Raptors are an important component of prairie ecosystems. I examined the effects of grassland conversion to agricultural fields on densities of nesting prairie hawks. Densities of Swainson's hawks were recorded for comparison. The 2 species of congeneric hawks responded differently to habitat loss despite considerable overlap in their use of resources. As cultivation on study plots increased, ferruginous hawks declined. Swainson's hawks were more abundant in areas of moderate cultivation than in grassland or in areas of extensive cultivation. Differences in the hawks' responses were attributed to differences in their ecology, primarily prey utilization. There was no evidence that soil quality affected hawk abundance. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.