Abundance,territory sizes,and pairing success of male Henslow's Sparrows in restored warm‐ and cool‐season grasslands |
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Authors: | Levi Jaster William E. Jensen Andrew R. Forbes |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Biological Sciences, Campus Box 4050, Emporia State University, , Emporia, Kansas, 66801 USA;2. Upper Mississippi River/Great Lakes Region Joint Venture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MBSP, , Bloomington, Minnesota, 55437 USA |
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Abstract: | Henslow's Sparrows (Ammodramus henslowii) are known to breed in restored grasslands consisting of either warm‐ or cool‐season grasses, but additional information is needed concerning their breeding biology in these two types of grasslands. We compared the abundance, territory sizes, and pairing success of male Henslow's Sparrows in grasslands in west‐central Missouri in 2010 and 2011 using a paired‐treatment design, where warm‐ and cool‐season grasslands were located in close proximity. Selection indices indicated no apparent preference by male Henslow's Sparrows for either type of grassland, and the territory sizes and pairing success of males in cool‐ and warm‐season grasslands did not differ. In addition, we found no significant differences in habitat structure between these grassland types. Thus, our results suggest that the warm‐ and cool‐season grasslands in our study provided suitable habitat for Henslow's Sparrows. Other investigators have drawn similar conclusions for Henslow's Sparrows and for grassland birds in general, with the structural characteristics and, for some species, the size of grasslands being more important for grassland birds than plant species composition. |
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Keywords: | Ammodramus henslowii grassland birds grassland restoration habitat selection territory |
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