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498 results on '"Conway, Courtney J."'

56. Multi‐scale effects of land cover, weather, and fire on Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse

Author

Stevens, Bryan S., Conway, Courtney J., Knetter, Jeffrey M., Roberts, Shane B., Donnelly, Patrick, Stevens, Bryan S., Conway, Courtney J., Knetter, Jeffrey M., Roberts, Shane B., and Donnelly, Patrick

Abstract

Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus) are endemic to grassland and shrub‐steppe ecosystems of western North America, yet their distribution has contracted to <10% of their historical range. Primary threats to Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse include loss of native habitat and conversion to agriculture, reductions in habitat once provided by the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), wildfire, and drought conditions, yet population‐level consequences of these threats and their spatio‐temporal scales of effect are poorly understood. We evaluated multi‐scale effects of land cover, weather, and fire histories on patterns of abundance and productivity for Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse populations during 1995–2020 in Idaho, USA, using mixedeffects generalized regression and remotely sensed data. We demonstrated negative effects of fire, tree encroachment, and bare ground, positive effects of spring and summer precipitation and cover of shrubs and perennial forbs and grasses, and positive effects of CRP on grouse abundance that changed in magnitude with cover of perennials and shrubs near leks (i.e., strongest effects when average cover of shrubs and perennial forbs and grasses were less abundant). We also demonstrated per capita recruitment of Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse is positively associated with late‐summer greenness. Our results show that several suspected threats have measurable, population‐level impacts to Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse within Idaho. Moreover, our results suggest ongoing changes occurring within the core range of Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse, including loss of CRP cover to tilled agriculture and changes to wildfire and precipitation dynamics are likely to have negative effects on populations.

Published
2022

100. Use of mammal manure by nesting burrowing owls: a test of four functional hypotheses

Author

Smith, Matthew D. and Conway, Courtney J.

Subjects
Zoology and wildlife conservation
Abstract

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.05.012 Byline: Matthew D. Smith, Courtney J. Conway Abstract: Animals have evolved an impressive array of behavioural traits to avoid depredation. Olfactory camouflage of conspicuous odours is a strategy to avoid depredation that has been implicated only in a few species of birds. Burrowing owls, Athene cunicularia, routinely collect dried manure from mammals and scatter it in their nest chamber, in the tunnel leading to their nest and at the entrance to their nesting burrow. This unusual behaviour was thought to reduce nest depredation by concealing the scent of adults and juveniles, but a recent study suggests that manure functions to attract arthropod prey. However, burrowing owls routinely scatter other materials in the same way that they scatter manure, and this fact seems to be at odds with both of these hypotheses. Thus, we examined the function of this behaviour by testing four alternative hypotheses. We found no support for the widely cited olfactory-camouflage hypothesis (manure did not lower the probability of depredation), or for the mate-attraction hypothesis (males collected manure after, not before, pair formation). Predictions of the burrow-occupied hypothesis (manure indicates occupancy to conspecifics and thereby reduces agonistic interactions) were supported, but results were not statistically significant. Our results also supported several predictions of the prey-attraction hypothesis. Pitfall traps at sampling sites with manure collected more arthropod biomass (of taxa common in the diet of burrowing owls) than pitfall traps at sampling sites without manure. Scattering behaviour of burrowing owls appears to function to attract arthropod prey, but may also signal occupancy of a burrow to conspecifics. Author Affiliation: USGS Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Natural Resources, The University of Arizona, Tucson Article History: Received 30 August 2005; Revised 30 November 2005; Accepted 24 May 2006 Article Note: (miscellaneous) MS. number: A10234

Published
2007

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