Highway Proximity and Predator Playback - projects.ncsu.edu Lab Projects/AEC 501... ·...
Transcript of Highway Proximity and Predator Playback - projects.ncsu.edu Lab Projects/AEC 501... ·...
Species-Specific Effects on OccupancyHighway Proximity and Predator Playback
AEC 501
Lina Aita, Emily Bruff, Khai Button, Colleen Grant, Kathryn
Nilsson, Ana Rivera-Burgos
Study AimsObtain baseline count of
species at the study siteWintering species in
North CarolinaMixed deciduous forest
Examine urbanization effectsin Wake County, NC
Highway infrastructureAvian community structure
NC Wildlife.org
ncwildlife.org
Proximity to infrastructure (buildings, highways, powerlines, etc) ≈ negative impact on bird populations
Stress, noise, barriers, habitat destruction, and fragmentation
Increasing urbanization in Wake County
Background
© WRAL
Graph and data compiled by Anora McGaha
Photo: Per Breiehagen
Changes in Avian communities
Responses to urban infrastructure?
Urban exploiter species (Palomino and Carrascal (2007)
Success of Screech Owls in Suburbs (GIll 2007)
Eastern Screech Owls prey on smaller birds
Background
PredictionsEastern Screech Owl
playback has the potential to increase or decrease occupancy & detection
Detection should increases if species alarm call in response
Occupancy should decreases if species hide/leave in response
Proximity to I-40 in Wake Co.Counts/detection should be
lower as proximity to I-40 increases
Not a screech owl, but it was near a highway.
Image Credit: Transport Quebec
Study AreaUmstead State Park
5,000 acres of mixed deciduous forest
Southern portion (study area) bordered by I-40 (yellow)
Study Area
Photo by Miguel Vieira
Umstead State Park
Protected since 1934
Originally farmland
Mixed hardwoods and pine
Photo by Stephanie Haines
Study AreaSchenck Forest
Managed forest (NCSU)
Adjacent to Umstead and I-40
Better proxy for natural forest
Controlled burns
Stratified forest
Methods20 sample points, 3x
Spaced 200m apart
5 minute unlimited radius count
Loblolly Trail
N
1050200
Methods40 additional points were
sampled by other groups
Points in Umstead State Park and Schenck Forest
Methods
© Sarah Wolfe, February 2011
Coin toss to determineplayback
Sound recorded at each site with a sound meter
Sites sampled over 15 days
8 am to 11am
Distance to I-40 calculated using ImageJ
Occupancy data analyzed using
Detection and occupancy models were calculated for five species of birds
© Kevin Shea, VA, January 2009
Carolina Chickadee
© Kevin Shea, VA, January 2009
Carolina Wren
Tufted Titmouse
© William Jobes, PA, January 2009
Northern Cardinal
© Judy Howle, December 2008
© Dawn Vornholt, GA, December 2009
Pine Warbler
Results
Results
Species Naive OccupancyLowest AIC Model AIC Value AIC Weight
Occupancy Detection
Carolina Chickadee 0.7500 Distance to I-40 1 246.00 0.2590
Carolina Wren 0.7833 1 1 247.52 0.4330
Eastern Tufted Titmouse 0.7167 Screech Owl 1 237.11 0.761
Northern Cardinal 0.7667 1 1 248.06 0.3666
Pine Warbler 0.8167 1 1 236.10 0.3242
Results
Species Naive OccupancyLowest AIC Model
AIC Value AIC Weight Occupancy Detection
Carolina Chickadee 0.7500 Distance to I-40 1 246.00 0.2590
Carolina Wren 0.7833 1 1 247.52 0.4330
Eastern Tufted Titmouse 0.7167 Screech Owl 1 237.11 0.761
Northern Cardinal 0.7667 1 1 248.06 0.3666
Pine Warbler 0.8167 1 1 236.10 0.3242
ResultsUntransformed Betas Transformed
Species Intercept Occupancy Detection Occupancy Detection
Carolina Chickadee
2.096 ±0.857 -0.774 ±0.557 1 0.877a 0.502
Eastern Tufted Titmouse
3.03 ±1.74 -2.53 ±1.75 1 0.954b 0.549
Mean ± S.E.M.
p= 0.164
p=0.1484
DiscussionSound readings decreased with distance
from I-40
Distance not correlated with the occupancy in 4 of the 5 most common species
Ambient noise likely not an important factor affecting bird occupancy in study area
Mobbing behavior of titmice (Hill 1986)
Discussion
Osprey being mobbed by starlings
© William Jobes, PA, January 2009
DiscussionEastern Screech Owl playback not correlated with detection
No effect on occupancy in 4 of 5 species
Volume of playback may beinsufficient to affect detection
Boldness of urban birds
Only auditory, not visual
Newsteam
Marvel Comics, 2012
DiscussionPoints most likely needed to be
closer to I-40
Previous studies showed the greatest effect on mean species abundance is within 500 m of a disturbance (Benítez-López et al. 2010)
Discussion
479m
DiscussionAccording to Lynch and Whigham (1984),
habitat fragmentation =species-specific effects
Other factors:Tree stratumPine abundanceFloristic diversityLand area and isolation
Results not easily explained due to complexity of bird behavior
Copyright © 2016 River Partners. All r ights reserved.
DiscussionUrbanization is also known to alter bird
behavior, survivorship, and response to predators (Gill 2007, Lowry et al. 2011) Umstead
S.P.
Schenck
Lake Crabtree County Park
Morrisville development
Sources of ErrorInconsistent noise
Joggers/dogs
Bicyclists
RDU?
Insufficient point separation?
Double counting -> false positives
Multiple independent observation assumption
Broad range of times and dates
Different conditions
ConclusionOverall the study provided litt le evidence of correlation between bird occupancy/detection and proximity to I-40 or Eastern Screech Owl playback.
Need to perform further studies to derive conclusive data
Account for edge effects and proximity to all major roads
Error in data due to
Inexperience identifying birds
False negative, misidentification (false positives)
Insufficient distance between sites
Difference in data collection procedure
Literature CitedBenítez-López, A., R. Alkemade, and P. A. Verweij (2010). The impacts of roads and other infrastructure on mammal and bird populations: A meta-analysis. Biological Conservation 143:1307–1316. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2010.02.009
Gill, F. B. (2007). Lifetime Reproductive Success - Life Tables. In Ornithology. 3rd edition. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, pp. 506–510.
Hill, G. E. (1986). The function of distress calls given by tufted titmice (Parus bicolor): an experimental approach. Animal B ehavior. 34:590-598.
Hines, J. (2016). PRESENCE V. 10.7. (software). USGS.
Lowry, H., L. Alan, and B .B .M. Wong (2011). Tolerance of Auditory Disturbance by an Avian Urban Adapter, the Noisy Miner. Ethology. 117:490-497.
Lynch, J.F., and D.F. Whigham (1984). Effects of Forest Fragmentation on B reeding B ird Communities in Maryland, USA. B iological Conservation 28:287-324
Palomino, D., and L. M. Carrascal (2007). Threshold distances to nearby cities and roads influence the bird community of a mosaic landscape. Biological Conservation 140:100–109. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2007.07.029
Quay, T. L. (1940). The ecological succession of winter birds at Raleigh, North Carolina. M.S. thesis, State College of Agriculture and Engineering of the University of North Carolina.