Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Long-Term Community Dynamics of Small Landbirds with and Without Exposure to Extensive Disturbance from Military Training Activities

Long-Term Community Dynamics of Small Landbirds with and Without Exposure to Extensive... Military training activities are known to impact individual species, yet our understanding of how such activities influence animal communities is limited. In this study, we used long-term data in a case study approach to examine the extent to which the local small landbird community differed between a site in northeast Kansas that experienced intensive disturbance from military training activities (Ft. Riley Military Installation) and a similar, nearby site that experienced minimal human disturbance (Konza Prairie Biological Station). In addition, we characterized how the regional pool of potential colonizers influenced local community dynamics using Breeding Bird Survey data. From 1991 to 2001, most species of small terrestrial landbirds (73%) recorded during breeding surveys were found at both sites and the mean annual richness at Ft. Riley (39.0 ± 2.86 [SD]) was very similar to that of Konza Prairie (39.4 ± 2.01). Richness was maintained at relatively constant levels despite compositional changes because colonizations compensated local extinctions at both sites. These dynamics were driven primarily by woodland species that exhibited stochastic losses and gains and were present at a low local and regional abundance. Our results suggest that military training activities may mimic natural disturbances for some species in this area because the small landbird community did not differ markedly between sites with and sites without extensive human disturbance. Although our results suggest that military training is not associated with large changes in the avian community, additional studies are needed to determine if this pattern is found in other ecological communities. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Environmental Management Springer Journals

Long-Term Community Dynamics of Small Landbirds with and Without Exposure to Extensive Disturbance from Military Training Activities

Download PDF
14 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/long-term-community-dynamics-of-small-landbirds-with-and-without-eKItBm8qj5

References (64)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Subject
Environment; Waste Water Technology / Water Pollution Control / Water Management / Aquatic Pollution; Forestry Management; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Nature Conservation ; Ecology; Environmental Management
ISSN
0364-152X
eISSN
1432-1009
DOI
10.1007/s00267-009-9421-6
pmid
20084512
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Military training activities are known to impact individual species, yet our understanding of how such activities influence animal communities is limited. In this study, we used long-term data in a case study approach to examine the extent to which the local small landbird community differed between a site in northeast Kansas that experienced intensive disturbance from military training activities (Ft. Riley Military Installation) and a similar, nearby site that experienced minimal human disturbance (Konza Prairie Biological Station). In addition, we characterized how the regional pool of potential colonizers influenced local community dynamics using Breeding Bird Survey data. From 1991 to 2001, most species of small terrestrial landbirds (73%) recorded during breeding surveys were found at both sites and the mean annual richness at Ft. Riley (39.0 ± 2.86 [SD]) was very similar to that of Konza Prairie (39.4 ± 2.01). Richness was maintained at relatively constant levels despite compositional changes because colonizations compensated local extinctions at both sites. These dynamics were driven primarily by woodland species that exhibited stochastic losses and gains and were present at a low local and regional abundance. Our results suggest that military training activities may mimic natural disturbances for some species in this area because the small landbird community did not differ markedly between sites with and sites without extensive human disturbance. Although our results suggest that military training is not associated with large changes in the avian community, additional studies are needed to determine if this pattern is found in other ecological communities.

Journal

Environmental Management – Springer Journals

Published: Jan 19, 2010

There are no references for this article.