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Hierarchical resource selection and movement of two wading bird species with divergent foraging strategies in the Everglades
Title
Hierarchical resource selection and movement of two wading bird species with divergent foraging strategies in the Everglades.
Creator
Beerens, James M., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract/Description
Seasonal variation in food availability is one of the primary limitations to avian populations, particularly during the breeding season. However, the behavioral responses between species may differ based on foraging strategies. I examined the influence of food availability on landscape-level habitat selection, patch-level habitat selection, and movements of two wading bird species with divergent foraging strategies, the Great Egret and White Ibis. On a landscape scale, there appeared to be a...
Show moreSeasonal variation in food availability is one of the primary limitations to avian populations, particularly during the breeding season. However, the behavioral responses between species may differ based on foraging strategies. I examined the influence of food availability on landscape-level habitat selection, patch-level habitat selection, and movements of two wading bird species with divergent foraging strategies, the Great Egret and White Ibis. On a landscape scale, there appeared to be a relationship among resource availability, the temporal scale of the independent variable, and whether the response was similar or different between species. At the patch level, results demonstrated a relationship between resource availability and the spatial scale of the independent variables selected by birds. Species movements were consistent with the differing strategies. This study is the first to make the link between landscape hydrology patterns, prey availability, and responses in wading bird habitat selection at multiple spatial scales.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/172667
Subject Headings
Water birds, Habitat, Habitat selection, Bird populations, Wetland ecology
Format
Document (PDF)
effects of water depth and vegetation on wading bird foraging habitat selection and foraging succes in the Everglades
Title
The effects of water depth and vegetation on wading bird foraging habitat selection and foraging succes in the Everglades.
Creator
Lantz, Samantha., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract/Description
Successful foraging by avian predators is influenced largely by prey availability. In a large-scale experiment at the Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment project within the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, I manipulated two components of prey availability, water depth and vegetation density (submerged aquatic vegetation and emergent vegetation), and quantified the response by wading birds in terms of foraging habitat selection and foraging success. Manly's...
Show moreSuccessful foraging by avian predators is influenced largely by prey availability. In a large-scale experiment at the Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment project within the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, I manipulated two components of prey availability, water depth and vegetation density (submerged aquatic vegetation and emergent vegetation), and quantified the response by wading birds in terms of foraging habitat selection and foraging success. Manly's standardized selection index showed that birds preferred shallow water and intermediate vegetation densities. However, the treatments had little effect on either individual capture rate or efficiency. This was a consistent pattern seen across multiple experiments. Birds selected for certain habitat features but accrued little benefit in terms of foraging success. I hypothesize that birds selected sites with shallow water and intermediate vegetation densities because they anticipated higher prey densities, but they did not experience it here because I controlled for prey density.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2788592
Subject Headings
Water birds, Habitat, Wetland ecology, Habitat selection, Avian ecology, Wildlife management
Format
Document (PDF)
Development, evaluation, and application of spatio-temporal wading bird foraging models to guide everglades restoration
Title
Development, evaluation, and application of spatio-temporal wading bird foraging models to guide everglades restoration.
Creator
Beerens, James M., Noonburg, Erik G., Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract/Description
In south Florida, the Greater Everglades ecosystem supports sixteen species of wading birds. Wading birds serve as important indicator species because they are highly mobile, demonstrate flexible habitat selection, and respond quickly to changes in habitat quality. Models that establish habitat relationships from distribution patterns of wading birds can be used to predict changes in habitat quality that may result from restoration and climate change. I developed spatio-temporal species...
Show moreIn south Florida, the Greater Everglades ecosystem supports sixteen species of wading birds. Wading birds serve as important indicator species because they are highly mobile, demonstrate flexible habitat selection, and respond quickly to changes in habitat quality. Models that establish habitat relationships from distribution patterns of wading birds can be used to predict changes in habitat quality that may result from restoration and climate change. I developed spatio-temporal species distribution models for the Great Egret, White Ibis, and Wood Stork over a decadal gradient of environmental conditions to identify factors that link habitat availability to habitat use (i.e., habitat selection), habitat use to species abundance, and species abundance (over multiple scales) to nesting effort and success. Hydrological variables (depth, recession rate, days since drydown, reversal, and hydroperiod) over multiple temporal scales and with existing links to wading bird responses were used as proxies for landscape processes that influence prey availability (i.e., resources). In temporal foraging conditions (TFC) models, species demonstrated conditional preferences for resources based on resource levels at differing temporal scales. Wading bird abundance was highest when prey production from optimal periods of wetland inundation was concentrated in shallow depths. Similar responses were observed in spatial foraging conditions (SFC) models predicting spatial occurrence over time, accounting for spatial autocorrelation. The TFC index represents conditions within suitable depths that change daily and reflects patch quality, whereas the SFC index spatially represents suitability of all cells and reflects daily landscape patch abundance. I linked these indices to responses at the nest initiation and nest provisioning breeding phases from 1993-2013. The timing of increases and overall magnitude of resource pulses predicted by the TFC in March and April were strongly linked to breeding responses by all species. Great Egret nesting effort and success were higher with increases in conspecific attraction (i.e., clustering). Wood Stork nesting effort was closely related to timing of concurrently high levels of patch quality (regional scale) and abundance (400-m scale), indicating the importance of a multi-scaled approach. The models helped identify positive and negative changes to multi-annual resource pulses from hydrological restoration and climate change scenarios, respectively.
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Date Issued
2014
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004078, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004078
Subject Headings
Everglades National Park (Fla.) -- Environmental conditions, Restoration ecology -- Florida -- Everglades National Park, Water birds -- Florida -- Geographical distribution, Water birds -- Habitat -- Florida -- Everglades National Park, Wetland restoration -- Florida -- Everglades National Park
Format
Document (PDF)