Grasslands dominated by native bunch

Although the plight of grassland birds has been well known for several decades (Robbins et al., 1986; Herkert, 1994), declines of many species continue to the present day (Rosenberg et al., 2019). An important factor contributing to the continued decline of grassland birds is our limited understanding of the mechanisms through which habitat structure affects bird populations, which can reduce the effectiveness of management actions and result in inconsistent patterns of bird-habitat relationships among studies. For example, Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) have been documented preferentially selecting.

A grasses (Whitmore, 1981) and grasslands primarily composed of exotic rhizomatous grass (Johnson and Schwartz, 1993; Madden et al., 2000). Similarly, patch size, edge proximity, and landscape Spain phone number list composition have varying effects on nest survival of grassland birds (Winter et al., 2006; Benson et al., 2013), despite generalized assumptions that such effects are consistent. Whereas studies documenting covariance between habitat variables and metrics of bird populations are common the mechanisms through.

Which habitat structure affects grassland birds remain understudied (but see Ellison et al., 2013; Lyons et al., 2015). Increasing our understanding of the direct and indirect effects of habitat structure on grassland birds may clarify the inconsistencies of previous bird-habitat studies, and represents a critical step toward improving management actions for declining species. Habitat structure may directly affect birds in several ways, including providing nesting and perching substrates, contributing to nest concealment Additionally, habitat characteristics across multiple spatial scales may impact birds indirectly by influencing community interactions with avian predators or prey via bottom-up processes.