| Abstract: | Most scrub-shrub bird species are declining in the northeastern United States, and these declines are largely attributed to regional declines in habitat availability. American Beaver (Castor canadensis; hereafter "beaver") populations have been increasing in the Northeast in recent decades, and beavers create scrub-shrub habitat through their dam-building and foraging activities. Few systematic studies have been conducted on the value of beaver-modified habitats for scrub-shrub birds, and these data are important for understanding habitat selection of scrub-shrub birds as well as for assessing regional habitat availability for these species. We conducted surveys in 37 beaver meadows in a 2,800-km2 study area in western Massachusetts during 2005 and 2006 to determine the extent to which these beaver-modified habitats are used by scrub-shrub birds, as well as the characteristics of beaver meadows most closely related to bird use. We modeled bird abundance in relation to microhabitat-, patch-, and landscape-context variables while adjusting for survey-specific covariates affecting detectability using N-mixture models. We found that scrub-shrub birds of regional conservation concern occupied these sites and that birds responded differently to microhabitat, patch, and landscape characteristics of beaver meadows. Generally, scrub-shrub birds increased in abundance along a gradient of increasing vegetation complexity, and three species were positively related to patch size. We conclude that these habitats can potentially play an important role in regional conservation of scrub-shrub birds and recommend that conservation priority be given to larger beaver meadows with diverse vegetation structure and composition. ?? 2009 by The American Ornithologists‘ Union. All rights reserved. |
| Genre: | Article |
| ProdID: | 70036605 |
| Citation Author: | Chandler, R. B.; King, D. I.; Destefano, S. |
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| Citation End Page: | 197 |
| Citation Issue: | 1 |
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| Citation Language: | English |
| Citation Larger Work Title: | Auk |
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| Citation Number Of Pages: | 12 |
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| Citation Search Results Text: | Scrub-shrub bird habitat associations at multiple spatial scales in beaver meadows in Massachusetts; 2009; Article; Journal; Auk; Chandler, R. B.; King, D. I.; Destefano, S. |
| Citation Start Page: | 186 |
| Citation Volume: | 126 |
| Citation Year: | 2009 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | Scrub-shrub bird habitat associations at multiple spatial scales in beaver meadows in Massachusetts; 2009; Article; Journal; Auk; Chandler, R. B.; King, D. I.; Destefano, S. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg |
| URL (DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER): | http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/auk.2009.08083 |
| Date Other: | Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00 -0600 |
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