Effect of annual rainfall and temperature on habitat selection and winter home range of grassland birds
Objective: To determine the effect of annual precipitation and winter temperature on habitat and winter home range size of two grassland birds in a native grassland of northern Durango, Mexico. Design/methodology/approach: Using telemetry techniques over four consecutive winters (2016-2019), we estimated the home range size (HR; by Kernel method), of Centronyx bairdii and Ammodramus savannarum. Likewise, we estimated the cover of grass, bush, grass, bare ground, dead vegetation, animal excrement and counted the seeds available in the soil (biomass, gr/m2) of the habitat. We compared these dependent variables with non-parametric statistics, with the minimum and maximum annual precipitation (mm) and temperature (°C) of the site. Results: The grassland sparrows used sites with equal coverage of grass, herbaceous plants, shrubs, bare ground, and others (Kruskal-Wallis, p≤0.05). In general, annual rainfall has no effect on the structure and vegetation cover. HR was negatively correlated (Sperman, p≤0.05) with annual rainfall for C. bairdii (rs=-0.90, n=45) and for A. savannarum (rs=-0.80, n=33). When the maximum temperature was higher, both species had a smaller HR. In contrast, when the minimum temperature was low, the HR increased for C. bairdii and decreased for A. savannarum. Study limitations/implications: We demonstrate the importance of considering quantifying the largest number of variables when research is required on the selection and use of grassland bird habitat. Findings/conclusions: This study allows us to increase our knowledge about the winter ecology of grassland birds and demonstrates that environmental variables such as annual rainfall and temperature influence habitat selection of C. bairdii and A. savannarum.
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | spa |
| Published: |
Colegio de Postgraduados
2022
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| Online Access: | https://revista-agroproductividad.org/index.php/agroproductividad/article/view/2239 |
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