest disturbance, and the natural history of Swainson's warbler

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