Habitat selection and nest survival in two Great Plains shorebirds
As breeding populations of many grassland bird species decline, assessments of breeding habitat selection and reproductive success can provide useful insight into breeding ecology to support conservation delivery. Here, we demonstrate the use of nest location and survival data collated from 20 data...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Resilience Alliance
2020-06-01
|
| Series: | Avian Conservation and Ecology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ace-eco.org/vol15/iss1/art3/ |
| _version_ | 1828080818846695424 |
|---|---|
| author | Hannah Specht Véronique St-Louis Cheri L. Gratto-Trevor Nicola Koper Cassandra G. Skaggs Tait Ronningen Todd W. Arnold |
| author_facet | Hannah Specht Véronique St-Louis Cheri L. Gratto-Trevor Nicola Koper Cassandra G. Skaggs Tait Ronningen Todd W. Arnold |
| author_sort | Hannah Specht |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As breeding populations of many grassland bird species decline, assessments of breeding habitat selection and reproductive success can provide useful insight into breeding ecology to support conservation delivery. Here, we demonstrate the use of nest location and survival data collated from 20 data contributors across the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States and Canada over a half century to examine habitat selection and nest survival of Western Willets (Tringa semipalmata inornata) and Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa), hereafter "willets" and "godwits." Both willets and godwits selected territories with less variation in vegetation height and topography relative to available locations. Willets selected nest sites that were flatter, closer to wetlands, and had shorter vegetation than Marbled Godwits, while godwits selected territories with greater wetland cover and shorter vegetation. Despite differences in fine-scale habitat selection, willets and godwits experienced similar daily nest survival rates and ecological drivers of nest survival. Nest success for the entire nest exposure period was estimated to be 0.521 (95% credible interval: 0.39-0.65) for willets and 0.562 (95% credible interval: 0.42-0.70) for godwits. Nest survival for both species increased with nest age and distance from the nest to the nearest wetland edge, while nest survival of godwits declined with conspecific breeding density. These relationships, as well as a weaker positive effect of microtine rodent abundance on nest survival, resembled drivers of upland nesting waterfowl reproductive success in the same region, which we attribute to their shared nest predators. Nest survival analyses of our collaborative dataset required substantial consideration of biases emerging from different data collection methods, ultimately reaffirming the importance of nest aging techniques in proper nest fate assignment. Analysis of compiled datasets using emerging analysis methods will continue to grow our understanding of the ecology of data sparse species. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:25:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ec25f5ef0902475d80bcfb9e3c0ade3a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1712-6568 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:25:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Resilience Alliance |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Avian Conservation and Ecology |
| spelling | doaj.art-ec25f5ef0902475d80bcfb9e3c0ade3a2023-01-02T07:55:01ZengResilience AllianceAvian Conservation and Ecology1712-65682020-06-0115131487Habitat selection and nest survival in two Great Plains shorebirdsHannah Specht0Véronique St-Louis1Cheri L. Gratto-Trevor2Nicola Koper3Cassandra G. Skaggs4Tait Ronningen5Todd W. Arnold6Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St. Paul, Minnesota, USAWildlife Biometrics Unit, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Forest Lake, Minnesota, USAPrairie and Northern Wildlife Research Centre, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CanadaNatural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaSchool of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University AgCenter, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USAU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bismarck, North Dakota, USAFisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St. Paul, Minnesota, USAAs breeding populations of many grassland bird species decline, assessments of breeding habitat selection and reproductive success can provide useful insight into breeding ecology to support conservation delivery. Here, we demonstrate the use of nest location and survival data collated from 20 data contributors across the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States and Canada over a half century to examine habitat selection and nest survival of Western Willets (Tringa semipalmata inornata) and Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa), hereafter "willets" and "godwits." Both willets and godwits selected territories with less variation in vegetation height and topography relative to available locations. Willets selected nest sites that were flatter, closer to wetlands, and had shorter vegetation than Marbled Godwits, while godwits selected territories with greater wetland cover and shorter vegetation. Despite differences in fine-scale habitat selection, willets and godwits experienced similar daily nest survival rates and ecological drivers of nest survival. Nest success for the entire nest exposure period was estimated to be 0.521 (95% credible interval: 0.39-0.65) for willets and 0.562 (95% credible interval: 0.42-0.70) for godwits. Nest survival for both species increased with nest age and distance from the nest to the nearest wetland edge, while nest survival of godwits declined with conspecific breeding density. These relationships, as well as a weaker positive effect of microtine rodent abundance on nest survival, resembled drivers of upland nesting waterfowl reproductive success in the same region, which we attribute to their shared nest predators. Nest survival analyses of our collaborative dataset required substantial consideration of biases emerging from different data collection methods, ultimately reaffirming the importance of nest aging techniques in proper nest fate assignment. Analysis of compiled datasets using emerging analysis methods will continue to grow our understanding of the ecology of data sparse species.http://www.ace-eco.org/vol15/iss1/art3/alternate preymarbled godwitmark-recapturenest agenest-site selectionnest survivalwillet |
| spellingShingle | Hannah Specht Véronique St-Louis Cheri L. Gratto-Trevor Nicola Koper Cassandra G. Skaggs Tait Ronningen Todd W. Arnold Habitat selection and nest survival in two Great Plains shorebirds Avian Conservation and Ecology alternate prey marbled godwit mark-recapture nest age nest-site selection nest survival willet |
| title | Habitat selection and nest survival in two Great Plains shorebirds |
| title_full | Habitat selection and nest survival in two Great Plains shorebirds |
| title_fullStr | Habitat selection and nest survival in two Great Plains shorebirds |
| title_full_unstemmed | Habitat selection and nest survival in two Great Plains shorebirds |
| title_short | Habitat selection and nest survival in two Great Plains shorebirds |
| title_sort | habitat selection and nest survival in two great plains shorebirds |
| topic | alternate prey marbled godwit mark-recapture nest age nest-site selection nest survival willet |
| url | http://www.ace-eco.org/vol15/iss1/art3/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hannahspecht habitatselectionandnestsurvivalintwogreatplainsshorebirds AT veroniquestlouis habitatselectionandnestsurvivalintwogreatplainsshorebirds AT cherilgrattotrevor habitatselectionandnestsurvivalintwogreatplainsshorebirds AT nicolakoper habitatselectionandnestsurvivalintwogreatplainsshorebirds AT cassandragskaggs habitatselectionandnestsurvivalintwogreatplainsshorebirds AT taitronningen habitatselectionandnestsurvivalintwogreatplainsshorebirds AT toddwarnold habitatselectionandnestsurvivalintwogreatplainsshorebirds |