Influence of Habitat Disturbances on Endemic Grassland Bird Distributions in Loamy Ecological Range Sites at Canadian Forces Base Suffield, Alberta

Many grassland birds are at risk and habitat disturbance may have an important influence on the persistence of these species. Military bases provide an opportunity to examine the influence of habitat disturbance on grassland birds, whose distributions are influenced by vegetation structure. Spatial autocovariate generalized linear models were developed for four primary endemic grassland bird species from point count data collected in loamy ecological range sites during spring 2013 and 2014. These models indicated habitat disturbances influenced bird distribution, but the response differed among species. The strongest response was to fire; relative abundance of two species increased with greater fire impact while the other two decreased. A Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test of matched burned and unburned areas showed fire reduced remotely sensed grassland vegetation (p < 0.001). These results indicate disturbed and undisturbed areas provide a range of habitats suitable to the endemic grassland bird species studied.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MSc)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geography

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Graduate Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• McWilliams, Benjamin

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Bender, Darren

• Ecology

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/26516

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:11023/2306