The Hermit Thrush is a new breeding bird in the Southern Appalachian high-elevation mountains, having expanded its range southward over the last few decades. Here it is sympatric with the Veery, a congeneric breeding resident. In order to more fully understand why the range expansion took place and to understand more about the local ecology of the newly arrived bird, I measured several habitat variables in 30 Hermit Thrush and 24 Veery territories. Principal Components Analysis and Cluster Analysis brought to light several patterns of habitat preferences for these 2 species. Hermit Thrushes prefer territories with more leaf litter on the ground and less shrub density than Veery territories. Competition between these species should remain low, as their niche differences brought to light in this study should enable them to breed in close proximity to each other in these high-elevation mountains.
","abstract_html":"<p>The Hermit Thrush is a new breeding bird in the Southern Appalachian high-elevation mountains, having expanded its range southward over the last few decades. Here it is sympatric with the Veery, a congeneric breeding resident. In order to more fully understand why the range expansion took place and to understand more about the local ecology of the newly arrived bird, I measured several habitat variables in 30 Hermit Thrush and 24 Veery territories. Principal Components Analysis and Cluster Analysis brought to light several patterns of habitat preferences for these 2 species. Hermit Thrushes prefer territories with more leaf litter on the ground and less shrub density than Veery territories. Competition between these species should remain low, as their niche differences brought to light in this study should enable them to breed in close proximity to each other in these high-elevation mountains.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Laughlin, Andrew J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS (Master of Science)","degree_level":"Thesis - unrestricted","degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-05-08T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2010-05-08T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:20:42Z","subjects":["birds","Principal Components Analysis","Spruce-Fir","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Life Sciences","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1695","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Laughlin, Andrew J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2010-05-08T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - unrestricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS (Master of Science)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["birds","Principal Components Analysis","Spruce-Fir","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Life Sciences","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by the authors."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/3050/viewcontent/LaughlinA042810f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1695"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Hermit Thrush is a new breeding bird in the Southern Appalachian high-elevation mountains, having expanded its range southward over the last few decades. Here it is sympatric with the Veery, a congeneric breeding resident. In order to more fully understand why the range expansion took place and to understand more about the local ecology of the newly arrived bird, I measured several habitat variables in 30 Hermit Thrush and 24 Veery territories. Principal Components Analysis and Cluster Analysis brought to light several patterns of habitat preferences for these 2 species. Hermit Thrushes prefer territories with more leaf litter on the ground and less shrub density than Veery territories. Competition between these species should remain low, as their niche differences brought to light in this study should enable them to breed in close proximity to each other in these high-elevation mountains.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) and Veery (C. fuscescens) Breeding Habitat Associations in Southern Appalachian High-Elevation Forests."]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Laughlin, Andrew J."],"dc:date.issued":["2010-05-08T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Hermit Thrush is a new breeding bird in the Southern Appalachian high-elevation mountains, having expanded its range southward over the last few decades. Here it is sympatric with the Veery, a congeneric breeding resident. In order to more fully understand why the range expansion took place and to understand more about the local ecology of the newly arrived bird, I measured several habitat variables in 30 Hermit Thrush and 24 Veery territories. Principal Components Analysis and Cluster Analysis brought to light several patterns of habitat preferences for these 2 species. Hermit Thrushes prefer territories with more leaf litter on the ground and less shrub density than Veery territories. Competition between these species should remain low, as their niche differences brought to light in this study should enable them to breed in close proximity to each other in these high-elevation mountains.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/3050/viewcontent/LaughlinA042810f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1695"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"dc:subject":["birds","Principal Components Analysis","Spruce-Fir","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Life Sciences","Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology"],"dc:title":["Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) and Veery (C. fuscescens) Breeding Habitat Associations in Southern Appalachian High-Elevation Forests."],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - unrestricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS (Master of Science)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:20:42Z"}