{"id":{"repo_id":"utc","oai_identifier":"oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1936"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/utc/oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1936","repository":{"repo_id":"utc","name":"University of Tennessee - Chattanooga","base_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Bird use of avocado farms and intact forest in the Dominican Republic","abstract":"The Dominican Republic, a conservation priority area due to high rates of bird endemism and overwintering Neotropical migrant habitats, is seeing an increase of avocado farms and a subsequent forest loss. We conducted point-count bird surveys to determine how avian species richness and diversity differ between avocado farms and intact forest, as well as how vegetation differences between farms and forests could impact bird use. We found that vegetation structure varied significantly between farm and forest sites, but that overall bird diversity and migrant diversity did not. However, we found that endemic bird species showed higher species richness and diversity in intact forest than avocado farm sites and were also influenced by measured vegetation characteristics, demonstrating the importance of the protection of native dry forest in the region. We conclude that avocado farms provide habitat for generalist bird species, some migrant species, and very few endemic species that are forest-dependent.","abstract_html":"The Dominican Republic, a conservation priority area due to high rates of bird endemism and overwintering Neotropical migrant habitats, is seeing an increase of avocado farms and a subsequent forest loss. We conducted point-count bird surveys to determine how avian species richness and diversity differ between avocado farms and intact forest, as well as how vegetation differences between farms and forests could impact bird use. We found that vegetation structure varied significantly between farm and forest sites, but that overall bird diversity and migrant diversity did not. However, we found that endemic bird species showed higher species richness and diversity in intact forest than avocado farm sites and were also influenced by measured vegetation characteristics, demonstrating the importance of the protection of native dry forest in the region. We conclude that avocado farms provide habitat for generalist bird species, some migrant species, and very few endemic species that are forest-dependent.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Young, Avery"],"institution":"University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Aborn, David","Boyd, Jennifer; Latta, Steve","College of Arts and Sciences"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:47:06Z","subjects":["Agriculture--Tropics","Birds--Habitat","Rain forest ecology"],"languages":["English","eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/767","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Aborn, David","Boyd, Jennifer; Latta, Steve","College of Arts and Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Young, Avery"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:coverage","label":"Dc Coverage","values":["Dominican Republic"]},{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2022-08-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Masters theses","Text"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Agriculture--Tropics","Birds--Habitat","Rain forest ecology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/767"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Dept. of Biological and Environmental Sciences","M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Dominican Republic, a conservation priority area due to high rates of bird endemism and overwintering Neotropical migrant habitats, is seeing an increase of avocado farms and a subsequent forest loss. We conducted point-count bird surveys to determine how avian species richness and diversity differ between avocado farms and intact forest, as well as how vegetation differences between farms and forests could impact bird use. We found that vegetation structure varied significantly between farm and forest sites, but that overall bird diversity and migrant diversity did not. However, we found that endemic bird species showed higher species richness and diversity in intact forest than avocado farm sites and were also influenced by measured vegetation characteristics, demonstrating the importance of the protection of native dry forest in the region. We conclude that avocado farms provide habitat for generalist bird species, some migrant species, and very few endemic species that are forest-dependent."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Bird use of avocado farms and intact forest in the Dominican Republic"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Aborn, David","Boyd, Jennifer; Latta, Steve","College of Arts and Sciences"],"dc:coverage":["Dominican Republic"],"dc:creator":["Young, Avery"],"dc:date":["2022-08-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["Dept. of Biological and Environmental Sciences","M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science."],"dc:description.abstract":["The Dominican Republic, a conservation priority area due to high rates of bird endemism and overwintering Neotropical migrant habitats, is seeing an increase of avocado farms and a subsequent forest loss. We conducted point-count bird surveys to determine how avian species richness and diversity differ between avocado farms and intact forest, as well as how vegetation differences between farms and forests could impact bird use. We found that vegetation structure varied significantly between farm and forest sites, but that overall bird diversity and migrant diversity did not. However, we found that endemic bird species showed higher species richness and diversity in intact forest than avocado farm sites and were also influenced by measured vegetation characteristics, demonstrating the importance of the protection of native dry forest in the region. We conclude that avocado farms provide habitat for generalist bird species, some migrant species, and very few endemic species that are forest-dependent."],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/767"],"dc:language":["English","eng"],"dc:publisher":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"],"dc:relation":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"],"dc:rights":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Agriculture--Tropics","Birds--Habitat","Rain forest ecology"],"dc:title":["Bird use of avocado farms and intact forest in the Dominican Republic"],"dc:type":["Masters theses","Text"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:47:06Z"}