The effects of landscape composition and configuration on Eastern Whip-poor-will (Caprimulgus vociferous) and Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) occupancy in an agroecosystem

Michelle A Vala,Scott Wilson,Greg W Mitchell,Julia E Put,Kevin C Hannah

doi:10.5751/ace-01613-150124

Abstract

Vala, M. A., G. W. Mitchell, K. C. Hannah, J. Put, and S. Wilson. 2020. The effects of landscape composition and configuration on Eastern Whip-poor-will (Caprimulgus vociferous) and Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) occupancy in an agroecosystem. Avian Conservation and Ecology 15(1):24. https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01613-150124

Highlights

The expansion and intensification of agriculture is a primary driver of declines in avian populations (Donald et al 2001, Benton et al 2003, Evans et al 2007, Paquette et al 2013)
Our results highlight how the conservation of the Eastern Whip-poor-will in agricultural landscapes of eastern Canada would benefit from both wetland protection and the presence of larger forest patches, which can be accomplished through both forest protection and by allowing forest regeneration on abandoned lands
In North America between 1970 and 2017, Eastern Whip-poor-will and Common Nighthawk populations declined by 74% and 56%, respectively (Smith et al 2019), and under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, they are listed as Threatened and Special Concern, respectively (Environment and Climate Change Canada 2019)

Summary

Introduction

The expansion and intensification of agriculture is a primary driver of declines in avian populations (Donald et al 2001, Benton et al 2003, Evans et al 2007, Paquette et al 2013). Numerous threatened species co-occur in agroecosystems, and the development of effective conservation and management strategies for these species requires that we understand how they respond to the expansion and intensification of agriculture (Caughley 1994, Guisan et al 2013) Such information is aided by knowledge of three key components: (1) the tolerance of species to compositional change in preferred habitat (Lindenmayer et al 2005, Swift and Hannon 2010, SuarezRubio et al 2013), (2) whether the configuration of preferred habitat affects species, and (3) the spatial scales at which species are most responsive to habitat loss, which allows for the management of habitat at the scale most likely to be influential for species recovery (Jackson and Fahrig 2015, Farrell et al 2019). Threats to Common Nighthawks are poorly known, in part because a large proportion of the Canadian population breeds in remote areas of the boreal forest where distribution and trend information is limited (Farrell et al 2017, 2019)

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Discussion

Conclusion