Download or read book Temporal Dynamics of Avian Responses to Human-induced Habitat Change written by Maxfield A. Carlin and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Land-use change remains a primary driver of habitat alteration worldwide. Understanding how wildlife populations respond to human-induced changes in habitat composition is therefore an enduring challenge for wildlife conservation and management. Whereas spatial aspects of wildlife responses to anthropogenic habitat alteration are common, temporal dynamics of responses are rarely examined. Energy development has emerged as a predominant source of land-use change and habitat loss in sagebrush-steppe ecosystems. Evaluations of the spatial and temporal effects of energy development on sagebrush-dependent wildlife are fundamental to sound conservation planning. We assessed whether and how abundance trends of three sagebrush-obligate songbirds along a gradient of habitat loss associated with energy development varied across two study periods spanning a decade. Previous work in our study system suggesting that reproductive success is reduced in areas with more habitat loss informed our corresponding prediction that songbird responses to energy development would deteriorate over time. While the unexpected attenuation of abundance trends apparent in some of our results may indicate sensitivity to features of land-use change other than surface habitat loss, consistently negative responses found for other species suggest a lasting legacy of habitat loss in the sagebrush-steppe. The variation in responses we observed across species, moreover, suggests that conservation practitioners may need to address species-specific sensitivities to land-use change. As some of the temporal abundance dynamics we observed potentially demonstrate continued use of areas of high energy development intensity by songbirds despite lower reproductive success, we also assessed songbird habitat preferences relative to the gradient of habitat loss associated with energy development. Habitat preference is frequently evaluated using singular indices of habitat selection, and assessments of congruence between multiple indices in the same system are uncommon.As some of the temporal abundance dynamics we observed potentially demonstrate continued use of areas of high energy development intensity by songbirds despite lower reproductive success, we also assessed songbird habitat preferences relative to the gradient of habitat loss associated with energy development. Habitat preference is frequently evaluated using singular indices of habitat selection, and assessments of congruence between multiple indices in the same system are uncommon.