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Management responses of three species of declining sparrows in tallgrass prairie

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

Scott R. Swengel
Scott R. Swengel
Affiliation:
909 Birch Street, Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913, U.S.A.
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Three species of declining grassland songbirds were counted in June transects at 42 south-western Missouri (U.S.A.) prairie preserves managed three different ways: biennial July haying, spring burning on a 1–4 year cycle, and sites both burned and hayed every 2–4 years. Hayed prairies had twice as many Henslow's Sparrows Ammodramus henslowi as burned prairies and 2.5 times as many as sites which had been burned and hayed. Hayed prairies had 59% more Grasshopper Sparrows A. savannarum and 14% more Dickcissels Spiza americana than burned prairies. Fired and hayed sites had 34% higher detection rates of Grasshopper Sparrows than sites only burned and similar numbers of Henslow's Sparrows and Dickcissels as burned sites. The three species summed were 60% more abundant in hayed as in fired or fired and hayed prairies. Henslow's Sparrows increased and Grasshopper Sparrows decreased with time since the last management. Grasshopper Sparrows peaked one year earlier after haying than after burning. Dickcissels did not vary by time since last management. Henslow's Sparrows and Dickcissels were significantly more abundant in larger prairies. Preserve management for these three prairie birds should emphasize biennial to triennial mid-summer haying, instead of burning.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , September 1996 , pp. 241 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © Birdlife International 1996

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