Abstract
The effects of landscape composition and configuration on productivity of most bird species, including American woodcock (Scolopax minor), are largely unknown. Understanding landscape components and cover-type configurations associated with productivity can be useful in developing more effective management strategies that increase recruitment. We used data on nest and juvenile survival rates of American woodcock from northern Minnesota from 2011 and 2012 to inform logistic exposure models of survival and predict productivity through the period when juveniles are capable of sustained flight (~15 days post-hatch). We used those models to link landscape features with nest survival rate and juvenile survival rate, predict spatially explicit productivity across our study area, and identify areas of high productivity within our study landscape. Lastly, we used simulations to explore the consequences of potential management actions aimed at improving productivity and the effects of long-term succession of young-forest cover types. We found that associations between land-cover composition and different components of productivity (i.e., nest and juvenile survival rates) were scale-specific. Generally, our models suggested stand-level composition (i.e., the amount of each cover type within 250–500 m of the nest) influenced nest survival rate, with mature forest having a small but mostly positive association with nest survival rate in most landscape contexts. Conversely, our models predicted lower nest survival rates in landscapes with greater amounts of grassland and upland shrubland. The amounts of wetland shrubland and upland shrubland at stand- (i.e., 250–500 m) and landscape-level (i.e., 1,000 m) scales were positively associated with juvenile survival rate. Our findings demonstrate that the effects of management actions depend on the context and configuration of cover types within the surrounding landscape and that spatially explicit models of productivity may be useful for informing management strategies. Furthermore, our results suggest that relationships between survival and specific land-cover types may change throughout the reproductive cycle in American woodcock.
Highlights
The effects of landscape composition and configuration on productivity of most bird species, including American woodcock (Scolopax minor), are largely unknown
Study Area We relied on data from a study of woodcock population ecology (Daly 2014) at Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Becker County, Minnesota, USA (47.0°N, 95.6°W) from 2011–2012
We explored the relationships between cover types and nest survival rate at radii of 25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 m
Summary
The effects of landscape composition and configuration on productivity of most bird species, including American woodcock (Scolopax minor), are largely unknown. Incorporating accurate estimates of vital rates (e.g., adult female survival rate, nest survival rate, juvenile survival rate) into population models is important for understanding the influences of different life stages on population trends (Van Horne 1983, Connelly et al 1988, Derleth and Sepik 1990, Wisdom and Mills 1997) In birds, including both nest and juvenile survival rates in models of productivity is important because the relationships among survival and landscape components may be stage-specific and/or change over time (e.g., Connelly et al 1988, Roberts et al 1995, Streby et al 2014b). Woodcock populations are known to increase following targeted vegetation management (Dwyer et al 1988, McAuley et al 1996), and previous research suggests microhabitat structure and composition have small or nonexistent effects on survival rates of woodcock nests and juveniles (Daly 2014); the influence of large-scale landscape components and their configuration on woodcock productivity, is largely unknown
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