Seasonal Habitat Selection by American White Pelicans
Resource utilization strategies of avian migrants are a major concern for conservation and management. Understanding seasonal habitat selection by migratory birds helps us explain the ongoing continental declines of migratory bird populations. Our objective was to compare the second-order and third-...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-09-01
|
| Series: | Diversity |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/14/10/821 |
| _version_ | 1797473712682827776 |
|---|---|
| author | Frederick L. Cunningham Guiming Wang D. Tommy King |
| author_facet | Frederick L. Cunningham Guiming Wang D. Tommy King |
| author_sort | Frederick L. Cunningham |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Resource utilization strategies of avian migrants are a major concern for conservation and management. Understanding seasonal habitat selection by migratory birds helps us explain the ongoing continental declines of migratory bird populations. Our objective was to compare the second-order and third-order habitat selection by the American White Pelican (<i>Pelecanus erythrorhynchos</i>; hereafter pelican) between the breeding and non-breeding grounds. We tested the Lack hypothesis that habitat selection by migratory birds is stronger on the breeding grounds than on the non-breeding grounds. We used random-effect Dirichlet-multinomial models to estimate the second-order habitat selection between the seasons with the GPS locations of 32 tracked pelicans. We used Gaussian Markov random field models to estimate the third-order habitat selection by pelicans at the breeding and non-breeding grounds, accounting for spatial autocorrelation. Pelicans strongly selected waterbodies and wetlands at both non-breeding and breeding grounds, tracking their foraging habitats between the seasons at the home range level. However, pelicans exhibited seasonal differences in the strength of the third-order selection of wetlands and waterbodies with foraging habitat selection being stronger at the breeding grounds than at the non-breeding grounds, supporting the Lack hypothesis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:21:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-591051550a704202b79b5f15df118e58 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-2818 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:21:18Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diversity |
| spelling | doaj.art-591051550a704202b79b5f15df118e582023-11-23T23:48:16ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182022-09-01141082110.3390/d14100821Seasonal Habitat Selection by American White PelicansFrederick L. Cunningham0Guiming Wang1D. Tommy King2United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services-National Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi Field Station, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USADepartment of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USAUnited States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services-National Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi Field Station, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USAResource utilization strategies of avian migrants are a major concern for conservation and management. Understanding seasonal habitat selection by migratory birds helps us explain the ongoing continental declines of migratory bird populations. Our objective was to compare the second-order and third-order habitat selection by the American White Pelican (<i>Pelecanus erythrorhynchos</i>; hereafter pelican) between the breeding and non-breeding grounds. We tested the Lack hypothesis that habitat selection by migratory birds is stronger on the breeding grounds than on the non-breeding grounds. We used random-effect Dirichlet-multinomial models to estimate the second-order habitat selection between the seasons with the GPS locations of 32 tracked pelicans. We used Gaussian Markov random field models to estimate the third-order habitat selection by pelicans at the breeding and non-breeding grounds, accounting for spatial autocorrelation. Pelicans strongly selected waterbodies and wetlands at both non-breeding and breeding grounds, tracking their foraging habitats between the seasons at the home range level. However, pelicans exhibited seasonal differences in the strength of the third-order selection of wetlands and waterbodies with foraging habitat selection being stronger at the breeding grounds than at the non-breeding grounds, supporting the Lack hypothesis.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/14/10/821GPS telemetryresource selection functionseasonal migrationsecond-order selectionthird-order selectionwaterbirds |
| spellingShingle | Frederick L. Cunningham Guiming Wang D. Tommy King Seasonal Habitat Selection by American White Pelicans Diversity GPS telemetry resource selection function seasonal migration second-order selection third-order selection waterbirds |
| title | Seasonal Habitat Selection by American White Pelicans |
| title_full | Seasonal Habitat Selection by American White Pelicans |
| title_fullStr | Seasonal Habitat Selection by American White Pelicans |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonal Habitat Selection by American White Pelicans |
| title_short | Seasonal Habitat Selection by American White Pelicans |
| title_sort | seasonal habitat selection by american white pelicans |
| topic | GPS telemetry resource selection function seasonal migration second-order selection third-order selection waterbirds |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/14/10/821 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fredericklcunningham seasonalhabitatselectionbyamericanwhitepelicans AT guimingwang seasonalhabitatselectionbyamericanwhitepelicans AT dtommyking seasonalhabitatselectionbyamericanwhitepelicans |