Avian Response to Conservation Buffers in Agricultural Landscapes During Winter
نویسنده
چکیده
Native herbaceous vegetation cover along row-crop field edges (i.e., field buffers) increases breeding densities of many bird species. However, the effect of field buffers on bird species during the nonbreeding season is less understood. We compared density, avian richness, and avian conservation value on row-crop fields containing buffers strategically designed for wildlife versus fields without buffers in 3 southeastern U.S. states during winter 2007 and 2008. Fields with buffers were enrolled in U.S. Department of Agriculture, Conservation Reserve Program practice Habitat Buffers for Upland Birds (CP33), which targets restoration of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and other upland bird species. Overall species richness did not differ on fields with buffers versus fields without buffers in 2007, but was 29% greater on fields with buffers in 2008. Swamp sparrows (Melospiza georgiana), song sparrows (M.melodia), field sparrows (Spizella pusilla), and red-bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) had greater densities on fields with buffers compared with fields without buffers. Increasing field-buffer width did not result in greater bird densities. Our results suggest a small change in primary land use ( 7%) produced a disproportionate population response by some grassland-dependent and woodland bird species during winter. Because field buffers provide a direct source of winter food and cover resources, they may be a pragmatic means to provide critical non-breeding habitat with little alteration of existing agricultural systems. 2014 The Wildlife Society.
منابع مشابه
Assessing multiregion avian benefits from strategically targeted agricultural buffers.
Mounting evidence of wildlife population gains from targeted conservation practices has prompted the need to develop and evaluate practices that are integrated into production agriculture systems and targeted toward specific habitat objectives. However, effectiveness of targeted conservation actions across broader landscapes is poorly understood. We evaluated multiregion, multispecies avian den...
متن کاملAvian Ecology and Conservation in Tropical Agricultural Landscapes with Emphasis on Vermivora Chrysoptera
متن کامل
Data on four criteria for targeting the placement of conservation buffers in agricultural landscapes
Four criteria are generally used to prioritize agricultural lands for placing conservation buffers. The criteria include soil erodibility, hydrological sensitivity, wildlife habitat, and impervious surface rate that capture conservation buffers' benefits in reducing soil erosion, controlling runoff generation, enhancing wildlife habitat, and mitigating stormwater impacts, respectively. This art...
متن کاملLandscape-level effects on avifauna within tropical agriculture in the Western Ghats: Insights for management and conservation
A critical handicap to tropical biodiversity conservation efforts in agroecosystems is the unknowns regarding the influence of landscape-scale factors on the persistence of species. To address these uncertainties, we explored two essential landscape-scale questions, within India’s biologically-rich Western Ghats, examining two nearby human-dominated landscapes that dramatically differed in thei...
متن کاملManagement and Conservation Disturbance and Landscape Effects on Avian Nests in Agricultural Conservation Buffers
We studied the effects of periodic disturbance (prescribed burning and light disking) and landscape composition on nest density and success for grassland birds in agricultural conservation buffers in southeastern United States agroecosystems. During the 2007–2009 breeding seasons, we located 387 nests in buffers of a northeast Mississippi agroecosystem. Dickcissel (Spiza americana) and red-wing...
متن کامل