Habitat and landscape associations in a juniper woodland bird community.

Authors(s): S. Anderson and D. Pavlacky

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Publication Date: 0000-00-00

Type: Annual, Completed Project

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Abstract: The juniper woodland bird community is composed of species from montane and shrubland habitats, as well as birds typical of Great Basin woodlands. In southwestern Wyoming, Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) is distributed in a naturally patchy mosaic of woodland patches within a sagebrush/grassland matrix. The research objectives for this study determined habitat requirements for members of the breeding bird community at the microhabitat and landscape scale. During the 1998 and 1999 breeding season, 22 woodland patches were sampled, documenting 53 breeding bird species. At the microhabitat scale, discriminant function analyses showed 10 of 14 species were associated with late successional juniper woodland. Habitat use vs. availability was modeled for five woodland-dwelling species using best subsets logistic regression. At the landscape scale, small isolated patches exhibited high species richness and diversity due to the addition of species from open and edge habitat. Certain woodland-dwelling species occurred and were more abundant in the large aggregated patches. Community dynamics in naturally patchy landscapes may provide the model for bird conservation, where management seeks to perpetuate the ecological processes of pre-European settlement.

Keywords: Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, animal, bird, Aves, ornithology, habitat, breeding, population, mortality