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Browsing by Subject "Birds"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Breeding Ecology and Conservation of Ground-Nesting Waterbirds in North America and Southeast Asia
    (2016-12) Claassen, Andrea
    Waterbird populations have declined around the world as a result of anthropogenic impacts from habitat loss and degradation, direct mortality, reproductive failure, and disturbance from humans and non-native and domestic animals. Specialist species are particularly at risk from changing environmental conditions and disturbances compared to generalist species. Plovers, lapwings, terns, and other waterbird species in the Order Charadriiformes nest on the ground, near water, and in exposed areas with little vegetative cover. As a result of their specialized breeding ecology and habitat requirements, nests of these species are therefore highly vulnerable to animal predation, flooding due to rainfall and hydrologic fluctuations, and disturbance from humans and domestic animals. Different social, economic, and political situations among world regions present distinct opportunities and challenges for implementing species conservation. In this study, I explore breeding ecology and conservation of threatened ground-nesting waterbirds in two different systems: 1) Piping Plovers Charadius melodus that breed on lakeshore beaches in the Great Lakes region of the United States, and 2) a community of six species, including River Tern Sterna aurantia, River Lapwing Vanellus duvaucelii, Great Thick-knee Esacus recurvirostris, Indian Thick-knee Burhinus indicus, Small Pratincole Glareola lactea, and Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius, that nest on river sand and gravel bars in the Mekong River basin in Cambodia. First, I examine factors affecting nest survival and renesting, and compare in situ and ex situ management scenarios to evaluate the potential efficacy of egg salvage as a means to augment the Great Lakes Piping Plover population. Second, I investigate factors affecting nest and chick survival of riverine birds in Cambodia, and evaluate the effectiveness of a direct payment nest protection program to improve reproductive success. Third, I examine factors affecting multi-scale habitat selection, and the consequences of habitat selection on reproductive success of riverine birds in Cambodia. This study provides valuable new information that will aid ongoing conservation efforts for threatened ground-nesting waterbirds such as the Piping Plover in North America and riverine birds in Southeast Asia. This work also has implications for conservation of threatened species more broadly.
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    Comparing Bird Management Tactics for Vineyards and Berry Crops
    (University of Minnesota Extension, 2021) Klodd, Annie; Loegering, John; Clark, Matt
    This article compares existing bird control tactics and emerging technologies for vineyards and berry crops.
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    ELF Communications System Ecological Monitoring Program: Bird Species and Communities Wisconsin Test Facility: Final Report
    (University of Minnesota Duluth, 1990) Hanowski, JoAnn M; Blake, John G.; Niemi, Gerald J; Collins, Patrick T
    This report summarizes work completed in our study that was designed to isolate effects of electromagnetic (EM) fields produced by extremely low frequency (ELF) antenna systems on bird species breeding in or migrating through Wisconsin. Specifically, we wanted to determine if bird species richness and abundance differed between areas that were close to the antenna and those that were far enough away to be unaffected by the antenna. Characteristics examined included total species richness and abundance, abundances of common bird species, and abundances of birds within selected guilds. Vegetation was measured to identify differences and similarities between control and treatment areas and habitat variables were used in analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to compare abundant bird species’ numbers between control and treatment areas after they were adjusted for habitat differences. We found no consistent patterns that would demonstrate that birds were either attracted to or repelled by EM fields produced by the antenna. Most differences in abundance between control and treatment areas could be attributed to habitat differences (both in ANCOVA and guild analysis). Based on tests of transects paired by habitat similarities, the presence of the antenna ROW may have affected abundance of some bird species in the study areas. Abundance of species related to edges was higher in treatment areas particularly during May and June. Differences in abundance of individuals that require forest interiors between control and treatment areas were not as pronounced. Because we have no before data in Wisconsin, we cannot exclude the possibility that these differences between control and treatment existed before the ROW was cut, such comparisons, however will be possible in Michigan.
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    Evaluation of Neurobehavioral Abnormalities and Immunotoxicity after Oral Imidacloprid Exposure in Domestic Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus)
    (2019-05) Franzen-Klein, Dana
    Neonicotinoid pesticides may have negative effects on non-target species at environmentally plausible exposure doses. The objective of the present study was to quantify neurobehavioral abnormalities and immunotoxicity due to oral imidacloprid exposure in birds. Domestic white leghorn chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus; n=120) were exposed to imidacloprid by gavage once daily for 7 consecutive days at 0, 0.03, 0.34, 3.42, 10.25, and 15.50 mg/kg. The severity and duration of neurobehavioral abnormalities were recorded, and immune function was assessed with 7 standard functional assays. Immunotoxicity was not detected. Temporary neurobehavioral abnormalities were observed in a dose-dependent manner, including generalized whole-body muscle tremors, ataxia, and depressed mentation ranging from mild depression to a complete lack of response to external stimulation. The effect dose value for the presence of any neurobehavioral abnormalities in 50% of the test group (ED50) was 4.63 mg/kg/day. The ED50 for an adjusted score that included both the severity and duration of neurobehavioral abnormalities was 11.27 mg/kg/day. The no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) and lowest observed effect level (LOEL) were 3.42 mg/kg/day, and the lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL) was 10.25 mg/kg/day. While immunotoxicity was not demonstrated in the present study, it cannot be ruled out. The observed neurobehavioral abnormalities were severe at the higher doses and may impair survival of free-living gallinaceous birds.
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    An Integrated Approach to Assessing Multiple Stressors for Coastal Lake Superior
    (2011) Niemi, Gerald J; Reavie, Euan; Peterson, Gregory S; Kelly, John R; Johnston, Carol A; Johnson, Lucinda B; Howe, Robert W; Host, George; Hollenhorst, Thomas; Danz, Nick; Ciborowski, Jan H; Brown, Terry; Brady, Valerie; Axler, Richard P
    This peer-reviewed article summarizes research conducted under the Great Lakes Environmental Indicators (GLEI) project initiated by the authors in 2001. The authors assessed the status of Lake Superior’s coastal ecosystem relative to over 200 environmental variables collected from GIS data sets for the enture US Great Lakes basin. These were assessed using gradients including atmosphereic deposition, agriculture, human population and development, land cover, point source pollution, soils and a cumulative stress index. Relationships of biological assemblages of birds, diatoms, fish and invertebrates, wetland plants, soils and stable isotopes to these gradients were then assessed. Key findings are extracted and reproduced below. Biological indicators can be used both to estimate ecological condition and to suggest plausible causes of ecosystem degradation across the U.S. Great Lakes coastal region. Here we use data on breeding bird, diatom, fish, invertebrate, and wetland plant communities to develop robust indicators of ecological condition of the U.S. Lake Superior coastal zone. Sites were selected as part of a larger, stratified random design for the entire U.S. Great Lakes coastal region, covering gradients of anthropogenic stress defined by over 200 stressor variables (e.g. agriculture, altered land cover, human populations, and point source pollution). A total of 89 locations in Lake Superior were sampled between 2001 and 2004 including 31 sites for stable isotope analysis of benthic macroinvertebrates, 62 sites for birds, 35 for diatoms, 32 for fish and macroinvertebrates, and 26 for wetland vegetation. A relationship between watershed disturbance metrics and 15N levels in coastal macroinvertebrates confirmed that watershed-based stressor gradients are expressed across Lake Superior’s coastal ecosystems, increasing confidence in ascribing causes of biological responses to some landscape activities. Several landscape metrics in particular—agriculture, urbanization, human population density, and road density—strongly influenced the responses of indicator species assemblages. Conditions were generally good in Lake Superior, but in some areas watershed stressors produced degraded conditions that were similar to those in the southern and eastern U.S. Great Lakes. The following indicators were developed based on biotic responses to stress in Lake Superior in the context of all the Great Lakes: (1) an index of ecological condition for breeding bird communities, (2) diatom-based nutrient and solids indicators, (3) fish and macroinvertebrate indicators for coastal wetlands, and (4) a non-metric multidimensional scaling for wetland plants corresponding to a cumulative stress index. These biotic measures serve as useful indicators of the ecological condition of the Lake Superior coast; collectively, they provide a baseline assessment of selected biological conditions for the U.S. Lake Superior coastal region and prescribe a means to detect change over time.” Key points: “In general, the U.S. Great Lakes coastal region of Lake Superior shows greater overall stress in the southern regions compared with relatively low overall stress in the northern regions. These patterns are primarily due to agricultural land use, higher human population densities, and point sources in the eastern and western portions on the south shore, while the north shore at the western end of Lake Superior is primarily forested with relatively sparse human population densities. Coastal regions of Lake Superior can be found at each of the extremes of the disturbance gradients. This includes relatively pristine watersheds in the northern regions with low human population densities and little agriculture that contrast with regions of relatively high populations with industrial activity such as Duluth-Superior in Minnesota-Wisconsin and Sault Ste. Marie Michigan at the other end of the gradient. The U.S. Lake Superior coastal region varies widely in the degree of human-related stress; generally, levels of stress decrease from south to north but with considerable variation, especially along the southern shore due to local agricultural activity and the presence of several population and industrial centers. In spite of a lack of latitudinal variation, there is human-induced, watershed scale variability across the Lake Superior coast. Compared to the other Great Lakes, Lake Superior coastal fish communities had more generally intolerant fish and more turbidity intolerant fish. Coastal fish community composition reflected the higher levels of suspended solids associated with human alteration to watersheds. The most disturbed sites on Lake Superior had greater proportions of non-native species and fewer bottom-feeding taxa.
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    Riparian bird communities along an urban gradient: effects of local vegetation, landscape biophysical heterogeneity, and spatial scale
    (2008-12) Pennington, Derric Neville
    Urbanization is an important driver of ecosystem change that can have deleterious effects on regional native biodiversity. Yet we know little about the potential value of urbanizing areas for maintaining local and regional species diversity. Few studies have explicitly examined how the spatial arrangement and composition of biophysical elements within a metropolitan area contribute to the structure and composition of urban biodiversity. This thesis focuses on avian community responses and uses observational studies that consider local vegetation and landscape factors in order to further understanding of the ecological and conservation implications of urbanization across multiple temporal and spatial scales. A synthesis of three urban systems demonstrates the usefulness of gradient analysis approach for understanding fine-and coarse-scale processes influencing urban bird distributions. Results illustrate differences between two urban-to-rural gradient paradigms and the importance of conducting investigations at multiple spatial, temporal and biological scales. Recommendations are provided to improve our understanding of urban bird communities using gradient analyses and emphasize the future need to derive a common framework that incorporates the biophysical and social heterogeneity of urban systems. An urban gradient study of riparian bird communities within metropolitan Cincinnati, Ohio during spring migration found that bird species responses varied based on migratory strategies and across spatial scales. Long-distance Neotropical migrant species density, richness, and evenness responded most strongly to landscape and vegetation measures and were positively correlated with areas of wide riparian forests and less development within 250 m. Resident Neotropical migrants density, richness, and evenness increased with wider riparian forests (> 500 m) without buildings, while en-route migrants utilized areas having a wide buffer of tree cover (250 to 500 m) regardless of buildings; both resident and en-route landbirds were positively associated with native vegetation composition and mature trees. To better understand the relative importance of proximate versus landscape features and the influential spatial scales of these landscape features, I focused on breeding riparian bird species and the influences of two biophysical features of the urban environment - vegetation and built elements - within 1 km for the same riparian study area. At the proximate scale, native tree and understory stem frequency were the most important vegetation variables; native tree frequency had a positive influence on 35 species and a negative influence on 13 of the 48 species and native understory frequency had a positive influence on 27 species and a negative influence on 21 species. At the landscape scale, the vegetative features (both tree cover and grass cover) were most important variables included in competitive models across all species; tree cover positively influenced 15 species and negatively influenced 5 species and grass cover positively influenced 22 species and negatively influenced 5 species. Building density was an important variable for 13 species, and positively influenced 6 species and negatively influenced 7 species. In a comparison of multiple scales, models with only landscape variables were adequate for some species, but models combining local vegetation and landscape information were best or competitive for 42 of the 44 species. Local-vegetation-only models were rarely competitive. Combined models at small spatial scales (≤ 500 m) were best for 36 species of the 44 species and these models commonly included tree cover and building density. Only eight species had best models at larger scales (> 500 m); grass cover was most the important variable at larger scales. In conclusion, understanding the processes that create repeatable patterns in urban bird distributions is a challenge that requires investigation at multiple spatial, temporal, and biological scales. These findings provide managers and land-use planners with species-specific information and emphasize the importance of acknowledging both proximate and landscape influences in habitat modeling.