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dc.contributor.authorMorgan, Michael R.
dc.contributor.authorNorment, Christopher J.
dc.contributor.authorRunge, Michael C.
dc.date.accessioned2021-09-07T17:41:00Z
dc.date.available2021-09-07T17:41:00Z
dc.date.issued2010-01-01
dc.identifier.citationMorgan, M. R., C. Norment, and M.C. Runge. 2010. "Evaluation of a Reproductive Index for Estimating Productivity of Grassland Breeding Birds." Auk: 127(1): 86-93.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12648/2253
dc.descriptionPublished as Morgan, M. R., C. Norment, and M.C. Runge. 2010. "Evaluation of a Reproductive Index for Estimating Productivity of Grassland Breeding Birds." Auk: 127(1): 86-93. © 2010 by the Regents of the University of California. Copying and permissions notice: Authorization to copy this content beyond fair use (as specified in Sections 107 and 108 of the U. S. Copyright Law) for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by [the Regents of the University of California/on behalf of the Sponsoring Society] for libraries and other users, provided that they are registered with and pay the specified fee via Rightslink® on JSTOR http://www.jstor.org/r/ucal) or directly with the Copyright Clearance Center, http://www.copyright.com.
dc.description.abstractDeclining populations of grassland breeding birds have led to increased efforts to assess habitat quality, typically by estimating density or relative abundance. Because some grassland habitats may function as ecological traps, a more appropriate metric for determining quality is breeding success, which is challenging to determine for many cryptic-nesting grassland birds. This difficulty led Vickery et al. (1992) to propose a reproductive index based on behavioral observations rather than nest fate. We rigorously evaluated the index for 2 years using a Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) population in western New York and found a weak correlation in classification of the breeding stages of monitored territories among multiple observers (r = 0.398). We also discovered a large difference between overall territory and nest success rates independently estimated with the index (9.8% over the entire breeding cycle) and with nest searching and monitoring (41.7% of nests successfully fledged young). Most importantly, we made territory-level comparisons of index estimates with actual nest fate and found that the index correctly predicted fates for only 43% of the monitored nests. A Mayfield logistic regression analysis demonstrated that only index rank 4 (eggs hatched, but young failed to fledge) showed a strong positive correlation with nest success. Although the reproductive index may function as a coarse indicator of habitat suitability (e.g., documenting production in potential ecological traps), in our study the index exhibited neither internal consistency nor the ability to predict nest fate at the plot or territory level and functioned poorly as a substitute for nest searching and monitoring.
dc.subjectGrassland Breeding Birds
dc.subjectPasserculus Sandwichensis
dc.subjectReproduction
dc.subjectReproductive Index
dc.subjectSampling Techniques
dc.subjectSavannah Sparrow
dc.subjectTerritory Mapping
dc.titleEvaluation of a Reproductive Index for Estimating Productivity of Grassland Breeding Birds
dc.typearticle
dc.source.journaltitleThe Auk
dc.source.volume127
dc.source.issue1
refterms.dateFOA2021-09-07T17:41:00Z
dc.description.institutionSUNY Brockport
dc.source.peerreviewedTRUE
dc.source.statuspublished
dc.description.publicationtitleEnvironmental Science and Ecology Faculty Publications
dc.contributor.organizationThe College at Brockport
dc.contributor.organizationU.S. Geological Survey
dc.languate.isoen_US


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