The Conservation Value of Residential Landscapes for Native Bird Communities: Patterns, Processes, and Management Implications
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Open Access Dissertations 9-2011 The Conservation Value of Residential Landscapes for Native Bird Communities: Patterns, Processes, and Management Implications Susannah Beth Lerman University of Massachusetts Amherst, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Lerman, Susannah Beth, "The Conservation Value of Residential Landscapes for Native Bird Communities: Patterns, Processes, and Management Implications" (2011). Open Access Dissertations. 464. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/464 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE CONSERVATION VALUE OF RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPES FOR NATIVE BIRD COMMUNITIES: PATTERNS, PROCESSES, AND MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS A Dissertation Presented by SUSANNAH B. LERMAN Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY September 2011 Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology © Copyright by Susannah B. Lerman 2011 All Rights Reserved THE CONSERVATION VALUE OF RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPES FOR NATIVE BIRD COMMUNITIES: PATTERNS, PROCESSES, AND MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS A Dissertation Presented by SUSANNAH B. LERMAN Approved as to style and content by: _______________________________________ Paige S. Warren, Chair _______________________________________ Stephen DeStefano, Member _______________________________________ Elizabeth Jakob, Member _______________________________________ Kevin McGarigal, Member ____________________________________ Elizabeth R. Dumont, Program Director Organismic and Evolutionary Biology DEDICATION To my husband James, for sharing his passion for birds with me, and to my son Matan, for letting me share my passion for birds with him. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am extremely grateful to the numerous people who advised, guided, and supported me throughout the entire Dissertation process. I want to thank my advisor, Paige Warren for inviting me to work with her, and believing in my abilities to excel as a graduate student. She has been a wonderful mentor and friend and I am honored to be a part of the Warren Lab. I am also extremely grateful for my husband, James Smith, for being my biggest supporter and encourager during the many years I’ve been in graduate school. My running partner, Colleen Sculley, has been and continues to be a great sounding board for my research questions and career advice, especially during our long runs. I am thankful for my graduate student community, especially, Kara Belinski, Alix Contosta, Sandy Haire, Dana Moseley, Laura Parfrey, Sharlene Santana, and Jenn Seavey. They all provided constant friendship, encouragement, and critical eyes for all things dissertation and beyond. Christofer Bang was my labmate while in AZ and provided opportunities for intellectual discussions while in the midst of field work, and also accompanied me on many hikes in the Sonoran desert. The members of my Dissertation committee, Steve DeStefano, Beth Jacob, and Kevin McGarigal, all provided unique perspectives, timely advice and fruitful discussions which greatly enhanced my manuscripts and the shaping of my scientific views. I am delighted that a chance meeting with Eyal Shochat at the Beer Sheva sewage farm translated into a career as an urban ecologist. He has advised and encouraged me throughout the years and have enjoyed our many ecological discussion over the years. The OEB program manager, Penny Jaques, was integral to the ‘behind the scenes’ running of my graduate career and ensured all the administrative tasks were completed. My mom, Naomi Lerman, provided five star field v accommodations, complete with laundry service, gourmet meals and babysitting. She has been a tremendous supporter of me and my work and I am incredibly grateful for her involvement. I am indebted to the many people who helped with the smooth running of my field seasons in Phoenix. In particular, Stevan Earl, field project manager at CAP LTER was instrumental in organizing equipment, schedules, and field techs. I can’t thank him enough for all his assistance and constant encouragement. Marcia Nation, project manager at CAP LTER assisted with many logistics throughout my field seasons. I thank Monica Elser for inviting me to participate in the Ecology Explorers project with CAP LTER. This opportunity for outreach with high school students was a highlight of my involvement with CAP. Corrina Gries and Wayne Porter provided technical advice and helped with data management. Kelly Turner introduced me to how social science fits within my research and am thankful for her influence on my ecological thought. Raul Aguilar, Phil Tarant and Rich Paulson were instrumental in setting up my cameras for the seed tray experiments. They spent countless hours troubleshooting the equipment and taught me how to configure all the cameras and computers to work with minimal trouble. Jesse McClure helped with modeling foraging efficiency. Hilary Gan was an extremely reliable field technician and I am forever indebted to her for the running of the seed tray experiments. Conducting research in private homes required the support of many homeowners and I am grateful for the unlimited access to their yards over the years. Additional people streaming through the Warren Lab have provided great advice and discussion. In particular, I have enjoyed the many lab meetings (both formal and informal) with Noah Charney. Mark Bellis, Michael Strohbach, Rachel Levine and Janice vi Zepko have been great lab mates and I have gained so much from interacting with them. Lauren Lynch was integral to the foraging chapter and I am grateful for her dedication to the video analysis. And finally, my research would not have been possible without the financial support from a number of fellowships and grants. During my final year, I was supported with a Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation Environmental Fellowship. My field research in Phoenix was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DEB-0423704, Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER). This included two summer research grants and two research assistantships. Linda Williams and the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University provided institutional support for all my field seasons. Travel grants from The Ecological Society of America and The Wildlife Society greatly enhanced my research through the interaction with other scientists working within my field. I received summer support and research assistantships from the McIntire-Stennis Fund, U.S. Department of Agriculture. And finally, I thank the University of Massachusetts – Amherst and OEB for providing travel funds and teaching assistantships. vii ABSTRACT THE CONSERVATION VALUE OF RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPES FOR NATIVE BIRD COMMUNITIES: PATTERNS, PROCESSES, AND MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS SEPTEMBER 2011 SUSANNAH B. LERMAN, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE M.S., ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY, NEW ENGLAND Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Paige S. Warren Urbanization, as it transforms natural biotic systems into human-dominated landscapes, is recognized as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity throughout the world. Furthermore, urban dwellers are becoming increasingly disconnected with the natural world. Here I investigate whether residential landscape designs that mimic the natural environment can provide habitat for native birds. First I uncover some of the patterns of bird distribution in residential yards by incorporating habitat features, urbanization measurements and socioeconomic factors with bird monitoring data into a multivariate analysis. The results indicate that native birds associate with neighborhoods with native plants and shrubs, neighborhoods closer to desert tracts, and higher income neighborhoods. Very few bird species associate with low income and predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods. Additional analyses based on social survey data demonstrate that residents notice the varying levels of bird variety in their neighborhood. Second, I address whether perceived habitat quality differs between residential landscape designs by testing foraging decisions at artificial food patches. Birds foraging in yards landscaped viii with native plants consume fewer resources than birds foraging in exotic landscaped yards. This suggests that alternative food sources are more available in the native landscaped yards, indicating better quality habitat. Third, I investigate the relationship between native bird diversity and neighborhoods with a Homeowner Association (HOA). Neighborhoods with an HOA have higher native bird diversity, perhaps due to an active and enforceable landscape maintenance plan. I suggest an HOA adapt features from the Sustainable Sites Initiative to further improve habitat conditions for native birds and other wildlife. Results from the Dissertation support the implementation of native landscaping in residential yards to help reverse the loss of urban biodiversity. Consequentially, these landscapes will provide positive opportunities for urban dwellers to reconnect with the natural world. ix