Determining habitat quality for species that demonstrate dynamic habitat selection

Determining habitat quality for species that demonstrate dynamic habitat selection

Determining habitat quality for wildlife populations requires relating a species' habitat to its survival and reproduction. Within a season, species occurrence and density can be disconnected from measures of habitat quality when resources are highly seasonal, unpredictable over time, and patchy. Here we establish an explicit link among dynamic selection of changing resources, spatio-temporal s...

Determining the Spatial Scale of Species' Response to Habitat

E attributes such as population abundance and species richness depend not only on patch characteristics but also on the characteristics of the landscape surrounding the patch, known as patch context (Åberg et al. 1995, Gascon et al. 1999, Saab 1999, Szacki 1999, Fahrig 2001). Focal patch studies are one approach to studying the effects of patch context. In such studies, the data on species abun...

Habitat Quality Modeling for Bird Species at Furman University

Testing habitat copying in breeding habitat selection in a species adapted to variable environments

The habitat copying hypothesis states that animals use the reproductive performance of conspecifics to evaluate habitat quality and choose their future breeding site. We used data from Audouin’s Gull Larus audouinii (1992–2003), a species adapted to unpredictable environments, to analyse subcolony (as patch) choice within a colony (small spatial scale). We also assessed the suitability of alter...

Seasonal Moose Habitat Selection

The moose is Minnesota’s largest wild animal. In December 2012 moose were proposed as a species of special concern under Minnesota law due to their population decline (Baker, 2012). Time series analysis of the northeast Minnesota moose population estimates conducted by Lenarz (2012) found a significant decline between 2005 and 2012. Moose habitat lacks highly specific requirements, depending mo...