Declining grassland bird populations across North America continue to be a concern. Understanding local relationships between grassland bird abundance and vegetative and landscape characteristics will enable more prescriptive recommendations to be made to land managers. We used point count survey data collected by the MULTISAR (Multiple Species At Risk) program along with field measurements of habitat and landscape characteristics on 15 ranches in the Dry Mixed-grass Subregion in southern Alberta to improve our understandings of habitat relationships for five grassland bird species: Baird’s Sparrow (Centronyx bairdii), Sprague’s Pipit (Anthus spragueii), Thick-billed Longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii), Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus), and Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum). We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the relationship between the predicted abundance of a species and covariates that represented vegetative structure (e.g., litter), management (e.g., range health), and anthropogenic features (e.g., energy development) of habitat site selection. Model results demonstrate four vegetation structure covariates were of most importance for predicting abundance, including litter, vegetation height, bare soil, and shrub cover. Quadratic relationships were found with litter amounts for the predicted abundance of Baird’s Sparrow, Chestnut-collared Longspur, and Grasshopper Sparrow. Contrastingly, higher amounts of litter reduced the predicted abundance of Thick-billed Longspur. The relationship of vegetation height was quadratic for Sprague’s Pipit and was positive for Baird’s Sparrow, but negative for Thick-billed Longspur. As bare soil percentage increased, the predicted abundance of Baird’s Sparrow and Chestnut-collared Longspur decreased, with Sprague’s Pipit showing a quadratic association. Negative relationships were found with increased amounts of shrub cover for Chestnut-collared Longspur, Sprague’s Pipit, and Thick-billed Longspur. Our results help to further understand individual grassland bird species’ habitat requirements, enabling us to provide land management recommendations for maintaining, improving, or creating the heterogenic environments needed for a variety of grassland birds in the Dry Mixed-grass Subregion.

The post Diversity in selection patterns of five grassland songbirds in dry-mixed grasslands of Alberta first appeared on Avian Conservation and Ecology.

北美草原鸟类数量的减少仍然是一个令人担忧的问题。了解草地鸟类丰度与植被和景观特征之间的当地关系，将为土地管理者提供更多规范性建议。我们使用 MULTISAR（多种风险物种）计划收集的点计数调查数据以及对阿尔伯塔省南部干混草次区域 15 个牧场的栖息地和景观特征的实地测量，以加深我们对五种草原鸟类栖息地关系的理解种：贝尔氏麻雀 ( Centronyx bairdii )、斯普拉格鹨 ( Anthus spragueii )、厚嘴长刺雀 ( Rhynchophanes mccownii )、栗领长刺雀 ( Calcarius ornatus)), 和蚱蜢麻雀 ( Ammodramus savannarum). 我们使用广义线性混合模型来检验一个物种的预测丰度与代表植被结构（例如，枯枝落叶）、管理（例如，范围健康）和生境选址的人为特征（例如，能源开发）的协变量之间的关系. 模型结果表明，四个植被结构协变量对于预测丰度最为重要，包括凋落物、植被高度、裸土和灌木覆盖。发现了贝尔德麻雀、栗领长刺麻雀和蚱蜢麻雀的预测丰度与凋落物数量的二次关系。相比之下，更多的垃圾减少了 Thick-billed Longspur 的预测丰度。植被高度的关系对于 Sprague's Pipit 是二次的，对于 Baird's Sparrow 是正的，但对厚嘴长刺不利。随着裸土百分比的增加，贝尔德麻雀和栗领长刺的预测丰度下降，而斯普拉格鹨显示出二次关联。发现与栗领长刺、斯普拉格鹨和厚嘴长刺的灌木覆盖量增加呈负相关。我们的研究结果有助于进一步了解单个草地鸟类的栖息地需求，使我们能够提供土地管理建议，以维护、改善或创造干混草次区域各种草地鸟类所需的异质环境。发现与栗领长刺、斯普拉格鹨和厚嘴长刺的灌木覆盖量增加呈负相关。我们的研究结果有助于进一步了解单个草地鸟类的栖息地需求，使我们能够提供土地管理建议，以维护、改善或创造干混草次区域各种草地鸟类所需的异质环境。发现与栗领长刺、斯普拉格鹨和厚嘴长刺的灌木覆盖量增加呈负相关。我们的研究结果有助于进一步了解单个草地鸟类的栖息地需求，使我们能够提供土地管理建议，以维护、改善或创造干混草次区域各种草地鸟类所需的异质环境。

阿尔伯塔干混草原五种草原鸣禽选择模式的多样性后首次出现在鸟类保护和生态学上。