Tree Canopy Cover Influences Habitat Use of Breeding Birds at Jack Mountain Wildlife Management Area
Presentation Type
Poster
Department
Biological Science
Location
Walker Conference Center B
Description
Across the United States, bird populations have declined due to habitat loss (Rosenburg, et al). To better understand habitat use by species, researchers observed the bird populations at Jack Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Southwest Arkansas. Students at Ouachita Baptist University surveyed 94 point count locations to determine species diversity and species abundance (Fig. 1). In addition, at each point, students recorded the percentage of tree canopy cover, ground cover, midstory cover, and shrub cover. These variables were used in multiple regression analysis to determine which variables were influential in explaining variation in species diversity and species abundance. All analysis was done using R (R Core Team). Scatter plots were created to show the correlation between the variables and species diversity and abundance (Fig.3). Two tree plots were created to show the interactions between variables (Fig. 2). The findings from the tree models determined how the variables were grouped together in the linear models. The model that best explains bird diversity included both ground coverage and canopy coverage (Table 1 ). The model that best explains bird abundance included both ground coverage and midstory coverage (Table 1 ). These findings suggest that the amount of canopy cover plays a substantial role in habitat use by breeding birds at Jack Mountain Wildlife Management Area.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Tree Canopy Cover Influences Habitat Use of Breeding Birds at Jack Mountain Wildlife Management Area
Walker Conference Center B
Across the United States, bird populations have declined due to habitat loss (Rosenburg, et al). To better understand habitat use by species, researchers observed the bird populations at Jack Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Southwest Arkansas. Students at Ouachita Baptist University surveyed 94 point count locations to determine species diversity and species abundance (Fig. 1). In addition, at each point, students recorded the percentage of tree canopy cover, ground cover, midstory cover, and shrub cover. These variables were used in multiple regression analysis to determine which variables were influential in explaining variation in species diversity and species abundance. All analysis was done using R (R Core Team). Scatter plots were created to show the correlation between the variables and species diversity and abundance (Fig.3). Two tree plots were created to show the interactions between variables (Fig. 2). The findings from the tree models determined how the variables were grouped together in the linear models. The model that best explains bird diversity included both ground coverage and canopy coverage (Table 1 ). The model that best explains bird abundance included both ground coverage and midstory coverage (Table 1 ). These findings suggest that the amount of canopy cover plays a substantial role in habitat use by breeding birds at Jack Mountain Wildlife Management Area.
Comments
This poster is currently embargoed; it will be available My 1, 2023.