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Student Research Symposium Student Research Symposium 2017

May 10th, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

The Importance of Urban Habitat Connectivity and The Importance of Urban Habitat Connectivity and

Influence on Native Avian Species and Community Influence on Native Avian Species and Community

Science Science

Kristen S. Gulick Portland State University

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Gulick, Kristen S., "The Importance of Urban Habitat Connectivity and Influence on Native Avian Species and Community Science" (2017). Student Research Symposium. 4. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/studentsymposium/2017/posters/4

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TheImportanceofUrbanHabitatConnectivityandInfluenceonNativeAvianSpeciesandCommunityScience

KristenS.Gulick*,Nikkie West✝,andMarionDresner**SchooloftheEnvironment,EnvironmentalScience&Management,PortlandStateUniversity,Portland,OR,USA

✝AudubonSocietyofPortland,Portland,OR,USA

BACKGROUND

OBJECTIVES

METHODS

RESULTS RESULTS(cont.)

CONCLUSIONS

WORKSCITED&ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

• StructurallycomplexenvironmentslikeBackyardCertifiedHabitatsinthePortlandneighborhoodHillsdale,ORareusedbyasubsetofavianspeciesandmayimproveoverallfunctionalconnectivity.1

• Thepreservationofbackyardsandtheiradjacentgreen-spacesarecrucialinthelong-termpersistenceofnativebirdassemblages,howeverurbanconservationeffortshavefocusedonnativegreen-spaces,notbackyards.2

• Avianrichnessmodelsshowurbanexploiterspeciesareminimizedbyreducingnonnativelandcoverandmaintainingcanopyclosureinadjacentgreen-spaces(Fig1).3

• CommunityscienceprovidesanopportunityforBackyardCertifiedresidentstoprovidetheirownunbiaseddatatoaidinthemonitoringofbirdpopulations.4

• Theecologicaleffectsofbackyardnetworksonavianabundanceandspeciesrichnesshavenotbeenadequatelystudied.

1)Zurita,G.A.&Bellocq,M.I.2012.Biotropica 44(3):412-4192)Burghardt,K.T.,Tallamy,D.W.,&Shriver,W.G.2009.Conserv Biol 23(1):219-2243)Donnelly,R.&Marzluff,J.M.2006.UrbanEcosyst 9(1):99-1174)Liu,X.2009.IJESE 4(3):301-311

Master’sofEnvironmentalManagementProjectAdvisor:Dr.MarionDresnerCommunityPartner:Nikkie West,AudubonSocietyofPortlandThirdCommitteeMember:Dr.MichaelMurphy,DepartmentofBiology,PSU

PortlandParks&Recreation:JanelleSt.PierreWestWillametteRestorationPartnership:Jalene Littlejohn

• Avianpointcounts(50mradius)wereconductedin5certifiedbackyards(n=1peryard)andtheKellerWoodlands(green-space)(n=6)inHillsdale,OR.SurveyswereconductedAprilthroughJune2016.

• Twocommunityscienceworkshopswereheldatthebeginningandendoftheproject.

• Avianabundance,speciesrichness,andcommunityanalyseswereconductedinRStudioversion1.0.143

• Treecanopy(2014)wasquantifiedusingArcGISversion10.4.1.5686,dataandmapcourteouslyofOregonMetroDataResourceCenter.

• Knowledgeoflocalbackyardhabitatresearchandavianfood-webswasevaluatedamongcertifiedresidentsbydistributingasurveyaftertheinitialworkshop.

• AvianabundanceandrichnesswasnotstatisticallydifferentwhenincloseproximitytoKellerWoodlands(green-space)(p>0.05)(Fig2,Fig3).

• Backyard3hadthegreatestabundancewithameanof15.8birdsandBackyard2hadthegreatestspeciesrichnesswithameanof12.1(Fig2).

• Keller(S10)andBackyard1(S1)weremostsimilarinspeciescommunityanalysis(Fig4).

• Canopywasthehighest(150-180ft)inbackyardsclosesttothegreen-space(1,2)(Fig5).

• Oneurbanavoiderspecies,EuropeanStarling,wasnotobservedinthisstudy(Fig6).

• 37.5%ofcommunityscientistsstronglyagreedtheyhave,“abasicknowledgeofbackyardhabitatresearchthathasbeenconductedinthePortlandarea.”(Fig7).

• Variablesthataffectavianabundanceandspeciesrichnesssuchasdiversityinvegetationspecies,structure,canopy,anddiameteratbreastheightshouldbestudiedconcurrentlyingreen-spacesandcertifiedbackyards.

• Inadditiontolargegreen-spaces,smallergreen-spaceswithsubstantialcanopymayserveasimportantpopulationsourcesandmayresultinandecreaseofnonnative,exploiterspecies.

• Food-webandpredatorpreystudiesusingmanipulativeexperimentationinadditiontopointcountsurveysareadvised.

• Werecommendusinghalf-circlepointcounts(50mradius)insmallyardsfortrainingeaseduringfuturesurveys.Highlyinteractive,communicative,andin-depthworkshopsarealsonecessarytoachievethedesiredlearningoutcomes.

1) Evaluatetheinfluenceofgreen-spaceproximityonBackyardCertifiedHabitats(collaborationoftheAudubonSocietyofPortlandandColumbiaLandTrust)onavianabundanceandspeciesrichness.

2) Developaframeworkforanurbanbackyardhabitatcommunityscienceprogramthatconsistsofworkshops,interactivetraining,andprojectspecificcurriculum.

Fig4.Non-metricmultidimensionalscalingschematicrepresentingavianspeciesinbackyards(S1-S5)andKellerWoodlands(S10).S=location,W=week(1-8).

Fig7.Piechartdisplayingthepercentagesofthebackyardcommunityscientists’knowledgeofbackyardhabitatresearchinPortland,OR.Therewere8totalparticipants.

Fig3.Coefficientmatrixwithnon-normal,skeweddistributionsinthehistograms&highrelatednessinthecoefficientsandscatterplots.

Stressvalue:0.2221round2dimensions

Fig6.(toplefttobottomright)SpeciesabundancebubbleplotsofDownyWoodpecker,EuropeanStarling,GoldenCrownedWarbler,andHairyWoodpeckerbasedontheNMDSplot.Dotsizeincreaseswithabundance.

2

3

45

1

Abundance

Distance

Richness

StronglyAgree37.5%

StronglyDisagree12.5%

SomewhatAgree50.0%

Fig1.Examplesofurbanexploiterspecies:Europeanstarling(left)andhousesparrow(right).

M.Fran B.Small

Fig2.Backyardsinincreasingdistance(mi)fromKellerWoodlandsandthemeanabundanceandrichnessforthebackyardsandKellerWoodlands.

Fig5.GISdisplayoftreecanopyintheneighborhoodHillsdale,OR.Backyards(1-5)arelabeledinincreasingdistancefromthegreen-space.

KellerWoodlands

2

3

45

1

Legend

CanopyHeight(ft)

High:189

Low:10