Grassland management for the conservation of songbirds in the Midwestern USA
We monitored breeding eastern meadowlarks, dickcissels, Henslow's sparrows, grasshopper sparrows and field sparrows using strip transect surveys in 1995 and 1996. The 473-ha study area was an array of 3-ha management units of burned, mowed, hayed, grazed and undisturbed (>1 year) cool- and w...
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Published in | Biological conservation Vol. 94; no. 2; pp. 165 - 172 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Elsevier Ltd
01.07.2000
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | We monitored breeding eastern meadowlarks, dickcissels, Henslow's sparrows, grasshopper sparrows and field sparrows using strip transect surveys in 1995 and 1996. The 473-ha study area was an array of 3-ha management units of burned, mowed, hayed, grazed and undisturbed (>1 year) cool- and warm-season grasses and annual weeds. Management units grouped by habitat type (management regime and grass type) had different (
P<0.05) abundances of each species. Eastern meadowlarks and dickcissels were most frequently observed in grazed warm-season grasses. Observation rates of Henslow's sparrows and field sparrows were highest in undisturbed warm-season grasses, whereas eastern meadowlarks and grasshopper sparrows were observed least often in this habitat type. Grasshopper sparrows were observed most frequently in annual weeds; Henslow's sparrows and field sparrows were not observed in this habitat type. Overall avian abundance was lowest in recently burned cool-season grasses. The low-intensity, late-season grazing system was important for creating a heterogeneous habitat mosaic attractive to the five species studied. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0006-3207 1873-2917 |
DOI: | 10.1016/S0006-3207(99)00182-2 |