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Distribution and Site Selection of Le Conte's and Crissal Thrashers in the Mojave Desert: a Multi-Model Approach

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Distribution and Site Selection of Le Conte's and Crissal Thrashers in the Mojave Desert: a Multi-Model Approach UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2009 Distribution and site selection of Le Conte's and Crissal thrashers in the Mojave Desert: A multi-model approach Dawn Marie Fletcher University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Biology Commons, Desert Ecology Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons, and the Zoology Commons Repository Citation Fletcher, Dawn Marie, "Distribution and site selection of Le Conte's and Crissal thrashers in the Mojave Desert: A multi-model approach" (2009). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 1122. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/2498072 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DISTRIBUTION AND SITE SELECTION OF LE CONTE'S AND CRISSAL THRASHERS IN THE MOJAVE DESERT: A MULTI-MODEL APPROACH by Dawn Marie Fletcher Bachelor of Science The Ohio State University 2000 Master of Science University of Nevada Las Vegas 2009 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science Degree in Biological Sciences School of Life Sciences College of Sciences Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2009 UMI Number: 1472410 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 1472410 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Dawn Marie Fletcher 2009 All Rights Reserved Thesis Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas April 15 2009 The Thesis prepared by Dawn Marie Fletcher Entitled Distribution and habitat selection of the LeConte's and Crissal thrashers in the Mojave Desert: a multimodel approach is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biological Sciences Examination Committee Chair Examination Committee Member Graduate College Faculty Representative 1017-53 11 ABSTRACT Distribution and site selection of Le Conte's and Crissal Thrashers in the Mojave Desert: a multi-model approach by Dawn Marie Fletcher Dr. Dan Thompson, Examination Committee Co-chair Professor of Biology University of Nevada, Las Vegas Dr. John Klicka Examination Committee Co-Chair Adjunct Faculty of Biology University of Nevada, Las Vegas Information on the distribution and habitat requirements of a species are critical components to the development of meaningful conservation plans. Such knowledge, however, is particularly difficult to obtain for species that are elusive and occur at low densities, such as the Le Conte's (Toxostoma lecontei) and Crissal {Toxostoma crissale) thrashers. In association with a regional conservation plan, I evaluated the distribution and habitat selection of these thrashers within Clark County, Nevada in the eastern Mojave Desert. I used a call-broadcast approach to sample 432 stratified random locations, detecting Le Conte's thrashers at 45 locations and Crissal thrashers at 41 locations. To model suitable habitat and predict thrasher occurrence, I used site-specific and landscape level information to create models that represented habitat data at two spatial scales. At each of these spatial scales, I measured variables corresponding to five iii environmental categories; plant assemblages, substrate, landform features, climate, and human disturbance. For analyses, I used logistic regression and assessed resulting models using an information theoretic approach. Inclusions in the best-fit model sets were determined using an Akaike Information Criterion approach. Model-averaging was used to determine the best possible parameter estimates for predicting thrasher presence from the complete sets of best-fit models. Results from the models indicated that Le Conte's thrashers occur within areas of little topographic relief such as valley bottoms near dry lake beds (playas). This pattern was strongly evidenced by the negative relationship between these thrashers and slope, in that they were never observed on slopes greater than 5 degrees, and by the disassociation with mountainous habitat and higher-elevation plant assemblages. The site-specific (ecological model) supported this broad pattern in identifying strong positive associations with playas and saltbush assemblages (specifically, Atriplex polycarpa and A. canescens). Positive associations were also determined for three other plant assemblages: wash vegetation, cholla, and Mojave mixed scrub (dominated by Yucca schidigera). The landscape model confirmed the important relationship of saltbush and wash vegetation. Crissal thrashers presence showed a strong negative relationship with creosote-bursage, shadscale, and creosote- sparse Joshua tree plant assemblages and with a principal component describing climatic patterns associated with decreasing temperatures and increased precipitation at higher elevations. Two plant assemblage categories, riparian and wash vegetation, and a principal component describing latitudinal patterns in climate were positively associated with this thrasher. The landscape model for the Crissal thrasher identified the same variables and relationships as the site-specific model. Suitable habitat for both species iv were predicted in ArcGIS using model average coefficients derived from best-fit landscape models. The predictive maps greatly improved on existing habitat models for these species within Clark County, and provide tools for conservation planning. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2 METHODS 7 Site Selection 7 Thrasher Detection/Non-detection 8 Landscape and Site-Specific Analyses 9 Spatial Scales 10 Landscape Variables for Ecological Model 10 Site-Specific Variables for Ecological Model 11 Variable Reduction 13 Spatial Layers for Landscape Model 15 CHAPTER 3 DATA ANALYSIS .17 Data Analysis and Model Selection Ecological Model 17 Data Analysis and Model Selection Landscape Model 18 Model Evaluation Ecological Model 19 Landscape Model Implementation GIS 20 CFIAPTER4 RESULTS 21 Le Conte's Thrasher 21 Crissal Thrasher 24 CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION 26 Ecological and Landscape Models 26 Le Conte's Thrasher Suitable Habitat 28 Crissal Thrasher Suitable Habitat 28 Habitat Suitability and Preference in Sympatric Species 30 Management Implications 31 VI APPENDIX I DOMINANT PLANT SPECIES MEASURED IN THE FIELD AT SURVEY LOCATIONS 61 APPENDIX II VARIABLES USED PN ECOLOGICAL MODELS 62 APPENDIX III VARIABLES USED IN LANDSCAPE MODELS 66 BIBLIOGRAPHY 68 VITA 73 vn LIST OF TABLES Table 1 List of habitat types, and data sources, sampled in GIS to stratify random survey locations 35 Table 2 Variables measured and the ultimate status of these variables after data reduction prior to fitting the ecological models for each thrasher 36 Table 3 Principal components (PC) eigenvector loading for the bioclimatic variables 39 Table 4 Results of AlCc-based model selection for the ecological model for Le Conte's thrasher 44 Table 5 Results from model averaging for the ecological model involving the Le Conte's thrasher 45 Table 6. Relative variable importance following model-averaging of the Le Conte's thrasher ecological models 46 Table 7 Results of AlCc-based model selection for the Landscape model for Le Conte's thrasher 47 Table 8 Results from model averaging for the landscape model involving the Le Conte's thrasher 48 Table 9 Relative variable importance following model-averaging of the Le Conte's thrasher landscape models 49 Table 10 FNR, FPR, and CCR of the ecological and landscape models for the Le Conte's thrasher when compared to null-model distribution 50 Table 11 Results of AlCc-based model selection for the ecological models of Crissal thrasher , 51 Table 12 Results from model averaging of the ecological models involving the Crissal thrasher 52 Table 13 Relative variable importance following model averaging of the ecological models for the Crissal thrasher 53 Table 14 Results of AlCc-based model selection for the Crissal thrasher landscape models 54 Table 15 Results from model averaging for the landscape models involving the Crissal thrasher 55 Table 16 Relative variable importance following model averaging of the landscape models for the Crissal thrasher 56 Table 17 Comparisons of
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