Ecology and Conservation of Birds of Pinyon -Juniper Woodlands

From 1999 to 2004 the southwestern U.S. experienced a severe drought, leading to a bark-beetle outbreak that killed pinyon pines over several million ha of pinyon juniper woodlands. On 15 study sites in Arizona and Utah, I found no evidence that any bird species had declined in response to pine mortality between 2001 and 2005. In 2004, during the drought, and 2005, a wet year, I studied avian nesting success on study plots with different levels of pine mortality. Nest predation rates were low, and no species showed any difference in nest success rates across the three sites. Grey flycatchers (Empidonax wrightii) had higher nest success during the wet year, 2005, than in the dry year, 2004, but cavity nesters and other cup nesters showed no differences across years. Overall, drought had a negative effect on the nesting success of gray flycatchers, but birds appeared resilient to the effects of tree mortality.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Schlossberg, Scott R.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Brawn, Jeffrey D.

• Agriculture, Forestry and Wildlife

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3242986

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/85365