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A Comparison of Raptor Densities and Habitat Use in Kansas Cropland and Rangeland Ecosystems

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A Comparison of Raptor Densities and Habitat Use in Kansas Cropland and Rangeland Ecosystems j. RaptorRes. 34(3):203-209 ¸ 2000 The Raptor ResearchFoundation, Inc. A COMPARISON OF RAPTOR DENSITIES AND HABITAT USE IN KANSAS CROPLAND AND RANGELAND ECOSYSTEMS CHRISTOPHER K. WILLIAMS Departmentof WildlifeEcology, University of Wisconsin,Russell Labs, 1630 LindenDrive, Madison, WI 53706-1598 U.S.A. ROGER D. APPLEGATE Departmentof Wildlifeand Parks,Research and SurveyOffice, P.O. Box 1525, Emporia,KS 66801-1525 U.S.A. R. SCOTT LUTZ AND DONALD H. RUSCH Departmentof WildlifeEcology, University of Wisconsin,Russell Labs, 1630 LindenDrive, Madison, WI 53706-1598 U.S.A. ABSTRACT.--Wecounted raptors on line transectsalong roads to assessdensities, species diversity, and habitat selection of winter raptors between cropland and rangeland habitats in eastern Kansas.We conductedcounts every 2 wk betweenSeptember-March 1994-98. Speciesdiversity indices did not differ between the two habitats (P -- 0.15). We calculateddensity estimates and cover type selectionfor Red- tailed Hawks (Buteojamaicensis),Northern Harriers (Circuscyaneus), and American Kestrels(Falco sparv- erius).Red-tailed Hawks and Northern Harrier densitieswere higher in cropland, while kestreldensities did not differ betweenthe two habitats.All three speciesacross both habitatshad a general preference for idleland habitat. We believe three factors could explain the higher raptor densitiesin cropland: increasedprey abundance,increased visibility of prey associatedwith harvestedagriculture fields, and/ or a higher relative amount of preferred hunting habitat. K•¾WORDS: NorthernHarri• Circuscyaneus; Red-tailed Hawk; Buteojamaicensis; American kestrel; Falco sparverius;cropland; cover type selection; density; line transect;rangeland. Una comparaci6nde densidadesde avesrapaces y uso de h/tbitat en tierras agricolasy ecosistemasde pastizalesen Kansas RESUMEN.--Contamoslas avesrapaces en transectoslineares a largo de carreteraspara evaluarlas den- sidades,la diversidadde especiesy la selecci6nde h•tbitat de las rapacesque pasan el invierno entre las tierras agricolasy los h/tbitatsde pastizalesen el este de Kansas.Hicimos conteoscada 2 semanas entre septiembrey marzo 1994-98. Los indices de diversidadde especiesno difirieron entre los dos h/tbitats (P = 0.15). Calculamoslas densidadesy la selecci6nde cobertura para Buteojamaicensis,Circus cyaneus,y Falco sparverius. Las densidades de Buteojamaicensis y Circus cyaneus fueron mayoresen lasfireas de cultivos,mientras que las densidadesde Falcosparverius no difirieron entre los dosh/tbitats. Las tres especiesa lo largo de ambos h/tbitatstuvieron una preferencia general por el h/tbitat de tierras sin trabajar. Creemos que tres factorespueden explicar la mayor densidad en tierras cultivadas;aumento de la abundanciade presas,aumento de la visibilidadde presasasociada alas fireasde tierrascosechadas, y/o a un aumento relativo de la cantidad de h/tbitat de caza. [Traducci6n de Cfisar M/trquez] EasternKansas is the wintering range for 11 spe- Although there is a large amount of research on cies of diurnal raptors. In addition, three species the basicwinter ecologyof many speciesof raptors of diurnal raptors migrate through eastern Kansas (e.g., Craighead and Craighead 1956, Collopy to wintering and breeding ranges (American Or- 1973, Bohall and Collopy 1984, Collopy and Bild- nithologists' Union 1998). Eastern KansasAudu- stein 1987, Temeles and Wellicome 1992, Ardia bon SocietyChristmas Bird Countsaverage 41-100 and Bildstein 1997), little research has examined individual falconiform birds per count in 1986 the effects of different landuse regimes (e.g., ag- (Johnsgard 1990). riculture or grazing) on winter raptor ecology. 203 204 WILLIAMS ET AL. VOL. 34, No. 3 Consequently,we estimated densities, speciesdi- power poles that could influence raptor abundancewere versity,and habitat selectionof winter raptors in presentalong 50% of the RSA transectand 55% of the CSA transect (Andersen et al. 1985). Transectlength was cropland and rangeland ecosystemsin eastern 31.40 km on CSA and 28.94 km on RSA. We ran transect Kansas. routes every 2 wk between 15 September-31 March 1994-98. With two observationvehicles, each containing STUDY AREAS two individuals, we sampled each route on the same day We conducted raptor surveysin both an agricultural- starting approximately 1 hr after sunrise.At each sight- and rangeland-dominatedlandscape in southern Lyon ing, we stopped the vehicle at approximatelya perpen- County,Kansas, where there wasnarrow transitionzone dicular angle from where the raptor was first observed between rangeland (western) and cropland (eastern) perched or flying. We recorded the species,major land ecosystems.We selectedstudy areas within this transition use the raptor wasoccupying, and estimatedthe distance zone to ensure that the distance between study areas from car to raptor using rangefinders.We estimatedden- would reduce confounding climatic differences yet min- sities with five possible detection functions (HNormal xm•ze migration between study areas. Both study areas Hermite, Uniform Polynomial, HNormal Cosine, Uni- were approximately2849 ha of private land and separat- form Cosine, and Hazard Cosine) using program DIS- ed by 20 km. The cropland study area (CSA) was 3 km TANCE (Laake et al. 1993). The best fit detection func- west of Hartford, Kansas,and the rangeland study area tion and density was chosen by program DISTANCE (P (RSA) was7 km westof Olpe, Kansas.Because the study --<0.05). We used repeated measuresANOVA to compare areaswere large, we could not spatiallyreplicate our land- density estimateswithin and among years within study scapes. areas and between study areas. We performed compositionalanalyses for individual METHODS speciesacross all surveyswithin a given year using log- ratio differencesbetween cover type use and availability The percent coverageof covertypes on our studyareas (Aebischer et al. 1993). We consideredcover type use as was calculated areas using aerial photographsfrom 1990 the percent of all cover typesa specieswas observed oc- and ArcView Geographic Information System (Version cupying.We consideredcover type availabilityas the per- 3 1, 1998). The CSA included 49% cropland (e.g., soy- cent of all cover typeswithin the studyarea boundaries. beans, sorghum,corn, and winter wheat), 19% native We defined cover type "selection" as the difference be- hayland,16% nativetallgrass pasture, 12% idle grassland tween cover type use and availability. We first tested (e g., Conservation Reserve Program grasses,grassy wa- whether all cover type selectionwas random using Wilk's terways,roadsides), and 4% woodycover (e.g., treelines, lambda statistic(P <- 0.05). We then used 1-samplet-tests wooded drainage ways).We identified 65 discreteunits to rank the selection of cover types (Aebischer et al. of woodycover on CSA,each measuring on average1.75 1993). If covertype selectionoccurred significantly great- ha Percent coverageof cover typeswithin CSA wassim- er than random, we defined the cover type as "pre- fiar to agriculturalareas within easternLyon County (By- ferred." If cover type selectionoccurred significantlyless ram 1996). than random, we defined the cover type as "avoided." The compositionof RSAwas 72% nativetallgrass pas- To compare relative cover type selectionbetween study ture, 8% hayland,8% idle grassland,8% cropland,and areasamong years,we used 2-wayANOVA. 3% woodycover. We identified 28 discreteunits of woody cover on RSA, each measuring on average 3.05 ha. As RESULTS compared to CSA, woody cover units were larger and more fragmented from each other. Percent coverageof Species diversity indices did not differ among cover types within RSA was similar to rangeland areas yearswithin studyareas (F3.68= 1.51, P = 0.22) or wxthin the Flint Hills region (Kollmorgan and Simonett 1965), and grazing and burning dominated land use betweenstudy areas (F•,68-- 3.04, P -- 0.09) (Table practices(every 1-4 yr). Landownersreported the aver- 1). Due to low sample sizes (mean N ( 10 per age annual grazingpressure on RSAwas I steer/0.81 ha, year), we only estimateddensity and cover type se- whxch was considered overgrazed (Launchbaugh and lection for Red-tailed Hawks (Buteojamaicensis, Owensby1978, Owensbyet al. 1988). CSA: mean N = 127, RSA: mean N = 127), North- To measure relative diurnal raptor speciesdiversity be- tween studyareas, we used the Shannon-Wienerdiversity ern Harriers (Circuscyaneus, CSA: mean N = 36, xndex (Zar 1984) on raw observationsof species.By using RSA: mean N = 20), and American Kestrels (Falco raw observations,we assumeddetectability functions were sparverius,CSA: mean N = 18, RSA:mean N = 19). equal acrossall speciesand individuals.We used a two- Red-tailed Hawk densities did not differ within way ANOVA (P --< 0.05) to compare diversityindices among years and between study areas. and amongyears in both CSAor RSA (F •,6= 2.79, We establisheda single line transect on roads travers- P = 0.15), so data were pooled within each study ing CSA and RSA (Andersenet al. 1985). An assumption area. Densities were three times higher on CSA of line transect sampling is that the distribution of ob- than on RSA (F•.6 = 14.81, P (0.01) (Table 2). served speciesis not influenced by the transect lines (Buckland et al. 1993). We feel any violation of this as- Habitat use did not differ amongyears within both sumption wasreduced becauseroads were generallyone studyareas (F3.70( 1.42, P ) 0.24) and waspooled lane, unpaved, and had low traffic and telephone and within studyareas. On both studyareas,
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