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Maximizing the effectiveness of grassland management for a grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) metapopulation
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Text
TitleInfo
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Title
Maximizing the effectiveness of grassland management for a grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) metapopulation
Identifier
ETD_1648
Identifier
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http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.000051404
Language
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(type = code)
eng
Genre
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theses
Subject
(ID = SBJ-1);
(authority = RUETD)
Topic
Ecology and Evolution
Subject
(ID = SBJ-1);
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Grasshopper sparrow--Habitat
Subject
(ID = SBJ-1);
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Grasshopper sparrow--Nests
Subject
(ID = SBJ-1);
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Grasshopper sparrow--Effect of habitat modification on
Subject
(ID = SBJ-1);
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Grasslands--Management
Abstract
Grassland bird population declines have been attributed to habitat loss and fragmentation and the intensification of agricultural practices. Hayfields are being cut earlier and more frequently during the breeding season resulting in low reproductive success. Grassland bird conservation efforts generally focus on enrolling farmland into landowner incentive programs that require mowing to be delayed until after July 15. Delayed mowing improves grassland bird reproductive success by enabling breeding pairs to fledge at least one brood during the breeding season. This dissertation examines the effect of hayfield management on population viability of a grasshopper sparrow metapopulation in a fragmented landscape in New Jersey and uses statistical power analysis to assess the cost-effectiveness of grasshopper sparrow metapopulation monitoring programs.
I built a spatially-explicit, stage-structured, stochastic model of a grasshopper sparrow metapopulation to determine how probability of extinction (POE) is affected by: (1) total hayfield area enrolled, (2) size of enrolled hayfields, (3) number of hayfield patches enrolled, and (4) isolation of enrolled hayfields. I found that POE decreased quickly with increasing amounts of enrolled hayfield area. After 31 to 48% of hayfield area in the landscape was enrolled, POE decreased minimally with further enrollment. The number of grassland parcels enrolled was also negatively related to POE. When I incorporated a patch size effect (fecundity was directly related to hayfield size) into the model, POE increased within each enrollment category but still decreased with increasing amounts of enrolled grassland (Chapter 2). POE was directly related to the degree of isolation of enrolled hayfields.
Of the monitoring programs we evaluated, the most cost-effective program to detect a 7% population decline included 18 hayfields surveyed six times annually over five years. Additional survey effort would be necessary to detect a smaller population decline and to overcome observer variability in density estimates due to sampling error.
Hayfield management for grassland birds will be most effective when there is not only a focus on the amount of managed habitat, but also on local and landscape scale variables such as patch size and configuration. Cost-effective population monitoring is critical to evaluating the success of management decisions.
I built a spatially-explicit, stage-structured, stochastic model of a grasshopper sparrow metapopulation to determine how probability of extinction (POE) is affected by: (1) total hayfield area enrolled, (2) size of enrolled hayfields, (3) number of hayfield patches enrolled, and (4) isolation of enrolled hayfields. I found that POE decreased quickly with increasing amounts of enrolled hayfield area. After 31 to 48% of hayfield area in the landscape was enrolled, POE decreased minimally with further enrollment. The number of grassland parcels enrolled was also negatively related to POE. When I incorporated a patch size effect (fecundity was directly related to hayfield size) into the model, POE increased within each enrollment category but still decreased with increasing amounts of enrolled grassland (Chapter 2). POE was directly related to the degree of isolation of enrolled hayfields.
Of the monitoring programs we evaluated, the most cost-effective program to detect a 7% population decline included 18 hayfields surveyed six times annually over five years. Additional survey effort would be necessary to detect a smaller population decline and to overcome observer variability in density estimates due to sampling error.
Hayfield management for grassland birds will be most effective when there is not only a focus on the amount of managed habitat, but also on local and landscape scale variables such as patch size and configuration. Cost-effective population monitoring is critical to evaluating the success of management decisions.
PhysicalDescription
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electronic resource
Extent
x, 91 p. : ill.
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application/pdf
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text/xml
Note
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Ph.D.
Note
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Includes bibliographical references
Note
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by Alison B. Seigel
Name
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Seigel
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Alison B.
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1977
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Alison B. Seigel
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Lockwood
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Julie
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chair
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Advisory Committee
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Julie L Lockwood
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Lathrop
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Richard
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internal member
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Advisory Committee
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Richard G Lathrop
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Jordan
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Rebecca
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internal member
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Advisory Committee
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Rebecca C Jordan
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Drake
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David
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outside member
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Advisory Committee
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David Drake
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Rutgers University
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degree grantor
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Graduate School - New Brunswick
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school
OriginInfo
DateCreated
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2009
DateOther
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2009-05
Place
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xx
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Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD
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Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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rucore19991600001
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(displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
NjNbRU
Identifier
(type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T3QF8T3D
Genre
(authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
Copyright
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Copyright protected
Availability
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Open
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Permission or license
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Non-exclusive ETD license
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Author Agreement License
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I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
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419840
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