Post on 15-Oct-2020
Julia Dale, Matt Stephenson, Charlie Labuzzetta, Lisa Schulte Moore, Bob Klaver, and Adam Janke
Iowa State UniversityDepartment of Natural Resource Ecology & Management
Estimating the Effect of Perennial Vegetation in an Agricultural Landscape on
Grassland Birds
Image: Sac Co., Tim Youngquist
Image: Boone Co.; Todd Ontl
Image: Story Co., Drake Larsen
Image: Adam Varenhorst
Image: Jasper Co., Anna MacDonald
Should we?How?
Disproportionate Benefits Hypothesis
Low
Envi
ronm
enta
l B
enef
its
Proportion of Landscape in Perennials
High
Low High
Source: Schulte et al. 2006, Asbjornsen et al. 2014
Lisa Schulte Moore, Matt Helmers, Matt Liebman, Jim Adelman, J. Arbuckle, Heidi Asbjornsen,
Steve Bradbury, Cindy Cambardella, Mike Castellano, Rick Cruse, Pauline Drobney, Nancy Grudens‐Schuck,
Mary Harris, Michelle Hladik, Adina Howe, David James, Bob Klaver, Randy Kolka, Dana Kolpin, Laura Jackson, Mark Johnson, Bradley Miller,
Tom Moorman, Jeri Neal, Jarad Niemi, Matt O’Neal, Mike Rentz, Kevin Roe, Michelle Soupir, Mark Tomer, Amy Toth, John Tyndall, John Westra, Brian Gelder, Maged Noshi, Karina Schoengold, Tim Youngquist, Dave Williams, Chris Witte, Xiaobo Zhou, Bethany Brittenham, Rachael Cox, Julia Dale,
Lydia English, Jarad Flater, Jordan Giese, Jose Gutierrez‐Lopez, Virginia Hernandez‐Santana, Rene Hessel, Sarah Hirsh, Javed Iqbal, Farnaz Kordbacheh, Drake Larsen, Daniel Linton, Delise Lockett,
Anna MacDonald, Mogan Mackert, Ryan Maher, Vilma Mateos‐Remigio, David Mitchell, Amy Moorhouse, Julie Mueller, Matt Stephenson,
Marlín Pérez‐Suárez, Tomorra Smith, >75 undergraduate research assistants, >47 cooperating farmers & farmland owners
Photo credit: Meghann JarchowImage: Jasper Co., Anna MacDonald
STRIPS1: Small Catchments
Experimental Treatments 12 catchments – 0.4-3.2 ha; 6-11% slope Randomized Incomplete Block Design:
3 reps X 4 treatments X 3 blocks
0% 10% 10% 20%
= reconstructed prairie= no-till corn and soybean row crops
Image: Jasper Co., Anna MacDonald
Strategically adding 10% prairie to annual row crop fields…
44% reduction in water runoff1
2
3
4
95% reduction in soil loss through runoff
90% reduction in phosphorus runoff
84% reduction in nitrogen runoff and 70% reductionin subsurface nitrate loss (not tiled)
Source: Data collected by STRIPS team, 2007-2014 at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge
2‐3 times more pollinators and birds
No reduction in per acre yields
Costs less than terraces; comparable to cover crops
5
6
7
Image: Tama Co., Tim Youngquist
STRIPS2: Commercial Farms
Image: Tama Co.; Lynn Betts
Image: Wright Co., Lynn Betts
Image: Wright Co., Matt Stephenson
Image: Cass Co., Lisa Schulte Moore
Image: Carroll Co., Lisa Schulte Moore
Image: Eau Claire Co., WI; Lisa Schulte Moore
Image: Washington Co., Lisa Schulte Moore
= ground water wells= H-flumes= ARUs= cover boards
Example Paired Comparison
Treatment field (13 ha) – 1 ha prairie strips
sowed May 2015
Control field (20 ha)
N
Image: Guthrie Co., Lisa Schulte Moore
Image: Carroll Co., Lisa Schulte Moore
Image: Jasper Co., Matt Stephenson
Image: Wright Co., Lisa Schulte Moore
Results CaveatsIt takes 3 years to establish reconstructed prairie
1
2 Don’t expect prairie strips to support whole farmland or grassland bird community
Hypotheses to be tested:
• Don’t attract area‐sensitive grassland species
• Not a sink for non‐area‐sensitive species
• Most prairie strips are within that 3 year window
Source: Dale et al. Unpublished data
Fields with prairie strips tend to have higherbird abundance & richness, not diversity
Source: Dale et al. Unpublished data
High variation across farms & species
Source: Dale et al. Unpublished data
Species patterns in filtered data
Source: Stephenson et al. Unpublished data
Nest Results
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
# ne
sts
20162015
Source: Stephenson et al. Unpublished data
2-3 times more nests overall with prairie strips compared to control
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
# ne
sts
20162015
*
*
* *
*
*
Source: Stephenson et al. Unpublished data
2.6-4 times more nests of expected species with prairie strips compared to control
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
# ne
sts
20162015
*
*
**
*
**
Source: Stephenson et al. Unpublished data
No difference in survivalwith prairie strips compared to control
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
# ne
sts
20162015
Next StepsUpdate analyses with 2017 field data1
2 Density estimation for most abundant species accounting for detection probabilities
3 Estimation of nest daily survival rate for species with the most abundant nests
4 Seasonal occupancy from acoustic recordings
In SumPrairie strips are a promising approach for blurring the lines between production and conservation in row‐crop agricultural landscapes
1
2 Additional research is needed, especially to understand landscape effects and impacts on fecundity
3 Stay tuned!
www.prairiestrips.orgprairiestrips@iastate.edu
@prairiestrips
Committee on Agricultural
Development
IowaNaturalHeritageFoundation
McIntire-StennisProgram
AgriculturalResearch
Service
ReferencesAsbjornsen, H, V Hernandez-Santana, M Liebman, J Bayala, J Chen, M Helmers, CK Ong, LA Schulte. 2014. Targeting perennial vegetation in agricultural landscapes for enhancing ecosystem services. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 29:101-125.
Schulte, LA, M Liebman, H Asbjornsen, TR Crow. 2006. Agroecosystem restoration through strategic integration of perennials. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 61:164A-169A.
Schulte, LA, AL MacDonald, JB Niemi, MJ Helmers. 2016. Prairie strips as a mechanism to promote land sharing by birds in industrial agricultural landscapes. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment 220:55-63.
Schulte, LA, JB Niemi, MJ Helmers, M Liebman, JG Arbuckle, DE James, RK Kolka, ME O’Neal, MD Tomer, JC Tyndall, H Asbjornsen, P Drobney, J Neal, G Van Ryswyk, C Witte. 2017. Prairie strips improve biodiversity and the delivery of multiple ecosystem services from corn-soybean croplands. PNAS: In press.
Stephenson, MD. 2017. Quantifying methods to improve statistical power in grassland and passerine bird nesting studies. M.S. Thesis, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.