Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-2008
Abstract
Population growth and decline are particularly sensitive to changes in three key life-history parameters: annual productivity, juvenile survival, and adult survival. However, for many species these parameters remain unknown. For example, although grassland songbirds are imperiled throughout North America, for this guild, only a small number of studies have assessed these parameters. From 2002 to 2006, in the agricultural landscape of the Champlain Valley of Vermont and New York, USA, we studied Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) and Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) demography on four grassland treatments: (1) early-hayed fields cut before 11 June and again in early- to mid-July; (2) middle-hayed fields cut once between 21 June and 10 July; (3) late-hayed fields cut after 1 August; and (4) rotationally grazed pastures. We assessed whether these treatments affected adult apparent survival (φ) and recruitment (ƒ ), how sensitive these parameters were to the presence of nonbreeders and local dispersal, and the populations’ ability to persist in these four habitats. On average, birds using late-hayed fields had >25% higher apparent survival than those on the more intensively managed early-hayed, middle-hayed, and grazed fields. Overall male φ was 35% higher than female φ, and Savannah Sparrow φ was 44% higher than Bobolink φ. Across all analyses and treatments, apparent survival estimates were 0.58–0.85 for male and 0.48–0.71 for female Savannah Sparrows, and 0.52–0.70 for male and 0.19–0.55 for female Bobolinks. For males of both species, potential nonbreeders decreased the precision of and lowered apparent survival estimates by 25%; female estimates showed little variation with the inclusion of nonbreeders. Inclusion of local dispersal observations increased apparent survival estimates and, in many cases, increased precision, though the effect was stronger for Savannah Sparrows than for Bobolinks, and also stronger for males than for females. High Savannah Sparrow apparent survival rates resulted in stable or near stable populations (λ ≈ 1), particularly in late-hayed and grazed fields, while low Bobolink apparent survival rates resulted in strongly declining populations (λ < 1) in all treatments.
Recommended Citation
Perlut, Noah G.; Strong, Allan M.; Donovan, Therese M.; and Buckley, Neil J., "Grassland Songbird Survival And Recruitment In Agricultural Landscapes: Implications For Source-Sink Demography" (2008). Environmental Studies Faculty Publications. 7.
https://dune.une.edu/env_facpubs/7
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Comments
Copyright by the Ecological Society of America.
This article was originally published in Ecology:
Perlut, N.G., A.M. Strong, T.M. Donovan, and N.J. Buckley. 2008. Grassland songbird survival and recruitment in agricultural landscapes: implications for source-sink demography. Ecology 89:1941-1952. DOI: 10.1890/07-0900.1