Rangeland Ecology & Management

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POST-FLEDGING HABITAT USE AND SEASONAL PRODUCTIVITY OF HENSLOW�S SPARROW AMMODRAMUS HENSLOWII)
Author
Young, Aaron C.
Wolfenbarger, L. LaReesa
McCarty, John P.
Cox, W. Andrew
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

Management of tallgrass prairies using fire is an important tool for preventing invasive woody vegetation. The effects of management on grassland songbirds have often been measured using one aspect of overall breeding season productivity, nest success, as a metric for habitat quality. However, ignoring other life-stages and demographic parameters during the breeding season may lead to inaccurate assumptions for the effects of habitat, and associated management, on populations. The post-fledging period may be a time of high mortality, and vegetative associations of fledglings may not match those of nesting adults. In this case, management aimed at providing nesting habitat may not meet the needs of fledglings. For a complete estimate of seasonal productivity at a site, rates of re-nesting must be estimated. Together, the effects of habitat on each of these parameters can be estimated in order to more accurately estimate seasonal productivity. We provide the first estimate of seasonal productivity for Henslow�s Sparrow, a species of conservation concern, at a tallgrass prairie in Missouri. We estimated survival during the post-fledging period as a function of vegetative characteristics and compared habitat used by fledglings during the dependent and independent periods. Seasonal fecundity was estimated using radio transmitters attached to females. Finally, we built models that combined our complete set of breeding season parameters to predict population change for the site. Results show strong effects of lowered survival during both the nesting and post-fledging stages as areas of invasive sumac (Rhus copallinum) coverage increase. Survival of dependent fledglings increased with years since burn. Independent fledglings used habitat with lower cover of litter and increased forb cover compared to habitat used during the nesting and dependent periods. Our findings suggest that removal of woody vegetation and implementation of small-scale burn mosaics will improve productivity while providing habitat for independent fledglings.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Reno, NV